CODESP Clerical 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following telephone messages is recorded MOST completely and professionally?
- John called — call him back.
- Mr. John Rivera called at 2:15 p.m. regarding the budget proposal. Please call him at (555) 482-1100 before 5:00 p.m. (Correct answer)
- Someone from accounting needs you to call.
- John Rivera called about the budget. Number on file.
Correct answer: Mr. John Rivera called at 2:15 p.m. regarding the budget proposal. Please call him at (555) 482-1100 before 5:00 p.m.
A complete telephone message includes the caller's full name, time of call, subject, callback number, and any deadline for returning the call.
Question 2: A clerk must arrange the following numbers in ascending order for a numeric filing system: 1092, 1029, 1209, 1092, 1290. Which sequence is correct?
- 1029, 1092, 1092, 1209, 1290 (Correct answer)
- 1029, 1092, 1209, 1092, 1290
- 1092, 1029, 1209, 1290, 1092
- 1029, 1209, 1092, 1092, 1290
Correct answer: 1029, 1092, 1092, 1209, 1290
Ascending order: 1029 < 1092 = 1092 < 1209 < 1290, so the correct sequence is 1029, 1092, 1092, 1209, 1290.
Question 3: Which of the following demonstrates correct subject-verb agreement?
- The list of applicants were reviewed yesterday.
- Each of the supervisors are responsible for their own section.
- Neither the manager nor the clerks was available.
- The committee has submitted its final report. (Correct answer)
Correct answer: The committee has submitted its final report.
'Committee' is a collective noun treated as singular when acting as one unit, so 'has submitted' and 'its' are both correct.
Question 4: An office orders supplies on a quarterly basis. Last year's quarterly expenditures were $842, $917, $788, and $1,053. What is the projected annual budget if this year's costs are expected to increase by 5%?
- $3,675.00
- $3,858.75 (Correct answer)
- $3,600.00
- $3,780.00
Correct answer: $3,858.75
Total last year: $842 + $917 + $788 + $1,053 = $3,600; increase by 5%: $3,600 × 1.05 = $3,780 — closest correct answer is $3,780.
Question 5: In a geographic filing system, records are PRIMARILY organized by:
- The subject matter of the document
- The date the document was created
- Location, such as state, city, or region (Correct answer)
- The name of the individual or company
Correct answer: Location, such as state, city, or region
Geographic filing uses location (country, state, county, city) as the primary sort key, useful for organizations with regional operations.
Question 6: A clerk notices that a coworker has been taking small amounts of office supplies home. The MOST appropriate first action is to:
- Ignore it since the supplies are inexpensive
- Confront the coworker directly and threaten to report them
- Document the observations and report them to a supervisor (Correct answer)
- Post an anonymous note warning the coworker to stop
Correct answer: Document the observations and report them to a supervisor
Documenting observations and reporting to a supervisor follows proper workplace procedures and avoids personal confrontation while addressing a policy violation.
Question 7: When filing records using a terminal digit system, the file number 47-28-13 would be filed FIRST by:
- 47, then 28, then 13
- 13, then 28, then 47 (Correct answer)
- 28, then 13, then 47
- 13, then 47, then 28
Correct answer: 13, then 28, then 47
In terminal digit filing, the last group (13) is the primary sort key, the middle group (28) is secondary, and the first group (47) is tertiary.
CODESP Clerical 4
Which of the following telephone messages is recorded MOST completely and professionally?