Office clerk to typist
An office clerk already meets 46% of what the typist role asks for. The move turns on 6 required skills not yet in the profile.
51.9/ 100
1 How much of what a typist is expected to do is already part of an office clerk’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the typist role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A typist role treats 7 of its required skills as things an office clerk already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- align content with form
- apply grammar and spelling rules
- company policies
- draft corporate emails
- transcription methods
- use free typing techniques
What stands in the way is 6 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 13 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A typist role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an office clerk background worth leading with.
- already held translate keywords into full texts information skills
- already held align content with form communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held use free typing techniques management skills
- already held transcription methods arts and humanities
- already held draft corporate emails communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held digitise documents working with computers
All 13 carried skills, including the 7 the typist role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 20 missing skills fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn liaise with typists required
- still to learn pose questions referring to documents required
- still to learn provide written content required
- optional, not held type texts from audio sources optional
- optional, not held use shorthand optional
- optional, not held write meeting reports optional
- still to learn decode handwritten texts required
- still to learn type error-free documents required
- still to learn use dictionaries required
- optional, not held compile content optional
- optional, not held maintain customer records optional
- optional, not held use stenotype machines optional
- optional, not held integrate content into output media optional
- optional, not held use databases optional
- optional, not held use shorthand computer program optional
- optional, not held use word processing software optional
- optional, not held audio technology optional
- optional, not held content development processes optional
- optional, not held stenography optional
- optional, not held operate audio equipment optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a typist role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 decode handwritten texts practise this
- 02 liaise with typists practise this
- 03 pose questions referring to documents practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 13 skills that carry over
- already held align content with form skill
- already held apply grammar and spelling rules skill
- already held company policies knowledge
- already held draft corporate emails skill
- already held transcription methods knowledge
- already held use free typing techniques skill
- already held use microsoft office skill
- already held digitise documents skill
- already held ensure proper document management skill
- already held manage digital documents skill
- already held perform office routine activities skill
- already held translate keywords into full texts skill
- already held use spreadsheets software skill
14 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held integrate content into output media optional
- optional, not held operate audio equipment optional
- optional, not held audio technology optional
- optional, not held compile content optional
- optional, not held content development processes optional
- optional, not held maintain customer records optional
- optional, not held stenography optional
- optional, not held type texts from audio sources optional
- optional, not held use databases optional
- optional, not held use shorthand optional
- optional, not held use shorthand computer program optional
- optional, not held use stenotype machines optional
- optional, not held use word processing software optional
- optional, not held write meeting reports optional
35 held skills the typist role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role accounting techniques knowledge
- not needed by the target role communicate by telephone skill
- not needed by the target role communicate with customer service department skill
- not needed by the target role communicate with customers skill
- not needed by the target role deliver correspondence skill
- not needed by the target role disseminate internal communications skill
- not needed by the target role disseminate messages to people skill
- not needed by the target role document sharing procedures knowledge
- not needed by the target role facilitate access to information skill
- not needed by the target role file documents skill
- not needed by the target role fill out forms skill
- not needed by the target role handle delivered packages skill
- not needed by the target role handle mail skill
- not needed by the target role information confidentiality knowledge
- not needed by the target role issue sales invoices skill
- not needed by the target role keep records of customer interaction skill
- not needed by the target role maintain correspondence records skill
- not needed by the target role maintain internal communication systems skill
- not needed by the target role maintain inventory of office supplies skill
- not needed by the target role manage digital archives skill
- not needed by the target role monitor staff absences skill
- not needed by the target role organise business documents skill
- not needed by the target role organise facilities for office personnel skill
- not needed by the target role perform cleaning duties skill
- not needed by the target role prepare correspondence for customers skill
- not needed by the target role process commissioned instructions skill
- not needed by the target role process customer orders skill
- not needed by the target role process data skill
- not needed by the target role respect data protection principles skill
- not needed by the target role route correspondence to business departments skill
- not needed by the target role serve beverages skill
- not needed by the target role use different communication channels skill
- not needed by the target role use office systems skill
- not needed by the target role use personal organization software skill
- not needed by the target role use software for data preservation skill
3 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- optional, not held audio technology optional
- optional, not held content development processes optional
- optional, not held stenography optional
Other moves recorded from office clerk
- administrative assistant 68% covered · moderate
- secretary 64% covered · moderate
- file clerk 55% covered · moderate
- receptionist 46% covered · moderate
- foreign language correspondence clerk 44% covered · moderate
- management assistant 36% covered · substantial
- investment clerk 34% covered · substantial
- billing clerk 31% covered · substantial
Common questions about this move
Can an office clerk become a typist?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. An office clerk already covers 46% of what a typist is expected to do: 13 skills carry over, 7 of which the typist role treats as required.
What skills does an office clerk need to become a typist?
6 required skills are missing, plus 14 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is decode handwritten texts.
How hard is the move from office clerk to typist?
Its learning distance is 51.9 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.