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The differences between administrator secretaries and department 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 administrator secretary and a department secretary. Additionally, a department secretary has an average salary of $35,473, which is higher than the $34,336 average annual salary of an administrator secretary.
The top three skills for an administrator secretary include patients, routine correspondence and customer service. The most important skills for a department secretary are patients, customer service, and data entry.
| Administrator Secretary | Department Secretary | |
| Yearly salary | $34,336 | $35,473 |
| Hourly rate | $16.51 | $17.05 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 99,520 | 80,303 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 37% | Bachelor's Degree, 39% |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
Administrator secretaries are assistants to managers or higher officers in charge of administrative tasks. Their responsibilities include liaising with an organization's internal departments and in communicating with the general public. They make arrangements and scheduling of meetings, events, and appointments. Sometimes, they assume tasks in clerical and administrative nature. It is also part of their job to work hand-in-hand with executives, managers, and any other personnel in corporations.
A department secretary is responsible for providing administrative and clerical support to a specific department, ensuring smooth operations to maintain high-quality services to the customers and business partners. Department secretaries should have excellent knowledge of office management principles, especially on data processing procedures and customer service processes. They handle the scheduling of meetings and conferences, responding to customers' inquiries and concerns, directing visitors to the appropriate personnel and department, sorting files, and submitting business transactions and financial reports. A department secretary also recommends strategic procedures to generate more revenues and increase the company's profitability.
Administrator secretaries and department secretaries have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Administrator Secretary | Department Secretary | |
| Average salary | $34,336 | $35,473 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $46,000 | Between $26,000 And $47,000 |
| Highest paying City | Urban Honolulu, HI | Oakland, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | California |
| Best paying company | Deloitte | Brigham and Women's Hospital |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Government |
There are a few differences between an administrator secretary and a department secretary in terms of educational background:
| Administrator Secretary | Department Secretary | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 37% | Bachelor's Degree, 39% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between administrator secretaries' and department secretaries' demographics:
| Administrator Secretary | Department Secretary | |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 5.8% Female, 94.2% | Male, 7.0% Female, 93.0% |
| 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, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |