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The differences between administrative assistants/personal assistants and administrative office assistants 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/personal assistant and an administrative office assistant. Additionally, an administrative assistant/personal assistant has an average salary of $40,751, which is higher than the $33,318 average annual salary of an administrative office assistant.
The top three skills for an administrative assistant/personal assistant include payroll, scheduling appointments and financial statements. The most important skills for an administrative office assistant are customer service, data entry, and phone calls.
| Administrative Assistant/Personal Assistant | Administrative Office Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $40,751 | $33,318 |
| Hourly rate | $19.59 | $16.02 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 70,276 | 81,528 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
An Administrative Assistant/Personal Assistant performs daily and time management tasks, meeting schedules, note-taking, and correspondence. Administrative Assistants answer and direct phone calls to the appropriate staff. They are in charge of ordering and purchasing office supply stocks. Their duties and responsibilities depend on the company and the industry they are working for. They serve as the point of contact for external stakeholders and staff. They must develop professionalism, inventory control, and administrative writing skills.
An administrative office assistant is responsible for performing administrative duties to assist in daily management operations. These duties include taking calls and responding to client and customers' inquiries and concerns, scheduling meetings and conferences, organizing files and submitting required documents, sorting invoices for release, processing travel arrangements, receiving emails, forwarding reports to the appropriate department, and coordinating with company's events. An administrative assistant must be detail-oriented, as well as having excellent time-management and multi-tasking skills to perform duties even under minimal supervision.
Administrative assistants/personal assistants and administrative office assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Administrative Assistant/Personal Assistant | Administrative Office Assistant | |
| Average salary | $40,751 | $33,318 |
| Salary range | Between $30,000 And $54,000 | Between $25,000 And $43,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Sacramento, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | - | Buckley King |
| Best paying industry | - | Government |
There are a few differences between an administrative assistant/personal assistant and an administrative office assistant in terms of educational background:
| Administrative Assistant/Personal Assistant | Administrative Office Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between administrative assistants/personal assistants' and administrative office assistants' demographics:
| Administrative Assistant/Personal Assistant | Administrative Office Assistant | |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9% | Male, 14.7% Female, 85.3% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |