Production clerk duties and the secret for outshining your rivals in the job search

There are so many advantages that come with understanding production clerk duties. Not only do you gain a competing advantage when preparing your job resume, you also learn the secrets to outshining your peers after scoring that job interview.

Production clerk Job description

As the name suggests, production clerks are responsible for the coordination and scheduling of duties related to production. They estimate the time to as well as the resources to be used by each production project.

Along the project, production clerks are also responsible for identifying the areas that might need reinforcement. This information needs to be reported to the assigned supervisor or directly to the senior-most personnel in that particular functional department.

Daily production clerk duties and responsibilities

Daily production clerk duties and responsibilities include:

• Prepare production reports based on the data gathered using the prescribed formats
• Compilation and filing of production records
• Monitoring and responding to orders and inquiries made by customers
• Evaluating and reporting inventory in terms of material usage
• Coming up with reasonable and attainable production schedules
• Estimation and evaluation of production costs and problems
• Retrieving and evaluation of employees’ records from the database
• Perform clerical duties as directed. These might include photocopying, typesetting, and handling paperwork.

Requirements for becoming a production clerk

Although there are no specific diplomas or degrees needed for one to become a production clerk, the following will give you a better competing edge when it comes to acing your peers:

• A high school diploma or equivalent
• A masterly of customer handling skills
• Good phone and face-to-face conversation skills
• Knowledge about basic computer software
• Previous work experience as a store clerk

The following skills are, however, a must:

• Ability to read

Most of the tasks will involve receiving files from other departments for analysis. Reading comprehension is needed in order to break down the information contained in the documents.

• Time management

Production clerks are responsible for estimating the time to be taken on projects and ensure that the schedules are strictly adhered to. To become a production clerk, you must display that you are capable of managing your time and that of others.

• Decision making

Although production clerks are assigned to a supervisor, he/she will have to quick and accurate decisions without consultation most of the times. Accurate decision making and problem-solving techniques are, therefore, skills that the interviewers will be looking for.

• Mathematics

Calculations are inevitable when it comes to the work of a production clerk. Good grades in mathematics mean that the candidate is well suited for the job.

• Attention to detail

A production clerk’s work sometimes involves going through files to identify errors and correct them. A good production clerk must, therefore, display a mastery of reading in between the lines to identify such.

• Social orientation

A production clerk needs to coordinate with all the other departments. The suitable candidate must display that he/she is capable of connecting with others while on the job.

• Trustworthiness

Production clerks are the custodians of the organization’s inventory. In the resume, the candidate must include previous work experiences showing that he/she is capable of becoming a trustworthy custodian.

Production clerk interview questions

Now that you know what production clerk duties and responsibilities to include in your job resume, here are the most probable questions that you will come across during that job interview:

• Tell us about yourself

As in many other job interviews, you will rarely miss this question during a production clerk interview. The best way to answer this question is to start from scratch. Start with your name, where you are from, where you studied, and where you have worked previously.  Answering this question correctly could mean that you have already passed the interview.

• What previous experience do you have with regard to our production clerk job opening?

Be sure to provide real-life examples when answering this question. Your examples must display that you are good at calculations, a good saver rather than a spender, and a trustworthy person.

• Why should we hire you?

Convince the interviewer on why they should hire you and not any other person.

Production clerk salary

Although it depends on the organization, production clerk duties do get enough to get by. On estimate, the average pay for a production clerk per year is $24,000.