Most jobs available as full-time jobs in an office are also sometimes offered as part-time jobs. It is, however, more common for jobs that do not require high degrees of skill to be offered part time. There are some exceptions to this rule, because sometimes a person may be offered highly skilled part-time office work due to special circumstances, like parental duties. Clerks, secretaries, and even office janitors can all be hired to work part time.
The most prevalent types of part-time office work involve basic office duties like typing, filing, and answering phones. Some positions involve doing only a single type of work, such as data entry. Other jobs hire general assistants who are expected to fill whatever roles the company needs while they are working. Depending on the size of the office, part-time office work might involve assisting just a single person or the entire office.
Being a personal assistant in an office is often a part-time position because few individuals need full-time assistance. This position typically involves answering phones, setting up meetings, and managing correspondence. Depending on the employer, it may also include duties more commonly assigned to a secretary, such as filing and typing.
Each office has different needs for part-time office work, depending on hiring strategies and the actual work performed by the company. For example, a medical office might hire people who are proficient at working with records as well as people who can work at the front desk with patients. An office in a college might use students for all part-time office work in order to allow students to pay for their tuition or expenses. While the duties performed in the many types of offices might be similar, special jobs in specific fields do sometimes exist.
Specialized part-time office work might include clerical work for law offices, technical support, or social work in an office setting. Many of these positions require special qualifications, which makes them more common as full-time positions. Even so, it is possible to find entry-level jobs in these fields offered for part-time workers.
One major difference between types of part-time office work is whether the job will be permanently part-time. Some jobs use a part-time status to ease new employees into a job, and then graduate those employees who succeed in part-time work to full-time positions. Other companies hire part-time positions only as temporary workers and then let go of workers in these positions quickly. Work that is permanently part-time can be difficult to find, but may eventually prove a good fit in many situations.