Administrative internship vs administrative support specialist

The differences between administrative interns and administrative support specialists 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 internship and an administrative support specialist. Additionally, an administrative internship has an average salary of $38,801, which is higher than the $38,244 average annual salary of an administrative support specialist.

The top three skills for an administrative internship include data entry, healthcare and powerpoint. The most important skills for an administrative support specialist are customer service, data entry, and patients.

Administrative internship vs administrative support specialist overview

	Administrative Internship	Administrative Support Specialist
Yearly salary	$38,801	$38,244
Hourly rate	$18.65	$18.39
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	80,571	139,654
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does an administrative internship do?

Administrative interns are entry-level professionals providing administrative support in organizations. The interns are responsible for the improvement of their knowledge of administrative works. They should learn skills such as the company's technology, time management, detail-orientation, and written and verbal communication. They arrange appointments, executive travel, and meetings. It is also part of their job to prepare and edit reports, emails, memos, and letters. They even do clerical jobs.

What does an administrative support specialist do?

An administrative support specialist is an individual who is involved in the office management, clerical tasks, and back-office duties of an organization. To run the office smoothly, administrative support specialists must manage the purchasing and inventory of office supplies as well as schedule the maintenance of office equipment. They serve as a liaison for executives by screening incoming calls and emails, sorting mails, and setting appointments with employees, customers, and vendors. Administrative support specialists must also be able to draft memos and edit report proposals and other business documents.

Administrative internship vs administrative support specialist salary

Administrative interns and administrative support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Administrative Internship	Administrative Support Specialist
Average salary	$38,801	$38,244
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $50,000	Between $29,000 And $49,000
Highest paying City	San Pablo, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Hawaii	Connecticut
Best paying company	Photronics	King County
Best paying industry	Government	Government

Differences between administrative internship and administrative support specialist education

There are a few differences between an administrative internship and an administrative support specialist in terms of educational background:

	Administrative Internship	Administrative Support Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	Western Carolina University

Administrative internship vs administrative support specialist demographics

Here are the differences between administrative interns' and administrative support specialists' demographics:

	Administrative Internship	Administrative Support Specialist
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 38.8% Female, 61.2%	Male, 20.5% Female, 79.5%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between administrative internship and administrative support specialist duties and responsibilities

Administrative internship example responsibilities.

Create and manage the company's Facebook page for online promotion of artists and performances.
Manage Linux staging and testing environments.
Support medical doctors, manage sensitive and confidential records pertaining to high risk patients with emphasis on accuracy.
Assist with maintaining company newsletter, website, twitter, and Facebook.
Enhance operational effectiveness, emphasizing cost containment and high-quality patient care with healthcare organizations, government agencies, and third-party payers.
Create monthly student and alumni magazine.

Administrative support specialist example responsibilities.

Create PowerPoint presentations, manage spreadsheet information/graphs and provide reports as necessary.
Participate in committee meetings by preparing minutes and presentation summaries, planning meeting agendas, and organizing and managing meeting logistics.
Assist SharePoint intranet creation and documentation.
Generate PowerPoint presentations for meetings and training.
Maintain and post unit documents utilizing SharePoint.
Maintain files on all division civilian personnel, submit accurate payroll sheets for assign civilian personnel.

Administrative internship vs administrative support specialist skills

Common administrative internship skills

Data Entry, 13%
Healthcare, 11%
PowerPoint, 6%
Administrative Intern, 6%
Financial Statements, 5%
Administrative Tasks, 4%

Common administrative support specialist skills

Customer Service, 16%
Data Entry, 8%
Patients, 6%
PowerPoint, 5%
Administrative Functions, 4%
Office Equipment, 4%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Administrative Internship
Administrative Internship vs Administrative Support Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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