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The differences between assistant secretaries and administrative office 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 secretary and an administrative office assistant. Additionally, an assistant secretary has an average salary of $107,366, which is higher than the $33,318 average annual salary of an administrative office assistant.
The top three skills for an assistant secretary include telephone calls, payroll and scheduling appointments. The most important skills for an administrative office assistant are customer service, data entry, and phone calls.
| Assistant Secretary | Administrative Office Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $107,366 | $33,318 |
| Hourly rate | $51.62 | $16.02 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 52,165 | 81,528 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 47% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
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.
An administrative office assistant is responsible for performing administrative duties to assist in daily management operations. These duties include taking calls and responding to client and customers' inquiries and concerns, scheduling meetings and conferences, organizing files and submitting required documents, sorting invoices for release, processing travel arrangements, receiving emails, forwarding reports to the appropriate department, and coordinating with company's events. An administrative assistant must be detail-oriented, as well as having excellent time-management and multi-tasking skills to perform duties even under minimal supervision.
Assistant secretaries and administrative office assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Assistant Secretary | Administrative Office Assistant | |
| Average salary | $107,366 | $33,318 |
| Salary range | Between $38,000 And $302,000 | Between $25,000 And $43,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Sacramento, CA |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Elanco | Buckley King |
| Best paying industry | - | Government |
There are a few differences between an assistant secretary and an administrative office assistant in terms of educational background:
| Assistant Secretary | Administrative Office Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 47% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between assistant secretaries' and administrative office assistants' demographics:
| Assistant Secretary | Administrative Office Assistant | |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 21.7% Female, 78.3% | Male, 14.7% Female, 85.3% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |