How to hire production, planning, and expediting clerks
A job description you can copy, interview questions tied to the real work, and what to pay. Free.
Job description template
Copy it, fill in the brackets, and remove anything that does not fit your job. Keep only must-haves you would really turn someone away for.
[Job title] at [Company name] [City, State] · [Full-time / Part-time] · [Pay range] About the role [Two or three sentences about your team, the work and why it matters.] What you will do • Arrange for delivery, assembly, or distribution of supplies or parts to expedite flow of materials and meet production schedules. • Confer with department supervisors or other personnel to assess progress and discuss needed changes. • Confer with establishment personnel, vendors, or customers to coordinate production or shipping activities and to resolve complaints or eliminate delays. • Distribute production schedules or work orders to departments. • Plan production commitments or timetables for business units, specific programs, or jobs, using sales forecasts. • Requisition and maintain inventories of materials or supplies necessary to meet production demands. • Review documents, such as production schedules, work orders, or staffing tables, to determine personnel or materials requirements or material priorities. • Revise production schedules when required due to design changes, labor or material shortages, backlogs, or other interruptions, collaborating with management, marketing, sales, production, or engineering. What you bring • [Required license, certification or years of experience, if any] • [Education, only if you truly need it. Typical to start in this job: High school diploma or equivalent] • Strong reading comprehension, speaking, active listening, critical thinking, monitoring and writing skills • Working knowledge of production and processing, customer and personal service, English Language and administrative • [Anything else you would really turn someone away for] Pay and benefits [Pay range]. For reference, the U.S. median for this job is $28.68 an hour ($59,650 a year). [Benefits, schedule and anything else candidates should know.] How to apply [Apply on JAI Bot. Every applicant hears back.]
Interview questions for production, planning, and expediting clerks
Ask every candidate the same questions, in the same order, and write down what they say. Questions about past work show what someone has actually done.
- Tell me about a time you had to arrange for delivery, assembly, or distribution of supplies or parts to expedite flow of materials and meet production schedules. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
- Tell me about a time you had to confer with department supervisors or other personnel to assess progress and discuss needed changes. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
- Tell me about a time you had to confer with establishment personnel, vendors, or customers to coordinate production or shipping activities and to resolve complaints or eliminate delays. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
- Tell me about a time you had to distribute production schedules or work orders to departments. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
- Tell me about written instructions, a policy or a manual you had to follow closely. How did you make sure you followed it correctly?
- Explain something technical from your last job as you would to a new coworker.
- Tell me about a time you had to understand a request or problem that was explained poorly. How did you make sure you got it right?
- Why this job, and why now? What would make you stay here for the long term?
Good answers name a real situation, what the person did themselves and what happened. Avoid questions about age, family plans, religion, health, national origin or anything else unrelated to the job.
What production, planning, and expediting clerks do
- Arrange for delivery, assembly, or distribution of supplies or parts to expedite flow of materials and meet production schedules.
- Confer with department supervisors or other personnel to assess progress and discuss needed changes.
- Confer with establishment personnel, vendors, or customers to coordinate production or shipping activities and to resolve complaints or eliminate delays.
- Distribute production schedules or work orders to departments.
- Plan production commitments or timetables for business units, specific programs, or jobs, using sales forecasts.
- Requisition and maintain inventories of materials or supplies necessary to meet production demands.
- Review documents, such as production schedules, work orders, or staffing tables, to determine personnel or materials requirements or material priorities.
- Revise production schedules when required due to design changes, labor or material shortages, backlogs, or other interruptions, collaborating with management, marketing, sales, production, or engineering.
Skills that matter most
Education, experience and outlook for production, planning, and expediting clerks
- Typical education to start: High school diploma or equivalent (BLS)
- Related work experience most have: 1 to 2 years (O*NET)
- Training on the job: Moderate-term on-the-job training (BLS)
- Job outlook: -1.3% over ten years, little or no change · about 32,600 openings a year (BLS)
What to pay production, planning, and expediting clerks
Pay depends a lot on where the job is. Highest and lowest median yearly pay by state:
| State | Median yearly pay |
|---|---|
| Rhode Island | $65,310 |
| Colorado | $63,980 |
| Hawaii | $63,780 |
| Connecticut | $63,240 |
| California | $63,000 |
| South Dakota | $50,530 |
| Arkansas | $50,350 |
| New Mexico | $49,640 |
See production, planning, and expediting clerks pay in every state
Related hiring guides
- Project Management Specialists
- Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks
- First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers
- Weighers, Measurers, Checkers, and Samplers, Recordkeeping
- First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers
- First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers
- Procurement Clerks
- Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians
- Stockers and Order Fillers
- Cargo and Freight Agents
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Post a job freePay by areaJob duties and skills: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. JAI Bot has modified this information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Pay: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025. Interview questions and the job description template: JAI Bot, based on the duties and skills above.