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The differences between administrative staff and 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 staff and a secretary. Additionally, an administrative staff has an average salary of $77,101, which is higher than the $36,442 average annual salary of a secretary.
The top three skills for an administrative staff include telephone calls, word processing and travel arrangements. The most important skills for a secretary are customer service, telephone calls, and payroll.
| Administrative Staff | Secretary | |
| Yearly salary | $77,101 | $36,442 |
| Hourly rate | $37.07 | $17.52 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 119,030 | 69,315 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
As the administrative staff, they primarily provide administrative and secretarial support for the department. Typically, they do report-writing, filing and scheduling, and payroll. They plan department weekly meetings, schedule conference calls, and work on solving administrative related concerns and issues. They do a complex task that involves multi-tasking from the preparation of department reports, analyzing data, and finding solutions. It is a requirement to be an experienced, collaborator, and trained cross-functional communicator. Moreover, other duties will include scheduling company-initiated activities, meetings, and events.
Secretaries are employees who are responsible for many of the administrative needs of the office. They are usually assigned to executives or to a specific department. They manage schedules and appointments, often handling the calendar in the office. They are also responsible for keeping files organized, whether physical or digital copies. During office meetings, secretaries are in charge of documenting the minutes of the meeting and highlighting the action steps that need to be taken. They may also be assigned to check on concerned departments who need to present deliverables in the next office meeting.
Administrative staff and secretaries have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Administrative Staff | Secretary | |
| Average salary | $77,101 | $36,442 |
| Salary range | Between $58,000 And $101,000 | Between $26,000 And $51,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | NVIDIA | Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Government |
There are a few differences between an administrative staff and a secretary in terms of educational background:
| Administrative Staff | Secretary | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between administrative staff' and secretaries' demographics:
| Administrative Staff | Secretary | |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 31.9% Female, 68.1% | Male, 10.1% Female, 89.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.5% Asian, 3.9% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |