Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks

• Summary

• Details

Work Activities

• Prepare documents, such as work orders, bills of lading, or shipping orders, to route materials.
• Compare shipping routes or methods to determine which have the least environmental impact.
• Compute amounts, such as space available, shipping, storage, or demurrage charges, using computer or price list.
• Requisition and store shipping materials and supplies to maintain inventory of stock.
• Pack, seal, label, or affix postage to prepare materials for shipping, using hand tools, power tools, or postage meter.
• Determine shipping methods, routes, or rates for materials to be shipped.
• Deliver or route materials to departments using handtruck, conveyor, or sorting bins.
• Contact carrier representatives to make arrangements or to issue instructions for shipping and delivery of materials.
• Requisition and store shipping materials and supplies to maintain inventory of stock.
• Record shipment data, such as weight, charges, space availability, damages, or discrepancies, for reporting, accounting, or recordkeeping purposes.
• Confer or correspond with establishment representatives to rectify problems, such as damages, shortages, or nonconformance to specifications.
• Examine shipment contents and compare with records, such as manifests, invoices, or orders, to verify accuracy.

Skills

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

Abilities

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

Knowledge

• 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.
• Computers and Electronics
  • Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• 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.
• 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.
• Mechanical
  • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• 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.
• Design
  • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• 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.
• Mathematics
  • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• 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.
• Law and Government
  • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Food Production
  • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
• 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.
• Fine Arts
  • Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• Sociology and Anthropology
  • Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• History and Archeology
  • Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
• Transportation
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
• Production and Processing
  • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Economics and Accounting
  • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
• Biology
  • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• 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.
• Telecommunications
  • Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
• 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.
• 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.

Education

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

Less than 1 month on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

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Education and Training Opportunities

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Pay

Washington Annual Salary

49290/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

23.7/hr

Washington Employment Trends

Currently Employed

17,160

Yearly Projected Openings

1930

Personality

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
• Dependability
• Integrity

Tools

• Bag tag printer
• Bar code reader equipment
• Box sealing tape dispensers
• Desktop computers
• Electronic toploading balances
• Forklifts
• Form or fill or seal machinery
• Franking or postage machines
• Hand trucks or accessories
• Notebook computers
• Packaging vacuum
• Radio frequency identification devices
• Razor knives
• Staple guns

Technology

• Access software
• Accounting software
• Compliance software
• Data base user interface and query software
• Document management software
• Electronic mail software
• Enterprise application integration software
• Enterprise resource planning ERP software
• Internet browser software
• Inventory management software
• Label making software
• Materials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software
• Office suite software
• Optical character reader OCR or scanning software
• Presentation software
• Procurement software
• Spreadsheet software
• Word processing software