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The differences between assistant secretaries 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 secretary and a front desk administrative assistant. Additionally, an assistant secretary has an average salary of $107,366, which is higher than the $33,037 average annual salary of a front desk administrative assistant.
The top three skills for an assistant secretary include telephone calls, payroll and scheduling appointments. The most important skills for a front desk administrative assistant are customer service, patients, and data entry.
| Assistant Secretary | Front Desk Administrative Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $107,366 | $33,037 |
| Hourly rate | $51.62 | $15.88 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 52,165 | 95,732 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 47% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| 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.
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.
Assistant secretaries and front desk administrative assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Assistant Secretary | Front Desk Administrative Assistant | |
| Average salary | $107,366 | $33,037 |
| Salary range | Between $38,000 And $302,000 | Between $27,000 And $39,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Springfield, MA |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | Connecticut |
| Best paying company | Elanco | University of California, Berkeley |
| Best paying industry | - | Professional |
There are a few differences between an assistant secretary and a front desk administrative assistant in terms of educational background:
| Assistant Secretary | Front Desk Administrative Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 47% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between assistant secretaries' and front desk administrative assistants' demographics:
| Assistant Secretary | Front Desk Administrative Assistant | |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 21.7% Female, 78.3% | Male, 10.0% Female, 90.0% |
| 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, 9.3% 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% |