Type up a marked-up letter
Key in a rough draft of a letter, working in the edits someone has written on the page.
Career profile
Word Processor or Typist
Word processors and typists turn rough drafts and recordings into finished reports, forms, and letters.
Enjoy making a cluttered page clean and readable, and catching the smallest error? This job puts that kind of patience to use.
A day in the life
Reformat a report's layout
Move paragraphs around, line up columns, and change the line spacing so the report matches the requested format.
Proofread the finished document
Scan the finished document for spelling and punctuation errors, reviewing each Word suggestion before you accept it.
File letters and route callers
In clerk-typist roles, you may file correspondence, then steer a caller or visitor to the right person.
Quick facts
High school or equivalent
United States · 2025
$49,280/year
United States · 2025
34.4% decline
United States · 2025–2035
Quick orientation
Preparation, pay & outlook
Preparation
High school or equivalentShort-term training on the job is typical; employer requirements vary.
Pay
$49,280/yearNational median for word processors and typists in 2025, equivalent to $23.69 an hour.
Outlook
34.4% declineEmployment is projected to shrink from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,900 openings a year.
Fit, tradeoffs & changing tools
You might like this if…
- You like checking small details against an original.
- You can stay attentive through repeated keyboard tasks.
Things to weigh
- Repetitive work still needs accuracy when deadlines tighten.
- When typing and reception share one job, calls and visitors can interrupt your concentration.
Where AI may help
Software can turn recorded speech into text and suggest spelling or grammar corrections. Microsoft Word offers both capabilities, depending on the version and subscription.
What people still lead
You compare the result with the original and decide whether a suggested change belongs in the document.
What we can’t predict yet
The balance between typing from scratch and correcting software-generated text may keep shifting. How much document work an office can automate remains uncertain.
Pay in context
Earnings
The 2025 national median was $49,280 a year, or $23.69 an hour. Treat it as a midpoint across workers, not a starting offer.
The national spread
The lowest-paid 10% earned $36,810 or less annually; the highest-paid 10% earned $65,150 or more. These are wage percentiles, not beginner and experienced pay steps.
Compare the work year and level
In New York, Onteora schools listed $28,267–$34,982 for a ten-month typist position in 2026. Wayne County social services listed a senior clerk-typist job rate of $42,438 a year, or $21.68 an hour. These are specific positions with different schedules and responsibility levels, not school-versus-government averages.
Openings in a shrinking occupation
National employment is projected to fall 34.4% during 2025–2035. About 1,900 openings are projected each year on average, so a declining occupation can still have hiring.
Getting started
Bring school preparation and typing coursework
- What the route involves
- Complete high school or an equivalency diploma, including or followed by a typing course.
- What it can lead to
- This meets the education option for Albany school clerk-typist positions.
- What to check
- The appropriate civil-service examination is required for permanent appointment. Meeting the education requirement alone does not secure a job.
Qualify through clerical experience
- What the route involves
- Build one year of full-time paid clerical experience that includes substantial part-time typing duties.
- What it can lead to
- Albany accepts this as an alternative to its diploma-plus-typing-course route.
- What to check
- The examination requirement for permanent appointment still applies. Other employers may use different experience and testing rules.
High school or equivalent and short-term workplace training are typical. Employers may accept education or clerical experience; new work is checked by a supervisor. The routes below show two documented options in Albany, New York.
After entry
Career paths
This starts where the entry routes leave off: early work, growing capability, and advancement or specialization.
Get established
Learn the office's filing rules and document routines. Use feedback on completed work to reduce repeat errors.
Handle harder documents
Build report tables and combine material from several files into one document.
Move toward senior clerk-typist work
Senior roles can add checking coworkers' documents, teaching new staff, and organizing a unit's typing work. Promotion requirements depend on the employer.
Where you can work
School offices
Document work can share the day with answering calls and directing visitors. Some typist positions follow a ten-month school work year, so check the calendar as well as the salary.
- Indoors
- Office
Social-services offices
Typing supports case records and program reports. In senior roles, you also check documents against office procedures and follow up with workers about records.
- Indoors
- Office
Try it
See whether the job clicks before you commit to the path.
Write a rough one-page club announcement with a date, a short table, and handwritten corrections. Type and format a clean version, then compare it line by line with the draft. Notice whether you enjoy the careful checking as much as the typing.
Sources
- O*NET OnLine. Word Processors and Typists — 43-9022.00. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational projections, 2025–35, and worker characteristics, 2025. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- O*NET OnLine / U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Word Processors and Typists wages — United States rows. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- City School District of Albany. Clerk Typist — William S. Hackett Middle School, posting 87993. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- Onteora Central School District. Ten-month Middle/High School Typist vacancy and job description. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- Wayne County, New York. Senior Clerk Typist — Department of Social Services, 2026-69. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- Microsoft. Check grammar, spelling, and more in Word. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- Microsoft. Transcribe your recordings. Accessed 2026-10-04.