Find out the top 10 core skills you need to master as a deputy clerk and what hard skills you need to know to succeed in this job.

A deputy clerk works under the supervision of the court clerk performing various clerical duties including preparing, processing, and filing court documents. Unlike the law clerk whose main work is researching legal concepts, deputy clerk also maintains different court records.

Apart from preparing court documents, he/she has other duties including generating and availing legal documents to attorneys and judges, making schedules for all court proceedings be it a divorce case or an appeal among others. He/she also carries out customer service functions including responding to inquiries from different parties such as the public. However, one should understand that the duties of the deputy clerk can vary significantly based on the court's jurisdiction.

Core Skills Required to be a Deputy Clerk

Core skills describe a set of non-technical abilities, knowledge, and understanding that form the basis for successful participation in the workplace. Core skills enable employees to efficiently and professionally navigate the world of work and interact with others, as well as adapt and think critically to solve problems.

Core skills are often tagged onto job descriptions to find or attract employees with specific essential core values that enable the company to remain competitive, build relationships, and improve productivity.

A deputy clerk should master the following 10 core skills to fulfill her job properly.

Writing Skills:

Written Communication involves the interaction that makes use of the written word with precision and logic making it the very common form of business communication.

A Deputy Clerk must necessarily learn and stay updated on effective written communication skills that involve the construction of a logical argument, note taking, editing and summarizing as well as incorporating new ways of writing presentations.

Knowledge of Job:

Knowledge of Job is essential to every employee who needs to have a clear understanding of how their jobs fit into the overall organization to eliminate carelessness and laxity.

A Deputy Clerk must be able to evaluate this criterion when selecting an employee and know the common descriptions of a person with either right or inadequate knowledge of the job early enough to either keep them or let them go.

Multi-Tasking:

Multi-Tasking allows one to juggle and perform more than one task at a time without losing track of what you are working on or dropping the ball.

A Deputy Clerk must learn the trick of multitasking and help the staff balance the competing demands of their time and energy that they are expected to handle multiple priorities every day without compromising on the effectiveness of the work done.

Leadership Skills:

Leadership Skills are soft skills that assist leaders in positively interacting with employees or team members to make the workplace a great place.

A Deputy Clerk must be able to lead effectively by learning how to deal with all types of people in a way that motivates, enthuse and build respect in a bid to understand and develop his leadership skills.

Dedication to Work:

Dedication to Work is a devotion or setting aside the scheduled time that you are required to work each day consistently without fail as well as being on time and giving 100% of your efforts to doing quality work.

A Deputy Clerk ought to be dependable and set an example for the rest of the workforce by showing up for work on time every day consistently and producing quality work while applying company policies and business strategies.

Following Directions:

Following Directions is the skill of carefully considering the given instructions and following them closely without fail.

A Deputy Clerk must ensure that his workers are paying attention and listening to instructions provided as well as taking careful steps in doing what they are supposed to do and understand what it means to the business and bring satisfaction to their superiors.

Customer Service:

Customer Service is the ability to cater for the needs of the client by providing excellent customer service without compromise.

A Deputy Clerk must understand that pleasing customers is directly connected to the success of the business, therefore, must create a superior customer experience culture in the company that every employee should follow in ensuring all the customers are treated as they should.

Scheduling:

Scheduling is creating daily workflow charts that the employees are supposed to follow when working and submitting their projects.

A Deputy Clerk must be dedicated to establishing and maintaining the schedule using either manual or technology methods to ensure it is always updated according to the tasks, the employees responsible or the time allocated to each task without fail or delay.

Writing Reports and Proposals:

Writing Reports and Proposals is the ability to record business reports and plans for the company or project following the policies and procedures of the company.

A Deputy Clerk should, therefore, emphasize the need and accuracy of these reports and plans to ensure they are delivered promptly, and the details within are accurate adhering to the company's policies and regulations without compromise.

Data Entry:

Data Entry is a skill to key in information from various sources as directed by the management while keeping to the policies and procedures of the company and ensuring they are accurate.

A Deputy Clerk should prioritize hard skills over educational backgrounds when it comes to data entry because experience and familiarity with the common workplace software, attention to detail, confidentiality and databases is critical.

Hard Skills Required to be a Deputy Clerk

Hard skills are job-specific skill sets, or expertise, that are teachable and whose presence can be tested through exams. While core skills are more difficult to quantify and less tangible, hard skills are quantifiable and more defined.

Hard skills are usually listed on an applicant's resume to help recruiters know the applicant's qualifications for the applied position. A recruiter, therefore, needs to review the applicant's resume and education to find out if he/she has the knowledge necessary to get the job done.

A deputy clerk should have a good command of the following hard skills to succeed in her job.

Deputy Clerk: Hard skills list

Accounting Principles and Terminology
Administrative Law
Analyze Court Financial Data
Appointment Calendar
Clerical
Computer
Court Operation Procedures
Bookkeeping
Budgeting
Balance Cash and Receipts
Business and Personal Management
Clerical
Collecting
Communication
Compile information for court cases
Compose business correspondence
Coordinate witnesses and litigants
Court Procedures
Customer Service
Data Entry
Documentation
English Language
Financial Compliance
Human Resources Compliance
Information Systems
Inventory (Maintain Inventory of Office Forms)
IT Competence
Jury Management
Legal Procedures Knowledge
MS Excel
Office Procedures and Practices
Project Management
Public Administration Principles
Research
Telephone Log
Typing Speed
Word Processing or MS Word
Writing

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