Shipping and receiving clerks work at companies’ shipping and receiving departments, handling the transactions involved in that department. The job typically involves accepting incoming packages and re-routing them to the appropriate section of the company, arranging outgoing packages and ensuring they’ve been properly packed, stamped and dispatched to the correct locations; additionally, shipping and receiving clerks work with the representatives of the shipping companies they work with, signing forms and arranging changes in the deliver schedule.
The job of a shipping and receiving clerk doesn’t take any specialized education or knowledge to attain, as it’s a clerk-type job and doesn’t require specific knowledge. The most important features sought in candidates include the ability to work fast under pressure (as S&D departments tend to see a lot of work in their busier periods), as well as good knowledge of the company’s operations and what it takes to run the shipping operations smoothly.
Shipping and receiving clerks aren’t paid highly by most regards, earning between $25,000 – $36,000 a year. The job tends to have some high demands on those who practice it in many cases, leading to a decreased job satisfaction, as indicated by research. Additionally, shipping and receiving clerks don’t have many good prospects for furthering their careers, and the heavy workloads imposed on those who practice the job have caused a large turnover rate on the market. Most shipping and receiving clerks only take up the job as a temporary, auxiliary source of income until they’ve managed to secure a better position.