Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (BIBB)

Designation of occupation

Industrial clerk

Recognized by ordinance of 23 July 2002 (BGBl. I, p. 2764)

Duration of traineeship

3 years

The venues for training are company and part-time vocational school (Berufsschule)

Field of activity

Industrial clerks work in firms of various sizes in various branches of industry. Their commercial-managerial field of activity extends to all functions of a firm.

Industrial clerks support all corporate processes from a business management point of view, from order preparation to customer service after order realisation. They can work both in commercial core functions like marketing and sales, procurement and provisioning, accounts and personnel, and at the interface with other departments, commercial areas and projects.

Areas of work also include, for example, field service, export, logistics, product management, investment planning and management, controlling, e-commerce, supply chain management, franchising, IT area, development and organisation.

Occupational skills

Industrial clerks

• sell a firm's products and services,
• carry out marketing activities, from the analysis of market potential to customer service,
• advise and support customers,
• determine the demand for products and services, purchase materials, means of production and services and plan their use for the production of goods and services or their marketing,
• support the process of order handling, for example in the production of goods and services and logistics,
• deal with business management subjects in all functions of a firm (financing, investment, profitability, cost planning, analysis and tracking, etc.),
• deal with accountancy operations,
• analyse statistical data for profit monitoring and the management of operations,
• use instruments for personnel recruitment and personnel selection, plan personnel deployment and
• deal with personnel administration tasks,
• plan and organise work processes,
• use foreign language documents, correspond and communicate in typical situations with customers in a foreign language,
• work in a team, process and project-oriented manner, using current information, communications and media technology,
• have communication, cooperation, presentation, problem-solving and decision-making skills.

Last modified on: December 12, 2006