Office and Clerical Job Skills Task Cards | Filing, Copies + Phone

Office jobs look easy until a student files fifty papers in the wrong drawer or writes a phone number down wrong. The skills are small and exact: ABC order, reading a number back, checking your typing, and keeping private papers private. This set breaks those down into steps students can practice, plus the office rules that protect private information.

This set covers office and front desk work: filing, copies, phone messages, checking in visitors, and data entry. Sorting mail by label is already a routine in my Task Analysis Data Sheets, and general soft skills are in my Soft Skills Scenario Cards.

What's included:

• Teacher page with three support levels and a 2-week plan

• Job snapshot: jobs, a typical shift, and what supervisors look for

• 16 vocabulary cards and a vocabulary match

• 5 task sequence cards (file papers, make copies, take a phone message, check in a visitor, do data entry) plus a blank card

• Put-it-in-order worksheets for all 5 tasks

• 8 safety rules and a 10-item safe or unsafe sort with "do this instead"

• 12 procedure cards (what is the rule here?) and a procedure planner

• On-the-job checklist for student and supervisor ratings, with an IEP data note

• Answer key and blank cards to write your own

How I use it:

I start with the job snapshot and the vocabulary cards. Then I model each task card at a real copier, phone, or file drawer (the school front office is a good spot with permission) and have students practice while a partner reads the steps. The procedure cards work best a few at a time as a warm-up or with role-play. Before a job site visit, students set goals on the checklist, and the supervisor or job coach rates the same skills afterward.

How this set is different from my other job skills resources: my Soft Skills Scenario Cards cover general "what would you do" moments that happen at any job, and my Task Analysis Data Sheets break down everyday routines with data sheets. This set is only about one workplace: its words, its tasks, and its rules. None of the scenario cards or routines are repeated here.

Part of the Job Site Task Card Series: one set per workplace, all in the same layout, so you can mix sites across your caseload and students already know how the cards work when they move to a new site.

Pairs well with:

• Calling In, Texting + Emailing the Boss (workplace phone and email scripts)

• Task Analysis Data Sheets (includes Sorting Mail or Items by Label with data sheets)

• Work Schedules + Time Cards (schedules and counting hours)

• Soft Skills Scenario Cards (the soft skills side of any job)

Who it is for: high school special education, transition programs for ages 18 to 21, vocational and CTE classes, job coaches, and work-based learning teams. Grades 9th to 12th and adult transition.

What you download: one printable PDF, 13 pages, US Letter. Answer key included.

Job tasks and rules vary by employer. Use this to prepare students, and always follow the training and rules at the actual job site.

From the author of The Transition Map (Jeremy D. Gooch), available in paperback and Kindle.

Written by Jeremy D. Gooch, a teacher with 20+ years in education. All student names and stories are made up.