Administrative office assistant vs front desk administrative assistant

The differences between administrative office assistants and front desk administrative 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 office assistant and a front desk administrative assistant. Additionally, an administrative office assistant has an average salary of $33,318, which is higher than the $33,037 average annual salary of a front desk administrative assistant.

The top three skills for an administrative office assistant include customer service, data entry and phone calls. The most important skills for a front desk administrative assistant are customer service, patients, and data entry.

Administrative office assistant vs front desk administrative assistant overview

	Administrative Office Assistant	Front Desk Administrative Assistant
Yearly salary	$33,318	$33,037
Hourly rate	$16.02	$15.88
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	81,528	95,732
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 46%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does an administrative office assistant do?

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.

What does a front desk administrative assistant do?

A front desk administrative assistant is responsible for performing administrative duties to support daily business functions and operations. Front desk administrative assistants assist guests, respond to their inquiries and concerns, and direct them to the appropriate personnel for their needs. They also monitor office inventories, write purchase requests, and distribute mails across the departments. A front desk administrative assistants review business and financial transactions to generate reports, update information on the company's database, and sort documents for reference.

Administrative office assistant vs front desk administrative assistant salary

Administrative office assistants and front desk administrative assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Administrative Office Assistant	Front Desk Administrative Assistant
Average salary	$33,318	$33,037
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $43,000	Between $27,000 And $39,000
Highest paying City	Sacramento, CA	Springfield, MA
Highest paying state	Hawaii	Connecticut
Best paying company	Buckley King	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	Government	Professional

Differences between administrative office assistant and front desk administrative assistant education

There are a few differences between an administrative office assistant and a front desk administrative assistant in terms of educational background:

	Administrative Office Assistant	Front Desk Administrative Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 46%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Administrative office assistant vs front desk administrative assistant demographics

Here are the differences between administrative office assistants' and front desk administrative assistants' demographics:

	Administrative Office Assistant	Front Desk Administrative Assistant
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 14.7% Female, 85.3%	Male, 10.0% Female, 90.0%
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, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between administrative office assistant and front desk administrative assistant duties and responsibilities

Administrative office assistant example responsibilities.

Develop and manage external financial relationships between clients and the IRS.
Manage the receptionist area, including greeting visitors and responding to telephone and in-person requests for information.
Establish and maintain effective communications and cohesive working relationships with company associates, telephone and walk-in customers, and site visitors.
Dust offices and clean windows and doors.
Update information in CATT database, as well as make appointments for therapists and psychiatrists in Sharepoint.
Create electronic filing system to alleviate paper copies and recruit fellow co-workers to get on board with SharePoint.

Front desk administrative assistant example responsibilities.

Manage day-to-day operations including scheduling and coordinating appointments, verify patient insurance, prepare correspondences between medical providers and their patients.
Process member and team member paperwork; including member cancellations, updates, new hires/terminations/status changes, and payroll paperwork.
Monitor and complete payroll information.
Demonstrate great initiative in assisting tech team with minor technical issues and create PowerPoint presentations for business strategic purposes.
Register patients, verify eligibility of insurance, interview them in order to obtain other demographic information that are needed.
Manage day-to-day operations including scheduling and coordinating appointments, verify patient insurance, prepare correspondences between medical providers and their patients.

Administrative office assistant vs front desk administrative assistant skills

Common administrative office assistant skills

Customer Service, 14%
Data Entry, 13%
Phone Calls, 7%
Payroll, 5%
PowerPoint, 4%
Database Management, 4%

Common front desk administrative assistant skills

Customer Service, 15%
Patients, 12%
Data Entry, 8%
Phone Calls, 8%
Front Desk Operations, 7%
Check-In, 4%

Administrative Office Assistant vs. similar jobs

Administrative Office Assistant related careers

Administrative Office Assistant related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Office and Administrative Industry
Administrative Office Assistant
Administrative Office Assistant vs Front Desk Administrative Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse office and administrative jobs