Administrative assistant/supervisor vs administrative staff

The differences between administrative assistant/supervisors 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/supervisor and an administrative staff. Additionally, an administrative staff has an average salary of $77,101, which is higher than the $46,285 average annual salary of an administrative assistant/supervisor.

The top three skills for an administrative assistant/supervisor include customer service, payroll and front desk. The most important skills for an administrative staff are telephone calls, word processing, and travel arrangements.

Administrative assistant/supervisor vs administrative staff overview

	Administrative Assistant/Supervisor	Administrative Staff
Yearly salary	$46,285	$77,101
Hourly rate	$22.25	$37.07
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	44,235	119,030
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does an administrative assistant/supervisor do?

An administrative assistant/supervisor is responsible for monitoring the overall administrative operations, supervising the administrative staff productivity, and ensuring that all tasks meet the deadline with high quality and efficiency. They also respond to clients' inquiries, manage concerns, and escalate high-level complaints to the appropriate department. An administrative assistant/supervisor also assists with developing strategies, analyzing current market trends to recommend services that would increase its revenues and profitability. This level requires excellent leadership and communication skills to manage staff and evaluate their performance.

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/supervisor vs administrative staff salary

Administrative assistant/supervisors and administrative staff have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Administrative Assistant/Supervisor	Administrative Staff
Average salary	$46,285	$77,101
Salary range	Between $33,000 And $63,000	Between $58,000 And $101,000
Highest paying City	Glen Burnie, MD	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Minnesota State Fair	NVIDIA
Best paying industry	Finance	Professional

Differences between administrative assistant/supervisor and administrative staff education

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

	Administrative Assistant/Supervisor	Administrative Staff
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	University of Pennsylvania

Administrative assistant/supervisor vs administrative staff demographics

Here are the differences between administrative assistant/supervisors' and administrative staff' demographics:

	Administrative Assistant/Supervisor	Administrative Staff
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 36.5% Female, 63.5%	Male, 31.9% Female, 68.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.0% 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 Percentage	6%	6%

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

Administrative assistant/supervisor example responsibilities.

Manage an official company page on Facebook to facilitate interaction with customers and increase customer engagement.
Enter data and generate time reports for approval using PeopleSoft.
Receive and process cash receipts, credit card payments, and checks in QuickBooks.
Enter requisitions into Peoplesoft, purchase office supplies, and schedule travel and conferences.
Set up new customers in the QuickBooks database and file folder and maintain the vendor and customer list.
Perform audits on medical records for Medicare and Medicaid organizations.

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

Administrative assistant/supervisor vs administrative staff skills

Common administrative assistant/supervisor skills

Customer Service, 30%
Payroll, 15%
Front Desk, 6%
Financial Statements, 6%
Office Equipment, 4%
Schedule Appointments, 3%

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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Administrative Assistant/Supervisor
Administrative Assistant/Supervisor vs Administrative Staff

Updated January 8, 2025

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