Administrative professional vs assistant secretary

The differences between administrative professionals 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 professional and an assistant secretary. Additionally, an assistant secretary has an average salary of $107,366, which is higher than the $39,486 average annual salary of an administrative professional.

The top three skills for an administrative professional include customer service, powerpoint and data entry. The most important skills for an assistant secretary are telephone calls, payroll, and scheduling appointments.

Administrative professional vs assistant secretary overview

	Administrative Professional	Assistant Secretary
Yearly salary	$39,486	$107,366
Hourly rate	$18.98	$51.62
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	87,372	52,165
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does an administrative professional do?

An administrative professional specializes in performing administrative support and clerical tasks in a company or office, ensuring accuracy and smooth workflow. Their responsibilities typically revolve around managing schedules, arranging appointments and meetings, producing progress reports and presentations, delegating tasks, and attending meetings on behalf of executives or staff. There are also instances when an administrative assistant must answer calls and correspondence, respond to inquiries and concerns, welcome guests, relay messages, and provide staff with any support tasks or documents.

What does an assistant secretary do?

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 professional vs assistant secretary salary

Administrative professionals and assistant secretaries have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Administrative Professional	Assistant Secretary
Average salary	$39,486	$107,366
Salary range	Between $23,000 And $65,000	Between $38,000 And $302,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Connecticut	Rhode Island
Best paying company	HomeOwners Advantage	Elanco
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between administrative professional and assistant secretary education

There are a few differences between an administrative professional and an assistant secretary in terms of educational background:

	Administrative Professional	Assistant Secretary
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Administrative professional vs assistant secretary demographics

Here are the differences between administrative professionals' and assistant secretaries' demographics:

	Administrative Professional	Assistant Secretary
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 17.4% Female, 82.6%	Male, 21.7% Female, 78.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	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%

Differences between administrative professional and assistant secretary duties and responsibilities

Administrative professional example responsibilities.

Manage documentation, folder structures and user permissions in SharePoint.
Participate in committee meetings by preparing minutes and presentation summaries, planning meeting agendas, and organizing and managing meeting logistics.
Keep vendors accounts up to date, process payroll, collect on accounts receivable, keep accounts payable up to date.
Create document libraries for several hospital initiatives in SharePoint.
Receive and distribute payroll garnishment/bankruptcy notification letters to employees.
Develop and maintain relevant organizational charts, facilitating retrieval of staff data in PowerPoint format.

Assistant secretary example responsibilities.

Manage and oversee all STO relate actions task to OSD impacting future and current operations in STO.
Assist main accountant with extra jobs and are trained in QuickBooks.
Proofread, edit & type legal briefs, business letters, case notes.
Book keeping, answer phone calls, run errands and handle billing using Quickbooks.
Assist in contacting and informing the parents of upcoming graduates about alumni programs and donations.
Serve as first point of contact for students, faculty, and alumni calling or visiting the main administrative office.

Administrative professional vs assistant secretary skills

Common administrative professional skills

Customer Service, 16%
PowerPoint, 12%
Data Entry, 11%
Travel Arrangements, 7%
Administrative Tasks, 3%
Office Equipment, 3%

Common assistant secretary skills

Telephone Calls, 13%
Payroll, 9%
Scheduling Appointments, 9%
Financial Statements, 9%
Office Equipment, 7%
Computer System, 5%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Administrative Professional
Administrative Professional vs Assistant Secretary

Updated January 8, 2025

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