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Administrative assistant/communications vs administrative staff

The differences between administrative assistants/communications and administrative staff 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 assistant/communications and an administrative staff. Additionally, an administrative staff has an average salary of $77,101, which is higher than the $35,363 average annual salary of an administrative assistant/communications.

The top three skills for an administrative assistant/communications include data entry, powerpoint and provides administrative support. The most important skills for an administrative staff are telephone calls, word processing, and travel arrangements.

Administrative assistant/communications vs administrative staff overview

Administrative Assistant/CommunicationsAdministrative Staff
Yearly salary$35,363$77,101
Hourly rate$17.00$37.07
Growth rate-8%-8%
Number of jobs63,399119,030
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 62%Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Average age5050
Years of experience22

What does an administrative assistant/communications do?

An administrative assistant for communications is responsible for handling administrative duties to ensure that corporate communications and announcements are disseminated across the organization and media platforms appropriately. Administrative assistants for communications review documents and files to check for accuracy and conduct revisions as needed before publication. They also manage media relations, create promotional campaigns, and coordinate with clients for any important updates regarding business performance. An administrative assistant for communications must be highly reliable and organizational to work under minimal supervision and meet strict deadlines.

What does an administrative staff do?

As the administrative staff, they primarily provide administrative and secretarial support for the department. Typically, they do report-writing, filing and scheduling, and payroll. They plan department weekly meetings, schedule conference calls, and work on solving administrative related concerns and issues. They do a complex task that involves multi-tasking from the preparation of department reports, analyzing data, and finding solutions. It is a requirement to be an experienced, collaborator, and trained cross-functional communicator. Moreover, other duties will include scheduling company-initiated activities, meetings, and events.

Administrative assistant/communications vs administrative staff salary

Administrative assistants/communications and administrative staff have different pay scales, as shown below.

Administrative Assistant/CommunicationsAdministrative Staff
Average salary$35,363$77,101
Salary rangeBetween $28,000 And $44,000Between $58,000 And $101,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateHawaiiCalifornia
Best paying companyNorthrop GrummanNVIDIA
Best paying industryNon ProfitsProfessional

Differences between administrative assistant/communications and administrative staff education

There are a few differences between an administrative assistant/communications and an administrative staff in terms of educational background:

Administrative Assistant/CommunicationsAdministrative Staff
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 62%Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeStanford UniversityUniversity of Pennsylvania

Administrative assistant/communications vs administrative staff demographics

Here are the differences between administrative assistants/communications' and administrative staff' demographics:

Administrative Assistant/CommunicationsAdministrative Staff
Average age5050
Gender ratioMale, 17.4% Female, 82.6%Male, 31.9% Female, 68.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage6%6%

Differences between administrative assistant/communications and administrative staff duties and responsibilities

Administrative assistant/communications example responsibilities.

  • Manage department's intranet through SharePoint.
  • Manage all employee payroll records/files and process all accounts payable/receivable.
  • Manage and coordinate complex internal and external meetings and/or events via videoconferencing, WebEx and teleconference calls.
  • Perform full-charge bookkeeping functions - accounts payable, account receivable, bank account reconciliation, payroll and payroll taxes.
  • Implement strategies that integrate IntraConnect with SharePoint intranet and collaboration.
  • Create executive PowerPoint presentations and develop campaigns for campus broadcasting system.
  • Show more

Administrative staff example responsibilities.

  • Support medical doctors, manage sensitive and confidential records pertaining to high risk patients with emphasis on accuracy.
  • Prepare PowerPoint presentations for management distribution.
  • Maintain payroll information by collect, calculate and enter data.
  • Prepare briefing slides and presentation material using PowerPoint and Visio.
  • Maintain accounting statements, databases, and other financial information such as payroll coding and budget preparation
  • Provide cloud base customer relationship management with Salesforce for optimization in coordination of the workforce development program and other community orient events
  • Show more

Administrative assistant/communications vs administrative staff skills

Common administrative assistant/communications skills
  • Data Entry, 8%
  • PowerPoint, 7%
  • Provides Administrative Support, 7%
  • Office Equipment, 4%
  • Expense Reports, 4%
  • Travel Arrangements, 4%
Common administrative staff skills
  • Telephone Calls, 19%
  • Word Processing, 16%
  • Travel Arrangements, 7%
  • Payroll, 6%
  • Personnel Actions, 6%
  • Financial Reports, 5%

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