As an associate, you're a part of a team. The team will be made up of associates just like you and together, your main goal is ensuring that clients' needs are met.
Generally, associate positions are thought of as a level higher than entry-level, but it definitely varies by company, so you might want to give that employee handbook a glance.
The great thing about being in an associate position is the opportunities. You definitely have positions that you can grow into from the associate level, so it's sort of a "started from the bottom and now we're here" situation.