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The differences between administrative clerks and assistant 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 clerk and an assistant secretary. Additionally, an assistant secretary has an average salary of $107,366, which is higher than the $32,327 average annual salary of an administrative clerk.
The top three skills for an administrative clerk include customer service, data entry and patients. The most important skills for an assistant secretary are telephone calls, payroll, and scheduling appointments.
| Administrative Clerk | Assistant Secretary | |
| Yearly salary | $32,327 | $107,366 |
| Hourly rate | $15.54 | $51.62 |
| Growth rate | -5% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 137,639 | 52,165 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 37% | Bachelor's Degree, 47% |
| Average age | 47 | 50 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
An administrative clerk provides support to staff and does clerical works. These clerical duties include answering and making phone calls, typing documents, compiling and filing records, and scheduling appointments. The clerks often set up office meetings and invite reliable speakers. Also, they do research and prepare reports or presentations. Candidates for the job must be organized, detail-oriented, and can manage their time well. They must be tech-savvy and have a basic knowledge of bookkeeping. The salary depends on their experience, industry, and location of the job.
An assistant secretary is responsible for performing administrative and clerical duties to support the daily operations of various departments and management personnel and ensure the efficiency of business functions. Assistant secretaries usually assist in business communications, responding to customers' inquiries and concerns, reaching out to existing clients to schedule appointments, welcoming guests on the office, and routing calls to the appropriate department. They also handle data entry procedures, updating customer information on the database, as well as creating reports on business and financial transactions.
Administrative clerks and assistant secretaries have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Administrative Clerk | Assistant Secretary | |
| Average salary | $32,327 | $107,366 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $40,000 | Between $38,000 And $302,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | Columbia University in the City of New York | Elanco |
| Best paying industry | Finance | - |
There are a few differences between an administrative clerk and an assistant secretary in terms of educational background:
| Administrative Clerk | Assistant Secretary | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 37% | Bachelor's Degree, 47% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between administrative clerks' and assistant secretaries' demographics:
| Administrative Clerk | Assistant Secretary | |
| Average age | 47 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 27.9% Female, 72.1% | Male, 21.7% Female, 78.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 21.9% Asian, 8.3% White, 53.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |