Recently, data jobs have been gaining popularity. Of the many careers in
data available, data scientists and statisticians, in particular, entered the list of the top ten jobs for the decade. This can be linked to the increasing need for data skills and statistics across various industries, especially in technology, where data helps measure the effectiveness of strategies, contributes to decision-making, and more.
While data scientists, analysts, and statisticians are some of the top jobs in tech, you should consider becoming a data entry clerk. This entry-level job will see you collect data, maintain records, and update database information. Your daily work may also include entering text and figures into spreadsheets, keeping customer and account information up to date, and handling confidential information and data.
All this makes being a data entry clerk a great starting point for attaining higher data positions in the tech industry. If this kind of career path appeals to you, be sure to hone these essential skills to nab your first job:
Attention to detail
Entering text, numbers, and figures into spreadsheets and databases requires impeccable attention to detail. The wrong spelling of one word or placement of a decimal point can significantly impact data in tech, which professionals may use to conduct tests, analyze the results of an experiment, and the like. With bad data costing US businesses over $3.1 trillion annually, paying attention to the most minor details in data entry is essential to prevent errors as you work. Make it a habit to prioritize accuracy over speed and to always double-check your work.
Organization
Since you’re dealing with data, staying organized regarding your job is vital. This means staying on top of deadlines, prioritizing more critical tasks, and ensuring your files aren’t messy. Otherwise, it may be harder for your teammates to navigate your spreadsheets or look for the data they need. One task prioritization strategy you can try is the Eisenhower matrix, which involves organizing tasks by how important and urgent they are. Your organizational skills will also come in handy during data collection. You must take relevant notes and facts that could benefit data entry, and being organized guarantees that you’ll be able to understand these notes later on.
Communication
Even if you think you’ll work independently as a data entry clerk, you’ll still encounter and interact with your teammates. Given this, written and verbal communication skills are a must. You need to be able to send requests or emails relaying your needs or reporting issues you’ve encountered with a tech database. Also, you must be able to answer teammate’s questions regarding the data you worked on. Communication skills are crucial in whatever niche you choose, including data entry in tech, because you’ll be required to interact with an audience. In your case, you may be tasked to address customer’s concerns and give them the necessary information.
Knowledge of basic software programs
Data entry requires basic knowledge of programs like Microsoft Word or Excel, often used to enter data. However, since you’ll be working in tech, you’ll need digital literacy skills, too. This doesn’t necessarily mean knowing how to operate tech software or programs, but understanding how such technologies are used in tech, how they’re developed, who uses them for what purpose, and more. You can start by learning concepts rather than skills, like understanding your database’s structure. Knowing how and why it is designed that way can aid your data entry tasks, and may even help you make suggestions to improve the software for future data entry
purposes.
Being a data entry clerk is an important job that allows other tech professionals to do theirs. It even opens up a whole career path in tech for you to pursue, so make sure you’ve got the above skills in your arsenal before applying for your first data entry job.