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The differences between child care center directors and assistant directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a child care center director, becoming an assistant director takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a child care center director has an average salary of $66,949, which is higher than the $63,063 average annual salary of an assistant director.
The top three skills for a child care center director include patient care, professional development and child development. The most important skills for an assistant director are customer service, CPR, and child care.
| Child Care Center Director | Assistant Director | |
| Yearly salary | $66,949 | $63,063 |
| Hourly rate | $32.19 | $30.32 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 109,279 | 25,087 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 47 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
Child care center directors lead the staff, supervise daily activities, prepare budgets, and design program plans that will help children learn in a fun way. Their usual tasks include meeting with parents and teachers to get updates on the students' improvement, making sure that the center is a clean and safe environment for children to be in, and hiring new staff members. Fulfilling the job requires a person to have good communication skills, interpersonal skills, and organizational skills.
Assistant directors are employees in show business who directly support directors. They may be working on a film, television show, or theatre production. Assistant directors are the second-in-command on the set. They take over for the director when he/she or she is unable to work. Assistant directors should be familiar with the script and the scenes. They are usually heavily involved in the conception of the production. They ensure that the plans are executed well by assisting in the selection of the cast and crew, production sets, and other set providers. They also make sure that shoot days or performance days go without a hitch by ironing out all the details in advance and preparing alternatives.
Child care center directors and assistant directors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Child Care Center Director | Assistant Director | |
| Average salary | $66,949 | $63,063 |
| Salary range | Between $33,000 And $135,000 | Between $37,000 And $105,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | California |
| Best paying company | - | Mayer Brown |
| Best paying industry | - | - |
There are a few differences between a child care center director and an assistant director in terms of educational background:
| Child Care Center Director | Assistant Director | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Early Childhood Education | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between child care center directors' and assistant directors' demographics:
| Child Care Center Director | Assistant Director | |
| Average age | 47 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 16.2% Female, 83.8% | Male, 38.3% Female, 61.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 13.9% Asian, 4.3% White, 65.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 6.4% White, 65.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 16% | 14% |