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The differences between administrative office assistants and administrative supports 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 office assistant and an administrative support. Additionally, an administrative support has an average salary of $37,692, which is higher than the $33,318 average annual salary of an administrative office assistant.
The top three skills for an administrative office assistant include customer service, data entry and phone calls. The most important skills for an administrative support are customer service, administrative tasks, and data entry.
| Administrative Office Assistant | Administrative Support | |
| Yearly salary | $33,318 | $37,692 |
| Hourly rate | $16.02 | $18.12 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 81,528 | 114,480 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
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 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.
Administrative office assistants and administrative supports have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Administrative Office Assistant | Administrative Support | |
| Average salary | $33,318 | $37,692 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $43,000 | Between $26,000 And $53,000 |
| Highest paying City | Sacramento, CA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | Buckley King | Pacific Investment Management Company LLC |
| Best paying industry | Government | Technology |
There are a few differences between an administrative office assistant and an administrative support in terms of educational background:
| Administrative Office Assistant | Administrative Support | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between administrative office assistants' and administrative supports' demographics:
| Administrative Office Assistant | Administrative Support | |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 14.7% Female, 85.3% | Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6% |
| 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, 9.1% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |