General Office Occupations and Clerical Services

Types of Degrees General Office Occupations and Clerical Services Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many general office occupations and clerical services graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Undergraduate Certificate	1,121
Basic Certificate	421
Associate Degree	108

What General Office Occupations and Clerical Services Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to general office occupations and clerical services and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for General Office Occupations and Clerical Services Majors

General Office Occupations and Clerical Services majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Skills for General Office Occupations and Clerical Services Majors

When studying general office occupations and clerical services, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Abilities for General Office Occupations and Clerical Services Majors

As you progress with your general office occupations and clerical services degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

What Can You Do With a General Office Occupations and Clerical Services Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with general office occupations and clerical services:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Cargo and Freight Agents	10.4%	$43,210
Freight Forwarders	10.4%	$43,210
Insurance Claims Clerks	11.1%	$39,660
Insurance Policy Processing Clerks	11.1%	$39,660

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to General Office Occupations and Clerical Services

Some careers associated with general office occupations and clerical services require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for general office occupations and clerical services careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	0.8%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	45.8%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	4.0%
Some College Courses	16.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	26.6%
Bachelor’s Degree	7.3%

Online General Office Occupations and Clerical Services Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	125	24
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	0
Associate’s Degree	33	5
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	0	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to General Office Occupations and Clerical Services

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to general office occupations and clerical services.

Major	Number of Grads
General Administrative Assistant and Secretarial Science	5,747
Customer Service Support/Call Center/Teleservice Operation	5,055
Business & Office Technology	1,874
Executive Assistant/Executive Secretary	1,495
Other Business Operations Support and Secretarial Services	342
Parts, Warehousing, and Inventory Management Operations	185
Traffic, Customs, and Transportation Clerk/Technician	175
Receptionist	81

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.