Administrative aide vs department secretary

The differences between administrative aides and department secretaries can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an administrative aide and a department secretary. Additionally, an administrative aide has an average salary of $38,714, which is higher than the $35,473 average annual salary of a department secretary.

The top three skills for an administrative aide include customer service, word processing and proofreading. The most important skills for a department secretary are patients, customer service, and data entry.

Administrative aide vs department secretary overview

	Administrative Aide	Department Secretary
Yearly salary	$38,714	$35,473
Hourly rate	$18.61	$17.05
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	96,883	80,303
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does an administrative aide do?

An administrative aide performs daily administrative support tasks in an office, helping to keep the workflow smooth and efficient. Their duties typically include organizing and disseminating documents, answering calls and correspondence, forwarding messages, greeting visitors and answering inquiries, and preparing and processing files. They may also participate in monitoring the inventory of office supplies, handling procurement requests when necessary. Furthermore, an administrative aide may also serve as the record-keeper of the office, updating databases in adherence to the company's policies and regulations.

What does a department secretary do?

A department secretary is responsible for providing administrative and clerical support to a specific department, ensuring smooth operations to maintain high-quality services to the customers and business partners. Department secretaries should have excellent knowledge of office management principles, especially on data processing procedures and customer service processes. They handle the scheduling of meetings and conferences, responding to customers' inquiries and concerns, directing visitors to the appropriate personnel and department, sorting files, and submitting business transactions and financial reports. A department secretary also recommends strategic procedures to generate more revenues and increase the company's profitability.

Administrative aide vs department secretary salary

Administrative aides and department secretaries have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Administrative Aide	Department Secretary
Average salary	$38,714	$35,473
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $48,000	Between $26,000 And $47,000
Highest paying City	Windsor, CT	Oakland, CA
Highest paying state	Connecticut	California
Best paying company	Columbia University in the City of New York	Brigham and Women's Hospital
Best paying industry	Utilities	Government

Differences between administrative aide and department secretary education

There are a few differences between an administrative aide and a department secretary in terms of educational background:

	Administrative Aide	Department Secretary
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Stanford University

Administrative aide vs department secretary demographics

Here are the differences between administrative aides' and department secretaries' demographics:

	Administrative Aide	Department Secretary
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 22.0% Female, 78.0%	Male, 7.0% Female, 93.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between administrative aide and department secretary duties and responsibilities

Administrative aide example responsibilities.

Support medical doctors, manage sensitive and confidential records pertaining to high risk patients with emphasis on accuracy.
Job costing (normal), A/R.
Design charts for GBR-P and UEWR manuals using Powerpoint for the radar group.
Reconcile A/R and A/P; contact vendors and customers to resolve account discrepancies.
Design and prepare PowerPoint presentations.
Process payroll for the department maintaining accuracy on all documentation.

Department secretary example responsibilities.

Lead DoD team that assist Pakistan in gaining military capabilities to conduct counter-terrorism operations against the Taliban.
Volunteer for ISO auditor duties to ensure ISO procedures are followed for certification.
Perform payroll functions, including maintaining timekeeping information and processing and submitting payroll.
Prepare materials for monthly board of directors meetings including PowerPoint presentations, agendas and minutes.
Complete all payroll documentation, enter all payroll documentation into computer program, and submit to payroll department.
Create PowerPoint presentations used for business development, organize files and develop spreadsheets, fax reports and scan documents.

Administrative aide vs department secretary skills

Common administrative aide skills

Customer Service, 15%
Word Processing, 14%
Proofreading, 13%
Data Entry, 10%
Clerical Support, 6%
Database Management, 5%

Common department secretary skills

Patients, 22%
Customer Service, 10%
Data Entry, 7%
Medical Terminology, 7%
Patient Care, 4%
Word Processing, 4%

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Administrative Aide
Administrative Aide vs Department Secretary

Updated January 8, 2025

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