A typist who produced output to perforator equipment, you converted source documents into punched paper tape — operating keyboards that drove the tape-perforating mechanism for downstream telegraph, teletype, or data-processing use.
Your shift centered on the keyboard-and-perforator workflow — typing source documents into the perforator, producing coded paper tape, often running parallel proof copy on connected printers or typewriters. The work ran at production speed, with verification handled at downstream operations rather than at the perforator station. Tapes produced and accuracy at proof were the operating measures.
Friction came from the cumulative concentration required across shifts — perforator typing demanded sustained accuracy on a system where errors didn't surface immediately, and operators learned to maintain attention through breaks and rhythm changes. Employer variance shaped the work: telegraph offices, news services, and large corporate communications ran perforator operations; data-processing service bureaus used perforators for batch-input preparation.
The seat suited those comfortable with skilled typing, attentive to detail under production pressure, and patient with deferred-verification workflows. The trade-off was the gradual technology shift that absorbed the role — direct-keying systems through the 1970s and electronic message systems through the 1980s retired most perforator-typist positions across the communications and data-processing industries.
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Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
Roles with similar work and overlapping career paths
View all Admin & Office roles →A typist who produced output to perforator equipment, you converted source documents into punched paper tape — operating keyboards that drove the tape-perforating mechanism for downstream telegraph, teletype, or data-processing use.
Median pay for a Perforator Typist is about $40K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $30K to $57K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Monitoring, Time Management, and Writing.
Most people in this role hold a high school diploma.
Employment in this field is projected to decline about 25.9% through 2034, with roughly 135,280 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Data Collector, Senior Data Collector, and Data Transcriber.
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