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What does an Administrative Support Assistant do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
What does an Administrative Support Assistant do

Administrative support assistants are individuals who provide support to employees and managers. They provide assistance in general functions in various administrative or academic units. Their primary duties involve the management and dissemination of information within an organization. They take memos, maintain files, and answer phone calls. They should develop skills in technology, written and verbal communication, independence, and organization. Excellent skills in problem-solving, time management, and attention to detail are also important.

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Administrative support assistant responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real administrative support assistant resumes:

  • Participate in committee meetings by preparing minutes and presentation summaries, planning meeting agendas, and organizing and managing meeting logistics.
  • Coordinate highly confidential and sensitive material relate to employee relations, payroll and personnel actions.
  • Complete diverse administrative tasks accurately and efficiently including verification of insurance information, payroll administration, and coordination of department meetings.
  • Create PowerPoint's of upcoming activities/events to distribute to departments/teams.
  • Interview patients and determine primary need of interest by providing assistance to other responsible personnel.
  • Maintain a database with confidential information regarding patients and providing medication for the HIV/AIDS section.
  • Prepare meetings, presentations, and site visits, including preparing PowerPoint presentations and hosting organizations and officials.
  • Participate in committee meetings by preparing minutes and presentation summaries, planning meeting agendas, and organizing and managing meeting logistics.
  • Calculate money amount and pieces of mail for postage refund by USPS.
  • Schedule appointments to perform HUD require interviews making sure contractors/sub-contractors follow lead-safe rules and regulations.

Administrative support assistant skills and personality traits

We calculated that 15% of Administrative Support Assistants are proficient in Customer Service, Provides Administrative Support, and Data Entry. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Writing skills, and Organizational skills.

We break down the percentage of Administrative Support Assistants that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Customer Service, 15%

    Provided internal and external customer service, answered contractor inquiries and provided information to resolve project issues and concerns.

  • Provides Administrative Support, 6%

    Manage Executive member of management schedule and provides administrative support to alternate management as well as clients.

  • Data Entry, 6%

    Perform data entry into multiple screen computer terminals; Review printouts for accuracy perform other clerical work as required

  • Patients, 5%

    Maintained a database with confidential information regarding patients and providing medication for the HIV/AIDS section.

  • Travel Arrangements, 4%

    Supported Department Director, including frequent travel arrangements and reimbursement requests; presentation materials; organization of future Training events.

  • Phone Calls, 4%

    Reviewed and corrected written material for typographical and grammatical accuracy, and directed visitors and telephone calls to appropriate staff.

Most administrative support assistants use their skills in "customer service," "provides administrative support," and "data entry" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential administrative support assistant responsibilities here:

Interpersonal skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for an administrative support assistant to have is interpersonal skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "secretaries and administrative assistants interact with clients, customers, or staff." Administrative support assistants often use interpersonal skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "develop and enhanced skills in areas such as quality improvement, customer service and interpersonal skills. "

Writing skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling administrative support assistant duties is writing skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "secretaries and administrative assistants write memos and emails when communicating with managers, employees, and customers." According to an administrative support assistant resume, here's how administrative support assistants can utilize writing skills in their job responsibilities: "train and manage new agents;computer skills, customer management system, policy data entry, policy contracts and underwritingregulations. "

Organizational skills. This is an important skill for administrative support assistants to perform their duties. For an example of how administrative support assistant responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "secretaries and administrative assistants keep files, folders, and schedules in order so that an office runs efficiently." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an administrative support assistant: "created and updated organizational charts, flowcharts and performed data entry tasks in pie charts to produce reports. ".

Most common administrative support assistant skills

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Compare different administrative support assistants

Administrative support assistant vs. Team assistant

A team assistant is an employee who is responsible for performing administrative duties to help members of the office team focus on their assigned projects. Under the direct supervision of team leaders, team assistants are required to schedule appointments with clients, organize internal team meetings, and alert team members of upcoming deadlines. They keep track of project expenses and purchase receipts and input those numbers into an accounting software program or spreadsheet. Team assistants must also order supplies and products when inventories are low.

We looked at the average administrative support assistant salary and compared it with the wages of a team assistant. Generally speaking, team assistants are paid $2,070 higher than administrative support assistants per year.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between administrative support assistants and team assistants are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like customer service, provides administrative support, and data entry.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, administrative support assistant responsibilities require skills like "phone calls," "background checks," "reservations," and "rehabilitation." Meanwhile a typical team assistant has skills in areas such as "patient care," "cleanliness," "home health," and "patient charts." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Team assistants really shine in the professional industry with an average salary of $56,346. Comparatively, administrative support assistants tend to make the most money in the government industry with an average salary of $37,118.team assistants tend to reach similar levels of education than administrative support assistants. In fact, team assistants are 1.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Administrative support assistant vs. Project assistant

A project assistant's role mainly revolves around assisting a project manager. The responsibilities may vary upon the industry or organization. Still, most of them will be administrative tasks such as preparing reports and documentation, responding to calls and other forms of correspondence, and coordinating with various offices and personnel. Furthermore, a Project Assistant must also ensure the department's efficient workflow, proper utilization of budget, review documentation and schedules, attend meetings, and maintain an information database.

Project assistant positions earn higher pay than administrative support assistant roles. They earn a $2,223 higher salary than administrative support assistants per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both administrative support assistants and project assistants have skills such as "customer service," "provides administrative support," and "data entry. "

Each career also uses different skills, according to real administrative support assistant resumes. While administrative support assistant responsibilities can utilize skills like "patients," "phone calls," "background checks," and "reservations," project assistants use skills like "project management," "data collection," "word processing," and "general contractors."

Project assistants earn a higher average salary than administrative support assistants. But project assistants earn the highest pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $49,238. Additionally, administrative support assistants earn the highest salaries in the government with average pay of $37,118 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Project assistants tend to reach higher levels of education than administrative support assistants. In fact, they're 6.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Administrative support assistant vs. Clerk's assistant/administrative assistant

A clerk's assistant/administrative assistant is responsible for supporting the company's operations and customers' needs by performing administrative and clerical duties as needed. Clerk's assistants/administrative assistants respond to customers' inquiries and concerns, acknowledging and processing orders, and posting their payments. They also sort company documents, manage office supply inventory, submit business transaction reports, schedule appointments, and operate office equipment. A clerk's assistant/administrative assistant must be very organized. They must also have excellent time-management and multitasking skills to perform office duties with high accuracy and efficiency under minimal supervision.

On average scale, clerks's assistant/administrative assistant bring in lower salaries than administrative support assistants. In fact, they earn a $2,790 lower salary per year.By looking over several administrative support assistants and clerks's assistant/administrative assistant resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "customer service," "provides administrative support," and "data entry." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from administrative support assistant resumes include skills like "patients," "phone calls," "payroll," and "reservations," whereas a clerk's assistant/administrative assistant is more likely to list skills in "financial reports," "word processing," "dmv," and "direct calls. "

Clerks's assistant/administrative assistant make a very good living in the government industry with an average annual salary of $37,752. On the other hand, administrative support assistants are paid the highest salary in the government industry, with average annual pay of $37,118.When it comes to education, clerks's assistant/administrative assistant tend to earn similar degree levels compared to administrative support assistants. In fact, they're 2.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Administrative support assistant vs. Administrative assistant/communications

An administrative assistant for communications is responsible for handling administrative duties to ensure that corporate communications and announcements are disseminated across the organization and media platforms appropriately. Administrative assistants for communications review documents and files to check for accuracy and conduct revisions as needed before publication. They also manage media relations, create promotional campaigns, and coordinate with clients for any important updates regarding business performance. An administrative assistant for communications must be highly reliable and organizational to work under minimal supervision and meet strict deadlines.

Administrative assistants/communications tend to earn a lower pay than administrative support assistants by an average of $978 per year.While both administrative support assistants and administrative assistants/communications complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like provides administrative support, data entry, and travel arrangements, the two careers vary in some skills.Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. An administrative support assistant uses "customer service," "patients," "phone calls," and "background checks." Administrative assistants/communications are more likely to have duties that require skills in "word processing," "office management," "calendar management," and "press releases. "The non profits industry tends to pay the highest salaries for administrative assistants/communications, with average annual pay of $39,956. Comparatively, the highest administrative support assistant annual salary comes from the government industry.administrative assistants/communications reach similar levels of education compared to administrative support assistants, in general. The difference is that they're 0.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of administrative support assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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