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.
Administrative assistant/communications responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real administrative assistant/communications resumes:
- 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.
- Prepare professional correspondence, documents, and detail PowerPoint presentations for internal and external customers.
- Implement a solution for staffing restructure that reduce overall salary expense while maintaining productivity for a rehabilitation inpatient nursing unit.
- Schedule appointments to perform HUD require interviews making sure contractors/sub-contractors follow lead-safe rules and regulations.
Administrative assistant/communications skills and personality traits
We calculated that 8% of Administrative Assistants/Communications are proficient in Data Entry, PowerPoint, and Provides Administrative Support. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Organizational skills, and Writing skills.
We break down the percentage of Administrative Assistants/Communications that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Data Entry, 8%
Completed data entry into several computer operations systems
- PowerPoint, 7%
Prepared professional correspondence, documents, and detailed PowerPoint presentations for internal and external customers.
- Provides Administrative Support, 7%
Manage Executive member of management schedule and provides administrative support to alternate management as well as clients.
- Office Equipment, 4%
Assisted Community Education department with program registrations, deposits and office equipment supplies.
- Expense Reports, 4%
Coordinated expense reports, arranged travel domestic and international for surveyors.
- Travel Arrangements, 4%
Developed and maintain excellent vendor, client relationships * Maintained Executive's calendars and coordinated travel arrangements.
Common skills that an administrative assistant/communications uses to do their job include "data entry," "powerpoint," and "provides administrative support." You can find details on the most important administrative assistant/communications responsibilities below.
Interpersonal skills. One of the key soft skills for an administrative assistant/communications to have is interpersonal skills. You can see how this relates to what administrative assistants/communications do because "secretaries and administrative assistants interact with clients, customers, or staff." Additionally, an administrative assistant/communications resume shows how administrative assistants/communications use interpersonal skills: "displayed strong work ethic and superior interpersonal, customer service and communication skills. "
Organizational skills. Many administrative assistant/communications duties rely on organizational skills. "secretaries and administrative assistants keep files, folders, and schedules in order so that an office runs efficiently.," so an administrative assistant/communications will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways administrative assistant/communications responsibilities rely on organizational skills: "prepared presentations, spreadsheets, expense reports, organizational charts, travel domestic/international and meeting documents. "
Writing skills. This is an important skill for administrative assistants/communications to perform their duties. For an example of how administrative assistant/communications responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "secretaries and administrative assistants write memos and emails when communicating with managers, employees, and customers." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an administrative assistant/communications: "assisted with coordination of department's media relations activities, including writing and dissemination of press releases. ".
See the full list of administrative assistant/communications skills
The three companies that hire the most administrative assistant/communicationss are:
- Comcast2 administrative assistants/communications jobs
- San Francisco Foundation2 administrative assistants/communications jobs
- University of Maryland Medical System2 administrative assistants/communications jobs
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Compare different administrative assistants/communications
Administrative assistant/communications vs. Staff assistant
A staff assistant is a company employee who is tasked to support and help staff members to adequately fill their roles and assuring that the organization is running efficiently. Working under an administrative supervisor, an assistant's tasks include answering phone calls, scheduling meetings or appointments, and booking the necessary travels. Moreover, an assistant should have excellent skills in written and verbal communication and is highly organized with minimal supervision. An assistant may be able to work in a wide variety of settings, which includes healthcare facilities and government offices.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, administrative assistant/communications responsibilities require skills like "office management," "calendar management," "purchase orders," and "windows." Meanwhile a typical staff assistant has skills in areas such as "customer service," "patients," "office procedures," and "veterans." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Staff assistants tend to make the most money working in the professional industry, where they earn an average salary of $50,475. In contrast, administrative assistants/communications make the biggest average salary, $39,956, in the non profits industry.On average, staff assistants reach similar levels of education than administrative assistants/communications. Staff assistants are 1.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Administrative assistant/communications vs. Administrative support
Administrative support specialists provide different types of governmental assistance. They carry out varied clerical duties in almost all industries. Most of these duties revolve around supervising and distributing information within an organization. This typically includes taking memos, answering phone calls, and managing, storing, and organizing files. They are also responsible for receiving and sending correspondence and greeting customers and clients. Some administrative support may be required to have vast professional knowledge as their duties are more specialized than the others.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real administrative assistant/communications resumes. While administrative assistant/communications responsibilities can utilize skills like "calendar management," "press releases," "community outreach," and "photoshop," administrative supports use skills like "customer service," "phone calls," "patients," and "excellent organizational."
Administrative supports may earn a higher salary than administrative assistants/communications, but administrative supports earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $40,623. On the other hand, administrative assistants/communications receive higher pay in the non profits industry, where they earn an average salary of $39,956.administrative supports earn similar levels of education than administrative assistants/communications in general. They're 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.9% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Administrative assistant/communications vs. Operations administrator assistant
An operations administrator assistant is primarily in charge of performing support tasks while overseeing the operations within a company or organization. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around answering inquiries within the workplace, responding to clients' calls and questions, managing schedules, arranging appointments, and maintaining accurate records of all transactions among employees, clients, and vendors. There are also instances where one must assist senior administrators with their travel arrangements and help staff with complex issues. Furthermore, as an assistant, it is essential to implement the policies and regulations of the company.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, administrative assistants/communications are more likely to have skills like "office management," "press releases," "windows," and "community outreach." But a operations administrator assistant is more likely to have skills like "customer service," "logistics," "computer system," and "human resources."
Operations administrator assistants earn the best pay in the energy industry, where they command an average salary of $38,966. Administrative assistants/communications earn the highest pay from the non profits industry, with an average salary of $39,956.When it comes to education, operations administrator assistants tend to earn similar degree levels compared to administrative assistants/communications. In fact, they're 1.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Administrative assistant/communications vs. Administrative staff
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.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between administrative assistants/communications and administrative staff, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an administrative assistant/communications might have more use for skills like "data entry," "provides administrative support," "calendar management," and "press releases." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of administrative staff require skills like "personnel actions," "resource management," "hard copy," and "human resources. "
Administrative staff enjoy the best pay in the professional industry, with an average salary of $73,642. For comparison, administrative assistants/communications earn the highest salary in the non profits industry.administrative staff reach similar levels of education compared to administrative assistants/communications, in general. The difference is that they're 3.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of administrative assistant/communications
Updated January 8, 2025
