Data Capturer Job Description

A data capturer is someone who literally captures data. Whether you run a software program to pull information from online sales agreements or physically pore over documents to find relevant information for your company, your role is to get the skinny. You can work in a diverse range of industries and serve anyone from the marketing department to a sales team. For you, success is imbedded in the details.

A data capturer position is basically a clerical job that requires you to find the data that you’re assigned to find. Chances are, you’ll report to a database administrator who creates, manages and culls the different piles of data for your company. One day, you might go over a database to find all the transactions over a certain amount or separate transactions by payment method. You might be tasked with finding data pertaining to addresses of customers and compile separate lists by zip code. It’s your job to carefully listen to your daily instructions and pore over the data to capture the facts and figures the company needs at the time.

Many companies rely on software to capture various bits of data, but no machine can take the place of a detail-oriented data capturer who can find errors and simple mistakes made by the computer. As a data capturer, you might be one of only a few in the company who is responsible for checking the accuracy of the computer feeds and verifying that the details are correct before sending it up the management chain of command. As such, you must take the job description of “detail-oriented” to the next level and make yourself the detail queen.

Very often, you’ll have to create reports with the data you’ve captured or at least pull it together to present to your boss in an understandable manner. You may just have to fill in a template with the data. Either way, you’ll work under deadlines and need to accurately report your findings. In some companies, as an entry-level clerical worker, you could be moved around as well, especially if you work in a smaller company. For example, you might be asked to fill in at the front desk when the receptionist goes to lunch, or do filing when there isn’t any data for you to work on.

While you’re poring over documents, invoices and spreadsheets to check the numbers and verify the captured information that the automated data capture system reported, you’ll also be on the lookout for other patterns that might stick out. Point out variations or patterns you see to show that you can provide more to the company than simply capturing the data. You can prove to be a valuable asset by analyzing that data too and using it to solve problems. The data capturer position is one that could lead to a promotion in the computer industry to database administrator. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a database administrator spends at least a couple of years in a related job before moving into the slot. You also may need to get a bachelor’s degree in a computer-related field. Certifications from the software companies you work with won’t hurt your chances of getting promoted either.

Database administrators earned a median annual salary of $84,950 in 2016, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On the low end, database administrators earned a 25th percentile salary of $62,350, meaning 75 percent earned more than this amount. The 75th percentile salary is $109,940, meaning 25 percent earn more. In 2016, 119,500 people were employed in the U.S. as database administrators.