Office and Administrative Job Descriptions

An office can’t run without its administrative staff. A company can’t run without efficient and profitable offices. Administrative support functions are the key to making companies and business of all sizes work. Whether your office needs a data entry associate, a receptionist, or three new people in accounts payable, Monster has the office and administrative job descriptions you need to find the best candidates for any administrative or support role.

Monster job descriptions follow the Standard Occupational Classification System from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. If you need to hire for administrative support positions, take a look at the jobs described below. The linked descriptions will help you find the people you need to make your office and your business the best it can be.

Accounting Clerk
An accounting clerk is an entry level member of an accounting department or team. Accounting clerks support their team by keeping financial records updated and reconciling bank statements. Clerks run software that processes transactions like accounts payable and receivable, disbursements, expense vouchers and receipts.

Accounts Payable
Accounts payable specialists or clerks are the ones who make sure the bills get paid. Accounts payable clerks record transactions, create reports, track income and expenses and check figures for accuracy. They are known for being detail oriented in the extreme.

Administrative Assistant
Administrative Assistants are the ones you turn to for a help with a paper jam, a calendar update, or some fresh coffee — because the office coffee is terrible. More traditionally, administrative assistants create and maintain filing systems, perform routine clerical duties, prepare documents, schedule appointments, and support other staff.

Bank Teller
Despite the fact that there are ATMs on every corner, most banks still recruit bank tellers. Tellers are key providers of customer service for their bank. Tellers are responsible for handling deposits, withdrawals, transfers, money orders, and checking transactions. If a bank wants to keep that human touch, they need a bank teller.

Bookkeeper
Bookkeepers are responsible for a business’s accounts, sometimes called the general ledger. Bookkeepers record all transactions and post debits and credits. They produce financial statements and other reports for supervisors and managers which allow all the parts of the business to track incoming revenue and outgoing costs and thus “balance the books”.

Call Center Representative
If you have ever returned a pair of shoes or set up your cable service, you have spoken with a call center representative. Crucial to high volume businesses, call center reps answer inbound calls, respond to customer inquiries and document customer feedback to improve the customer experience. Call center reps may also manage and update customer database to help business better respond to their customer base.

Computer Operator
There’s a lot of competition for coders these days, but companies with large mainframe systems still need a computer operator. An operator monitors and controls a company’s computer systems. Computer operators troubleshoot both software and hardware, monitor batch processing, maintaining and improve system performance and produce needed documentation. If you are lucky, they may also set up your new laptop.

Customer Service Representative
Customer service representatives are in both sales and in service. Customer service reps help customers with complaints and questions, and provide information about their company’s products and services. They may take orders and process returns. The better experience a customer service representative provides, the more likely that customer is to return.

Customer Service Associate
A Customer Service Associate (CSA) helps customers with any questions they have about a company’s products and services. CSAs maintain a high level of knowledge about the company and any products they are assigned to represent. Skilled customer service associates provide the kind of service that builds customer loyalty to their company and its brand.

Data Entry Clerk
Simply put, a data entry clerk updates, maintains, and retrieves information held on computer systems. They may be entering anything from a high school grade, to medical test results. Data entry clerks use and become skilled with the specific types of software that have been designed to meet their company’s particular needs. See also, the description for data entry operators.

Dispatcher
Non-emergency dispatchers answer calls and communicate with mobile units to send an appropriate response. Dispatchers are often part of the shipping industry, taking orders for trucking companies and sending truckers to pick up and drop off materials.

Executive Assistant
Executive assistants provide high-level administrative support for the C-suite and other executives of an organization. They often handle complex responsibilities such as reviewing incoming documents, conducting research, and preparing large-scale reports. Executive admins need soft skills like discretion, good manners and the ability to understand when to bug the CEO, and when to leave her alone.

Front Desk Agent
Front desk agents provide customer service to guests at an establishment’s front desk. Agents check guests in and out, assign rooms and process payments. They are often the first person a guest interacts with, so warm and welcoming front desk agents are key to a hotel, motel, or resort’s success. See also, the description for hotel front desk clerk.

Human Resources Assistant
Human resource (HR) assistants help their managers and directors with the crucial task of hiring and maintaining a company’s workforce. HR assistants open mail and respond to email, answer questions, field phone calls, and provide any additional assistance an HR manager needs with more complex tasks. An HR assistant needs patience, work-ethic and a genuine interest in people.

