Administrative support vs administrative professional

The differences between administrative supports and administrative professionals 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 support and an administrative professional. Additionally, an administrative professional has an average salary of $39,486, which is higher than the $37,692 average annual salary of an administrative support.

The top three skills for an administrative support include customer service, administrative tasks and data entry. The most important skills for an administrative professional are customer service, powerpoint, and data entry.

Administrative support vs administrative professional overview

	Administrative Support	Administrative Professional
Yearly salary	$37,692	$39,486
Hourly rate	$18.12	$18.98
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	114,480	87,372
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 49%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does an administrative support do?

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.

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.

Administrative support vs administrative professional salary

Administrative supports and administrative professionals have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Administrative Support	Administrative Professional
Average salary	$37,692	$39,486
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $53,000	Between $23,000 And $65,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Rhode Island	Connecticut
Best paying company	Pacific Investment Management Company LLC	HomeOwners Advantage
Best paying industry	Technology	-

Differences between administrative support and administrative professional education

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

	Administrative Support	Administrative Professional
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 49%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Administrative support vs administrative professional demographics

Here are the differences between administrative supports' and administrative professionals' demographics:

	Administrative Support	Administrative Professional
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6%	Male, 17.4% Female, 82.6%
Race ratio	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%	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%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between administrative support and administrative professional duties and responsibilities

Administrative support example responsibilities.

Manage company finances using QuickBooks software, including monitoring the operating budget and collecting on unpaid invoices.
Interview veterans to determine issues/concerns and recommend services.
Mail VA benefits correspondence to veterans and various organizations.
Prepare payroll packages for distribution and delivery, including collating and packing of documents.
Research and maintain reference library with ADAPCP in support of prevention and rehabilitation efforts.
Develop SharePoint training of project personal and create operating procedures, training documents and briefings.

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.

Administrative support vs administrative professional skills

Common administrative support skills

Customer Service, 18%
Administrative Tasks, 8%
Data Entry, 6%
Payroll, 6%
Phone Calls, 6%
Patients, 5%

Common administrative professional skills

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

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Office and Administrative Industry
Administrative Support
Administrative Support vs Administrative Professional

Updated January 8, 2025

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