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Word Processors and Typists

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Use word processor, computer, or typewriter to type letters, reports, forms, or other material from rough draft, corrected copy, or voice recording. May perform other clerical duties as assigned.

Related: Court Reporters & Simultaneous Captioners Data Entry Keyers File Clerks Medical Transcriptionists Office Clerks, General

Industries: Government Education

Summary
Details

Operate and resupply printers and computers, changing print wheels or fluid cartridges, adding paper, and loading blank tapes, cards, or disks into equipment.
Reformat documents, moving paragraphs or columns.
Print and make copies of work.
Perform other clerical duties, such as answering telephone, sorting and distributing mail, running errands or sending faxes.
Work with technical material, preparing statistical reports, planning and typing statistical tables, and combining and rearranging material from different sources.
Use data entry devices, such as optical scanners, to input data into computers for revision or editing.
Adjust settings for format, page layout, line spacing, and other style requirements.
Manage schedules and set dates, times, and locations for meetings and appointments.
Compute and verify totals on report forms, requisitions, or bills, using adding machine or calculator.
Type correspondence, reports, text and other written material from rough drafts, corrected copies, voice recordings, dictation, or previous versions, using a computer, word processor, or typewriter.
Perform other clerical duties, such as answering telephone, sorting and distributing mail, running errands or sending faxes.
File and store completed documents on computer hard drive or disk, or maintain a computer filing system to store, retrieve, update, and delete documents.
Transmit work electronically to other locations.
Electronically sort and compile text and numerical data, retrieving, updating, and merging documents as required.
Work with technical material, preparing statistical reports, planning and typing statistical tables, and combining and rearranging material from different sources.
Compute and verify totals on report forms, requisitions, or bills, using adding machine or calculator.
Keep records of work performed.
Operate and resupply printers and computers, changing print wheels or fluid cartridges, adding paper, and loading blank tapes, cards, or disks into equipment.
Electronically sort and compile text and numerical data, retrieving, updating, and merging documents as required.
Collate pages of reports and other documents.
Check completed work for spelling, grammar, punctuation, and format.
Search for specific sets of stored, typed characters to make changes.
Address envelopes or prepare envelope labels, using typewriter or computer.
Gather, register, and arrange the material to be typed, following instructions.
Perform other clerical duties, such as answering telephone, sorting and distributing mail, running errands or sending faxes.

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

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

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

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

Less than 1 month on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

41750/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

20.07/hr

Currently Employed

190

Yearly Projected Openings

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

Integrity
Attention to Detail
Cooperation
Dependability
Independence
Initiative

Desktop calculator
Franking or postage machines
Laser fax machine
Paper shredding machines or accessories
Personal computers
Photocopiers
Typewriters

Accounting software
Cloud-based data access and sharing software
Customer relationship management CRM software
Data base user interface and query software
Desktop publishing software
Document management software
Electronic mail software
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
Medical software
Office suite software
Presentation software
Process mapping and design software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

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Word Processors and Typists

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