Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between assistants and 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 assistant and a secretary. Additionally, an assistant has an average salary of $37,363, which is higher than the $36,442 average annual salary of a secretary.
The top three skills for an assistant include patients, customer service and patient care. The most important skills for a secretary are customer service, telephone calls, and payroll.
| Assistant | Secretary | |
| Yearly salary | $37,363 | $36,442 |
| Hourly rate | $17.96 | $17.52 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 557,900 | 69,315 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| 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.
Secretaries are employees who are responsible for many of the administrative needs of the office. They are usually assigned to executives or to a specific department. They manage schedules and appointments, often handling the calendar in the office. They are also responsible for keeping files organized, whether physical or digital copies. During office meetings, secretaries are in charge of documenting the minutes of the meeting and highlighting the action steps that need to be taken. They may also be assigned to check on concerned departments who need to present deliverables in the next office meeting.
Assistants and secretaries have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Assistant | Secretary | |
| Average salary | $37,363 | $36,442 |
| Salary range | Between $16,000 And $82,000 | Between $26,000 And $51,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | California |
| Best paying company | Latham & Watkins | Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith |
| Best paying industry | Education | Government |
There are a few differences between an assistant and a secretary in terms of educational background:
| Assistant | Secretary | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between assistants' and secretaries' demographics:
| Assistant | Secretary | |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 40.7% Female, 59.3% | Male, 10.1% Female, 89.9% |
| 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, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.5% Asian, 3.9% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |