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The differences between administrative supports 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 support and an assistant secretary. Additionally, an assistant secretary has an average salary of $107,366, 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 assistant secretary are telephone calls, payroll, and scheduling appointments.
| Administrative Support | Assistant Secretary | |
| Yearly salary | $37,692 | $107,366 |
| Hourly rate | $18.12 | $51.62 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 114,480 | 52,165 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 47% |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
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.
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 supports and assistant secretaries have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Administrative Support | Assistant Secretary | |
| Average salary | $37,692 | $107,366 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $53,000 | Between $38,000 And $302,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | Pacific Investment Management Company LLC | Elanco |
| Best paying industry | Technology | - |
There are a few differences between an administrative support and an assistant secretary in terms of educational background:
| Administrative Support | Assistant Secretary | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 47% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between administrative supports' and assistant secretaries' demographics:
| Administrative Support | Assistant Secretary | |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6% | Male, 21.7% Female, 78.3% |
| 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, 9.2% 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% |