Interviewing and New Accounts Clerks

• Nature of the Work

  Interviewing and new accounts clerks obtain information from people by mail, by telephone, or in person that organizations need to enable individuals to open bank accounts, gain admission to medical facilities, participate in consumer surveys, and complete various other forms. They solicit and verify information, create files, and perform various processing tasks. The specific duties and job titles of these workers depend upon the type of employer.

  New accounts clerks also are known as customer service representatives. They work for financial institutions such as commercial banks, credit unions, and savings and loan associations. They interview people who want to open a checking or savings account and record the data directly into a computer. They must be familiar with the products and services of the bank for which they work since it is their job to explain the increasing array of financial services that are available. They help people fill out enrollment forms for special services, such as automated teller machine (ATM) cards. They also may answer telephone inquiries about bank services or procedures for opening or closing accounts. (Bank tellers, who also may perform customer service representative duties, are discussed elsewhere in the Handbook.)

  Many interviewing clerks work in hospitals, doctors' offices, and other health care facilities, where they are also known as admitting interviewers. They interview patients to obtain all preliminary information required for admission, such as the patient's name, address, age, medical history, present medications, previous hospitalizations, religion, persons to notify in case of emergency, attending physician, and the party responsible for payment. They may assign patients to rooms and summon escorts to conduct patients to the rooms; sometimes they may escort patients themselves. Using a computer, they prepare admitting and discharge records and route them to the appropriate departments. They also may bill patients, receive payments, and answer the telephone. In an outpatient setting, they schedule appointments, keep track of cancellations, and provide general information about care. Interviewing clerks also conduct market research surveys and polls for research firms. They ask individuals questions on such topics as their occupation and earnings, political preferences, buying habits, or customer satisfaction. Market research is not limited to the consumer market, but also includes executive, medical, and industrial research. No selling is involved. Often reading from a prepared script, interviewers ask a carefully worded series of questions, record the responses, and forward the results to management.

• Employment

  Interviewing and new accounts clerks held about 183,000 jobs in 1994. More than 6 out of 10 were employed by commercial banks and other depository institutions. Most of the rest worked in hospitals and other health-care facilities, while a small number of clerks worked for market research firms in the business services industry. About 1 of every 4 interviewing clerks worked part time.

• Job Outlook

  Overall employment of interviewing and new accounts clerks is expected to about as fast as the average for all occupations through the year 2005, but growth rates will vary by industry. Opportunities will be best for applicants with a broad range of job skills.

  Employment of interviewing clerks in the health services industry is expected to grow as fast as the average. As hospitals consolidate their staffs, however, the duties of admitting interviewers should expand. Additionally, much faster than average employment growth of interviewing clerks will occur in personnel supply services, as more organizations contract out for the services of these types of clerks rather than support a full-time staff. On the other hand, almost no employment growth is expected for new accounts clerks, reflecting the general lack of employment growth among commercial banks and savings and loan institutions as consolidation, electronic banking, and ATM technology decrease the role of branch offices.

• Sources of Additional Information

  Information on working conditions, training requirements, and earnings appears in the Information clerks introduction to this section.

  State employment service offices can provide information about employment opportunities.

  A brochure on careers in banking, including information on new accounts clerks, referred to as customer service representatives in the brochure, is available from:
  American Bankers Association Education Foundation, 1120 Connecticut Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20036.

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