Brokerage Clerks

Perform duties related to the purchase, sale, or holding of securities. Duties include writing orders for stock purchases or sales, computing transfer taxes, verifying stock transactions, accepting and delivering securities, tracking stock price fluctuations, computing equity, distributing dividends, and keeping records of daily transactions and holdings.

What you'd actually do

• Correspond with customers and confer with coworkers to answer inquiries, discuss market fluctuations, or resolve account problems.
• Document security transactions, such as purchases, sales, conversions, redemptions, or payments, using computers, accounting ledgers, or certificate records.
• File, type, or operate standard office machines.
• Perform clerical tasks, such as answering phones or distributing mail.
• Prepare forms, such as receipts, withdrawal orders, transmittal papers, or transfer confirmations, based on transaction requests from stockholders.
• Schedule and coordinate transfer and delivery of security certificates between companies, departments, and customers.

How you get there

Typical entry-level education: High school diploma. Overall preparation: medium preparation (Job Zone 3 of 5).

The feel of the work

The work is mostly indoors; you're around people constantly; time pressure is a real part of the job; precision matters — small details carry weight. (Compared against the other 818 careers in the guide.)

Working for yourself

About 0% of brokerage clerks are self-employed.

Who it tends to fit

This work tends to fit people who are organized and detail-focused and take-charge.

Related careers

• First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers
• Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants
• Postal Service Clerks
• Postal Service Mail Carriers
• Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks
• Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators

Quick questions

How much does a brokerage clerk make?

The median pay is $31.61 per hour — roughly $65,500 a year, with the real range running from about $24.16/hr (10th percentile) to $49.04/hr (90th percentile). Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Do you need a degree to be a brokerage clerk?

The typical entry-level education is: High school diploma. Overall preparation level: medium preparation (Job Zone 3 of 5).

What does a brokerage clerk actually do all day?

Correspond with customers and confer with coworkers to answer inquiries, discuss market fluctuations, or resolve account problems. Document security transactions, such as purchases, sales, conversions, redemptions, or payments, using computers, accounting ledgers, or certificate records. File, type, or operate standard office machines.