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The differences between business office assistants and 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 a business office assistant and an office assistant. Additionally, a business office assistant has an average salary of $31,747, which is higher than the $31,517 average annual salary of an office assistant.
The top three skills for a business office assistant include patients, customer service and data entry. The most important skills for an office assistant are data entry, patients, and customer service.
| Business Office Assistant | Office Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $31,747 | $31,517 |
| Hourly rate | $15.26 | $15.15 |
| Growth rate | -5% | -5% |
| Number of jobs | 132,916 | 103,293 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | Bachelor's Degree, 42% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A business office assistant is in charge of performing clerical support tasks to maintain a smooth workflow in offices and business establishments. Their responsibilities typically include answering phone calls and correspondence, preparing and filing documents, greeting visitors, relaying messages to managers or executives, arranging meetings and appointments, and organizing files, disseminating them to other offices when necessary. They may also monitor the inventory of office supplies and process procurement requests. Furthermore, a business office assistant may also participate in developing programs and projects, assisting staff and executives as needed.
Office assistants perform various tasks to ensure that the business runs organized and efficient. An office assistant must possess excellent communication and multi-tasking skills to handle essential duties such as scheduling meetings, monitoring office supplies, storing documents and necessary paperwork, handling customer inquiries and appointments, coordinating in company events, and accomplishing other clerical tasks and administrative support. Office assistants are also required to communicate any observation that would possibly make an impact on the company's performance.
Business office assistants and office assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Business Office Assistant | Office Assistant | |
| Average salary | $31,747 | $31,517 |
| Salary range | Between $24,000 And $41,000 | Between $24,000 And $41,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | - | Vermont |
| Best paying company | - | Analysis Group |
| Best paying industry | - | Government |
There are a few differences between a business office assistant and an office assistant in terms of educational background:
| Business Office Assistant | Office Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | Bachelor's Degree, 42% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between business office assistants' and office assistants' demographics:
| Business Office Assistant | Office Assistant | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 15.6% Female, 84.4% | Male, 17.3% Female, 82.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 19.7% Asian, 7.7% White, 56.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% | Black or African American, 10.1% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 21.0% Asian, 8.3% White, 54.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |