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Assistant writer vs staff writer

The differences between assistant writers and staff writers 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 writer and a staff writer. Additionally, an assistant writer has an average salary of $58,543, which is higher than the $44,844 average annual salary of a staff writer.

The top three skills for an assistant writer include press releases, proofread and repair orders. The most important skills for a staff writer are feature stories, news stories, and event coverage.

Assistant writer vs staff writer overview

Assistant WriterStaff Writer
Yearly salary$58,543$44,844
Hourly rate$28.15$21.56
Growth rate6%6%
Number of jobs10,28080,547
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 78%Bachelor's Degree, 82%
Average age4646
Years of experience22

Assistant writer vs staff writer salary

Assistant writers and staff writers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Assistant WriterStaff Writer
Average salary$58,543$44,844
Salary rangeBetween $34,000 And $99,000Between $29,000 And $68,000
Highest paying City-Washington, DC
Highest paying state-New Jersey
Best paying company-The New York Times Company
Best paying industry-Non Profits

Differences between assistant writer and staff writer education

There are a few differences between an assistant writer and a staff writer in terms of educational background:

Assistant WriterStaff Writer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 78%Bachelor's Degree, 82%
Most common majorCommunicationJournalism
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Assistant writer vs staff writer demographics

Here are the differences between assistant writers' and staff writers' demographics:

Assistant WriterStaff Writer
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 37.8% Female, 62.2%Male, 49.2% Female, 50.8%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.6% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 8.7% White, 71.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 8.8% White, 71.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between assistant writer and staff writer duties and responsibilities

Assistant writer example responsibilities.

  • Manage a team of RFP writers and work with a cross-functional team to meet RFP requirements and establish deadlines.
  • Coordinate logistics management for signal elements, including securing training sites, movement of personnel, communications, and equipment.
  • Train guides and drivers in content and route management; design custom private tours and events.
  • Develop sophisticated FrameMaker templates in multiple page sizes.

Staff writer example responsibilities.

  • Manage magazine's transition to a new CMS system.
  • Manage website by uploading and scheduling articles, fixing errors, proofreading, optimizing for SEO, and polishing content.
  • Manage arts and entertainment editorial calendar, assign stories to multiple freelancers and plan daily coverage.
  • Assist with copywriting, magazine and advertisement layout.
  • Research, verify facts and edit all contributor submissions.
  • Create unique columns commentating on the social state of hockey and the NHL.
  • Show more

Assistant writer vs staff writer skills

Common assistant writer skills
  • Press Releases, 40%
  • Proofread, 27%
  • Repair Orders, 12%
  • Blog Posts, 10%
  • News Articles, 10%
Common staff writer skills
  • Feature Stories, 9%
  • News Stories, 8%
  • Event Coverage, 7%
  • News Articles, 7%
  • SEO, 6%
  • Photography, 6%

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