Clerk Family
Career series with 17 positions across 4 levels
Clerk groups 17 related titles into a 4-level career ladder.
Entry is typically through Clerk 1, Records, advancing through the ladder toward Clerk 4 and, from there, into supervisory roles. Pay across the family spans $39,358 to $73,902, around the 10th percentile of all civil service job families by top pay. State payroll records show 473 people across the family's titles, most concentrated at Children and Families.
Clerk commonly advances into Clerk Stenographer and Clerk Transcriber -.
Specializations
Positions in This Family
- CLERK 1 (01245)
- CLERK 1 (01248)
- CLERK 3 (02773)
- CLERK 3 (02774)
- CLERK 2 (03247)
- CLERK 2 (03248)
- CLERK 4 (03859)
- CLERK 4 (15401)
- SENIOR CLERK (20043) $39,358 - $56,481/year
- SENIOR CLERK (20043C) $39,358 - $56,481/year
- PRINCIPAL CLERK (20044) $42,866 - $61,705/year
- PRINCIPAL CLERK (20044D) $42,866 - $61,705/year
- HEAD CLERK (20045) $50,990 - $73,902/year
- SENIOR CLERK (20049) $41,070 - $59,027/year
- CLERK 1, RECORDS (20723) $39,358 - $56,481/year
- CLERK 2, RECORDS (20724) $42,866 - $61,705/year
- CLERK 3, RECORDS (20725) $50,990 - $73,902/year
... and 2 more positions
What the Clerk family covers
Clerk covers 17 title codes arranged into 4 levels of responsibility. The family straddles jurisdictions: 9 state and 8 local, so parts of it are hired by state departments and parts by local civil service employers.
Clerical series are the entry door to New Jersey civil service and the largest group by headcount. They are also the most duplicated: nearly every one exists in both a state and a local version, and the local versions are what municipal clerks, county offices and boards of education hire against. Most require a high school diploma and nothing more, which makes them the practical route in for applicants without a degree. Advancement runs by responsibility, from clerk to senior to principal to head, with the specialised transcription and stenography variants branching off partway up.
The ladder, ordered by pay
The Clerk rungs, listed from the best paid down. Here the numbering happens to agree with the pay order, which is not guaranteed elsewhere in New Jersey's plan.
- Clerk 3, Records — $50,990 to $73,902 (3 years of experience)
- Head Clerk — $50,990 to $73,902 (3 years of experience)
- Clerk 2, Records — $42,866 to $61,705 (2 years of experience)
- Principal Clerk — $42,866 to $61,705 (2 years of experience)
- Senior Clerk — $41,070 to $59,027 (1 year of experience)
- Clerk 1, Records — $39,358 to $56,481 (1 year of experience)
- Senior Clerk — $39,358 to $56,481 (1 year of experience)
The distance from the bottom of Senior Clerk to the top of Clerk 3, Records is $34,544, an increase of about 88% over the entry minimum.
What each title does
Reading the definitions side by side is the quickest way to see what changes as you move through the family.
- Clerk 1: Under close supervision, performs routine, repetitive clerical work involving the processing of documents in a variety of functions; does other related duties as required. NOTE…
- Clerk 3: Under direction, performs varied, complex clerical work involving the processing of documents in a variety of functions; takes the lead and/or performs the more difficult and…
- Clerk 2: Under limited supervision, performs clerical work involving the processing of documents in a variety of functions; performs moderately complex and non-routine clerical work; may…
- Clerk 4: Under direction, supervises, plans and coordinates the activities of one (1) or more clerical unit(s) involved in the processing of documents in a variety of functions; performs…
- Senior Clerk: Under direction of a supervisory official, does clerical work involving the exercise of independent judgment and containing a relatively large proportion of…
- Principal Clerk: Under the general supervision of a supervisory official, performs complex clerical work requiring knowledge and independent interpretation of department laws…
- Head Clerk: Under direction of an administrative officer in a state department, agency, or institution, has charge of the development and maintenance of clerical procedures and services of…
- Clerk 1, Records: Under the limited supervision of a Clerk 3, Records, or other supervisory official in a State department, agency, or institution, performs clerical work involving the…
Showing 8 of 10 published definitions in this family. The full list of titles is below.
Requirements across the family
None of the specifications in this family names a degree requirement, which places these titles among the New Jersey positions open to applicants without formal higher education. Stated experience runs from 1 year at the lowest rung to 3 at the highest, which is the main thing separating one level from the next.
On how the jobs are filled: 15 are competitive, filled from an eligible list after an open competitive or promotional examination and 2 are non-competitive, appointed on proof of the stated qualifications rather than by examination. 3 titles in this family are covered by the compendium's special incentive program, which lets an appointing authority hire a qualified candidate above the bottom step instead of starting them at step one. See the full list of incentive titles.
Who actually employs these titles
State payroll records show 473 people working under 6 of this family's titles, spread across 23 agencies. Children and Families alone accounts for about 31% of them.
- Children and Families — 148 employees
- Labor — 92 employees
- Office of the Public Defender — 53 employees
- Corrections — 30 employees
- State Parole Board — 26 employees
- Human Services — 24 employees
Those are the 6 largest of 23 agencies employing this family.
Median actual pay varies across the family, from $46,299 for Senior Clerk up to $69,189 for Head Clerk. Those are medians of what people are really paid, not schedule minimums and maximums.
State payroll only, deduplicated by payroll title; local employers file separately, so a family with local codes looks smaller here than it is. How this is counted.
How the pay is set
Titles in this family are paid on the A-P-R-S salary schedule. See every step in that schedule. Bargaining is handled by CWA. Union contracts and rights are collected here.
Where these jobs exist
Because the family mixes jurisdictions, the answer to "who hires this" depends on the specific code. State codes run through the Civil Service Commission's announcement and eligible list process; local codes are hired by the counties, municipalities and authorities that adopted civil service under Title 11A. Check an employer's status before assuming a title is available where you live.
Related titles elsewhere in the plan
Other classifications built on the same terms as Clerk. Worth checking if this family has no current opening.
- Clerk ($39,358 to $56,481, state jurisdiction)
- Law Clerk ($63,663 to $92,953, state jurisdiction)
- Mail Clerk ($39,358 to $56,481, both state and local jurisdiction)
- Chief Clerk (local jurisdiction) — in the Chief family
- Court Clerk (local jurisdiction)
- Stock Clerk (local jurisdiction)
Common questions about Clerk jobs
How many Clerk titles are there in New Jersey civil service?
The Clerk family holds 17 title codes arranged across 4 levels. Each code is a separate classification with its own published specification, requirements and salary treatment.
What does a Clerk earn in New Jersey?
Published salary data for this family runs from $39,358 at the bottom of Senior Clerk to $73,902 at the top of Clerk 3, Records. Those are schedule figures. Where the title appears on the state payroll, actual median pay is listed on the page above.
Do you need to take an exam to become a Clerk?
Yes for most of the family. 15 of the 17 titles are in the competitive division, which means appointment comes from an eligible list built by an open competitive or promotional examination.
What qualifications does a Clerk need?
No degree requirement is parsed from the specifications in this family, which puts these titles among the New Jersey civil service jobs reachable without formal higher education. Experience of 1 to 3 years is named where a requirement is stated.
Which agencies employ Clerk staff?
State payroll records show 473 people in this family across 23 agencies, with Children and Families the largest at 148. Local government employers are not covered by that extract.