Data Entry Clerk Job Description

What is a Data entry clerk?

A data entry clerk, also known in many places as a data entry operator, is an integral part of various departments and divisions in a company. A data entry clerk job is a job of extreme responsibility as the job includes not just data entry but compilation, validity and ensuring accuracy of the data entered.

This profession has good job prospects and initial data entry clerk jobs evolve into roles of office assistant, office manager and even system administrator if the people in these jobs acquire computing skills and knowledge of ERP systems along the way.

This is a job specifically for people with computing and typing skills and the patience and mindset to spend long hours before a computer screen. 

People who are interested in entering this profession are required to have a bachelor’s degree in finance, commerce or science and an additional diploma in basic computing skills. Short term courses in book keeping and data management systems are useful qualifications to have. 

A data entry clerk is a qualified person who does data entry jobs in the computer systems of companies. Such a person may be physically working in an office, company or any organization  handling data including entry of data such as names, addresses, test results, bills and also handling, storage and presentation of the data.

What does a data entry clerk do?

A data entry clerk can be working with different organizations such as an institution, law firm, IT company, bank, a manufacturing company or even a government office. 

A data entry clerk enters manually generated data into the MIS (Management Information system) or ERP ( enterprise resource system) such as SAP. The data entered can be anything from application forms, invoice details, test and production records, patients’ health records and details of filled forms.

The data entry clerk also ensures maintenance and filing of records for easy retrieval, ensures accuracy of the entered data and provides periodic summaries and trends of the data.

A data entry clerk job also includes data warehousing and storage of data for future reference as well as retrieval.  

Data Entry clerk job duties include

• Entry of names, addresses and specific fields into spreadsheets and ERP data entry screens
• Producing trends and graphical slides for presentations
• Scanning and reviewing data to ensure there is no conflict with other data sources
• Creating directories, folders and sub folders to store data systematically for easy retrieval
• Deciding which data can remain as a soft copy
• Printing hard copies and filing them systematically. 

Job brief for data entry clerk

• Basic data entry
• Classification, sorting, categorization and storage of data
• Providing details for printing labels, invoices, job cards, patient history cards
• Handling and answering queries from customers, vendors and the general public
• Handling a front desk such as a receptionist, an enquiry counter or a help desk

Responsibilities of data entry clerk job

• Entering data at the required rate and speed
• Checking data for errors and correction
• Running online checks for verification
• Periodic encasing of database 
• Compilation of data and generation of useful trend reports

Requirements for data entry clerk job 

The obvious and foremost requirement for a data entry clerk job would be to be computer savvy. There are several skills and qualifications for the job that include 

• Knowledge of data warehousing 
• Good typing speed for data entry
• Knowledge of MS office programs such as word, wordpress, excel and powerpoint
• A passion for correctness and keen insight to spot and correct errors
• Knowledge of presentation tools to highlight data trends

Average salary for data entry clerk job

The average salary for a data entry clerk job in India is Rs 17590 per month.

There are, however, several factors such as level of qualification and the number of years of experience that determine the level of salary.

It has been observed that data entry clerks with more than 3 years’ experience get higher salaries.Data entry clerks with software, bookkeeping and accountancy qualifications tend to get higher salaries and they are offered higher salaries with added responsibilities.   

There is also the factor of location. Data entry clerks working in metro cities, especially Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune tend to get higher salaries.

There are also freelance data entry clerks who work from home and work for more companies at a time. They are paid periodically or for contract to contract.

Salaries for data entry clerk jobs in the major cities of India have been tabulated below:  

There are some companies that pay a little more and also assign additional jobs related to data entry and data management. The rates vary for data entry operators working from home or on freelancing assignments.

Key skills

The key skills required for a data entry clerk jobinclude

• Highly skilled typing speed of minimum 30 words a minute
• Knowledge of MS office tools such as Word, Excel, powerpoint, word press
• Knowledge of data warehousing and systematic storage of data
• Information processing and trend analysis. Meaningful trend analysis and useful extraction of opportunities and threats for companies from their market, product and finance data. 
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• An aptitude for mathematics
• Good command over language
• A deep passion for correctness and accuracy

Why pursue a career in data entry clerk job 

A career as a data entry clerk has both advantages as well as disadvantages. The advantages are that a data entry clerk job will grow slowly to encompass all aspects of office jobs. People in this field have a potential to become office managers and grow in their career into top administrative positions. People tend to stay in the job profile of data entry clerk for around 5 years after which their job profiles begin to increase as they become adept in handling data. 

People in the field of freelancing as data entry clerks also have good career prospects as their job profiles also increase with time and increase of expertise. They can be entrusted with entire data warehousing and data management with report generation in future assignments.  Date entry clerk jobs have good prospects in jobs such as librarian, 

The disadvantages and pitfalls in the field of data entry can also be opportunities in disguise.  There is a risk of jobs reducing as people acquire more skills and qualifications and are entrusted to multiple jobs. The projected growth in the field of data entry clerk jobs is 3% every 10 years. 

Related Article:

How to become a data entry clerk

A person can become a data entry clerk by first acquiring a basic degree. This degree can be in any subject and it will help if the degree is related to the type of organization that the person is seeking to join.

Being armed with a course in computing skills will be an added advantage. The person can now apply for data entry clerk jobs on job sites and job ads. 

Once selected, the person can start right away and keep enhancing his or her skills to get upgraded to an office manager or even an administrator.

More Resources : Data Entry Operator Job Description | Data Entry Operator Exam Questions and Answers | Data Entry Resume examples | Typist Job Description