Intern
The responsibilities of an intern vary widely from field to field. A social media intern will do very different work than an intern with the software development team. However, in general interns learn from short-term, practical work experience. Internships are usually provided for students, recent graduates, and people changing careers.

Logistics
Logisticians plan, direct and oversee activities that include purchasing, transportation, inventory, and warehousing. They oversee the movement of goods, people, or supplies. Logisticians use software systems to plan and track the movement of products from asparagus to zippers.

Marketing Assistant
The marketing team gets a company’s goods, services and brand marketed to their target customer. A marketing assistant ensures the team has everything they need to do that job well. An assistant will perform market research, put together reports, maintain team schedules, assist with events and social media and help execute marketing strategy.

Night Auditor
Essentially a night time front desk clerk, night auditors provide customer service, handle the reservation process, welcome weary guests and get them checked into their rooms. Night auditors respond to guest requests and may even do some cleaning or help other hotel workers with their end-of-day tasks.

Office Assistant
An office assistant is often a jack of all trades, doing a little bit of everything needed to keep an office running. Office assistants take on a wide variety of clerical tasks, including answering telephones, typing documents, and filing records. They may answer email and update calendars, reserve conference rooms or order food for long meetings. A good office assistant can make all the difference to your workplace.

Office Manager
Much like an office assistant, a business may be very dependent on a skilled office manager to make their office a pleasant and effective place to work. While specific responsibilities vary, most office managers maintain facilities, supervise office assistants and oversee activities like bill payment, mail/package distribution, and office upkeep.

Receptionist
Anyone who has walked into an office knows what a receptionist does. Receptionists answer phones, take messages, forward calls, schedule and confirm appointments and maintain calendars. Receptionists greet and direct customers, clients and other visitors. But most importantly, the receptionist is the first face of the company for all who visit, making this position one of the most crucial in any office.

Recruiting Coordinator
A part of an HR or recruiting team, a recruiting coordinator assists in a company’s recruiting and talent acquisition efforts. Recruiting coordinators are responsible for helping the team find, attract, hire and onboard new employees to fill open positions and meet company’s workforce growth goals.

Scheduler
There are several varieties of schedulers, including ones that work in medical offices. However, many schedulers work in warehouses or offices, making sure operations run on time. Schedulers may prioritize inbound and outbound shipments, confirm an ample supply to ship and ensure schedules are created and kept. Personnel schedulers work in the same way, but instead of product, they keep employees scheduled, ensuring there are enough workers at any given time.

Secretary
A secretary may support a single manager or executive, or an entire team of people. They perform all routine clerical and organizational tasks. Secretaries organize files, draft messages, schedule appointments and support other staff. They may do everything from putting a PowerPoint presentation together, to greeting an important customer. Secretaries make the trains run on time.

Shipping Clerk
A shipping clerk handles everything necessary to get goods from one place to another. A shipping clerk manages the shipment of products, materials, and supplies and collaborates with logistics technicians, customer service representatives and others involved in the shipping products. They track, trace, and update the status of outgoing shipments so packages will arrive in the right place at the right time.

Shipping and Receiving
Like other workers in supply chain jobs, businesses really couldn’t function without shipping and receiving clerks. Shipping and receiving clerks process goods shipped and received by a company. Knowledgeable about packing and shipping best practices, shipping and receiving specialists are tasked with sending customers their items as carefully and quickly as they can.

Social Media Intern
Like all interns, a social media intern’s biggest job is to learn. Social interns may post content on a company’s social media accounts, help brainstorm campaign ideas, monitor various social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and generally learn how to best amplify a company brand on all social platforms. Hashtags included.

Stocker
A stocker gets a businesses’ goods in front of their customers. Stockers receive, store and issue sales floor merchandise, materials, equipment and other items from stockroom, warehouse, or storage yard. Stockers make sure a business can fill their shelves, racks, tables, or customers’ orders.

More Support for Your Administrative Support Hiring

This page is updated often with our newest office and administrative job description samples. If you hire frequently, bookmark this page and come back for new ideas to help you fill more support roles in your office. If you need a bigger push in your administrative hiring, take a look at the Monster job ads for a wide range of monthly plans to help you find the right administrative support professional for your team.