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The differences between assistants and front desk administrative assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an assistant and a front desk administrative assistant. Additionally, an assistant has an average salary of $37,363, which is higher than the $33,037 average annual salary of a front desk administrative assistant.
The top three skills for an assistant include patients, customer service and patient care. The most important skills for a front desk administrative assistant are customer service, patients, and data entry.
| Assistant | Front Desk Administrative Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $37,363 | $33,037 |
| Hourly rate | $17.96 | $15.88 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 557,900 | 95,732 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
An assistant intern is responsible for facilitating administrative and clerical tasks as assigned by the management. Assistant interns' duties include keeping records of meetings, receiving calls and handling customer inquiries, assisting on writing reports and data entry processing, cooperating and providing support for business events, and adhering to company policies and regulatory procedures. Successful assistant interns must have excellent time-management, multi-tasking, and communication skills. They must be a team player and fast-learner to handle various tasks in the corporate industry.
A front desk administrative assistant is responsible for performing administrative duties to support daily business functions and operations. Front desk administrative assistants assist guests, respond to their inquiries and concerns, and direct them to the appropriate personnel for their needs. They also monitor office inventories, write purchase requests, and distribute mails across the departments. A front desk administrative assistants review business and financial transactions to generate reports, update information on the company's database, and sort documents for reference.
Assistants and front desk administrative assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Assistant | Front Desk Administrative Assistant | |
| Average salary | $37,363 | $33,037 |
| Salary range | Between $16,000 And $82,000 | Between $27,000 And $39,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | Springfield, MA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Connecticut |
| Best paying company | Latham & Watkins | University of California, Berkeley |
| Best paying industry | Education | Professional |
There are a few differences between an assistant and a front desk administrative assistant in terms of educational background:
| Assistant | Front Desk Administrative Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between assistants' and front desk administrative assistants' demographics:
| Assistant | Front Desk Administrative Assistant | |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 40.7% Female, 59.3% | Male, 10.0% Female, 90.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |