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The differences between chairpeople and secretaries can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a chairperson, becoming a secretary takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a chairperson has an average salary of $125,944, which is higher than the $36,442 average annual salary of a secretary.
The top three skills for a chairperson include curriculum development, alumni and scholarship. The most important skills for a secretary are customer service, telephone calls, and payroll.
| Chairperson | Secretary | |
| Yearly salary | $125,944 | $36,442 |
| Hourly rate | $60.55 | $17.52 |
| Growth rate | 7% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 5,178 | 69,315 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Average age | 47 | 50 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 2 |
A chairperson is responsible for managing the overall business team, ensuring everyone's compliance with the company's strategies and processes to reach the highest business goals and objectives. A chairperson's duties also include monitoring the staff's performance, analyzing the committee's performance and decisions, providing reports and updates during meetings, improving the current policies and procedures as necessary, and facilitating committee's programs and special events. A chairperson must have excellent leadership and communication skills to lead the team towards its organizational success.
Secretaries are employees who are responsible for many of the administrative needs of the office. They are usually assigned to executives or to a specific department. They manage schedules and appointments, often handling the calendar in the office. They are also responsible for keeping files organized, whether physical or digital copies. During office meetings, secretaries are in charge of documenting the minutes of the meeting and highlighting the action steps that need to be taken. They may also be assigned to check on concerned departments who need to present deliverables in the next office meeting.
Chairpeople and secretaries have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Chairperson | Secretary | |
| Average salary | $125,944 | $36,442 |
| Salary range | Between $46,000 And $338,000 | Between $26,000 And $51,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | California |
| Best paying company | Summit Health Oregon | Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Government |
There are a few differences between a chairperson and a secretary in terms of educational background:
| Chairperson | Secretary | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between chairpeople' and secretaries' demographics:
| Chairperson | Secretary | |
| Average age | 47 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 46.8% Female, 53.2% | Male, 10.1% Female, 89.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.1% Asian, 4.3% White, 65.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.5% Asian, 3.9% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 16% | 6% |