Statewide occupation search

Sort your search results or select and compare details of two occupations. Find out if an occupation is in demand or not in demand in your local area, at Learn about an occupation.

Statewide occupation search

Order Clerks

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Receive and process incoming orders for materials, merchandise, classified ads, or services such as repairs, installations, or rental of facilities. Generally receives orders via mail, phone, fax, or other electronic means. Duties include informing customers of receipt, prices, shipping dates, and delays; preparing contracts; and handling complaints.

Related: Customer Service Representatives Postal Service Clerks Procurement Clerks Sales Representatives of Services Shipping, Receiving, & Inventory Clerks

Industries: Wholesale/Commercial Sales Retail Manufacturing

Summary
Details

Receive and respond to customer complaints.
Review orders for completeness according to reporting procedures and forward incomplete orders for further processing.
Inform customers by mail or telephone of order information, such as unit prices, shipping dates, and any anticipated delays.
Verify customer and order information for correctness, checking it against previously obtained information as necessary.
Attempt to sell additional merchandise or services to prospective or current customers by telephone or through visits.
Prepare invoices, shipping documents, and contracts.
Calculate and compile order-related statistics, and prepare reports for management.
Compute total charges for merchandise or services and shipping charges.
Obtain customers' names, addresses, and billing information, product numbers, and specifications of items to be purchased, and enter this information on order forms.
Inspect outgoing work for compliance with customers' specifications.
Collect payment for merchandise, record transactions, and send items, such as checks or money orders for further processing.
Collect payment for merchandise, record transactions, and send items, such as checks or money orders for further processing.
Recommend merchandise or services that will meet customers' needs.
Direct specified departments or units to prepare and ship orders to designated locations.
Check inventory records to determine availability of requested merchandise.
Notify departments when supplies of specific items are low, or when orders would deplete available supplies.
Confer with production, sales, shipping, warehouse, or common carrier personnel to expedite or trace shipments.
Compute total charges for merchandise or services and shipping charges.
Adjust inventory records to reflect product movement.
Calculate and compile order-related statistics, and prepare reports for management.
File copies of orders received, or post orders on records.
Recommend type of packing or labeling needed on order.

Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.

Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.

Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
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.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
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.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

Education

Some college, no degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

Less than 1 month on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

46740/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

22.47/hr

Currently Employed

4,730

Yearly Projected Openings

610

Conventional: People interested in this work like activities that include data, detail, and regular routines. They do well at jobs that need:

Attention to Detail
Cooperation
Integrity
Self Control
Stress Tolerance
Dependability

Belt conveyors
Cash registers
Laser fax machine
Package stops
Personal computers
Photocopiers
Point of sale payment terminal
Printer calculator
Special purpose telephones

Accounting software
Data base user interface and query software
Document management software
Electronic mail software
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
Enterprise system management software
Internet browser software
Inventory management software
Materials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software
Office suite software
Presentation software
Procurement software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Find Order Clerks jobs Education and Training for Order Clerks

Statewide occupation search

Statewide occupation search

Order Clerks

Work Activities

Skills

Abilities

Knowledge

Education

Pay

Washington Employment Trends

Personality

Tools

Technology

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES