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The differences between clerical aides and receptionist secretaries can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a clerical aide and a receptionist secretary. Additionally, a clerical aide has an average salary of $29,426, which is higher than the $29,343 average annual salary of a receptionist secretary.
The top three skills for a clerical aide include clerical support, computer data entry and computer programs. The most important skills for a receptionist secretary are patients, data entry, and phone calls.
| Clerical Aide | Receptionist Secretary | |
| Yearly salary | $29,426 | $29,343 |
| Hourly rate | $14.15 | $14.11 |
| Growth rate | -5% | - |
| Number of jobs | 59,698 | 61,892 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 33% | High School Diploma, 37% |
| Average age | 47 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
Clerical aides perform various office-related tasks for company executives like answering calls, sorting documents, taking down the minutes of their meetings, etc. They should have computer skills, be organized, and communicate with people inside and outside the company. These aides proofread standard and templated documents to produce the necessary documentation needed to present the activities held in their department. As they are working for officials in a company, there will be occasions where work hours can be irregular and events that need attendance.
A receptionist secretary is responsible for providing the best customer service, as well as attending to the needs of existing and potential clients. Duties of a receptionist secretary include managing customer's inquiries and forwarding important calls to the appropriate department, performing administrative and clerical tasks, escalating high-level of client's concerns to the management, keeping the reception area clean, monitoring office supplies and request stocks as needed, and maintaining an organized record of meetings and events. A receptionist secretary must have strong communication and multi-tasking skills to handle workloads of daily operations.
Clerical aides and receptionist secretaries have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Clerical Aide | Receptionist Secretary | |
| Average salary | $29,426 | $29,343 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $36,000 | Between $24,000 And $35,000 |
| Highest paying City | Chico, CA | Lake Oswego, OR |
| Highest paying state | Nevada | Washington |
| Best paying company | Belmont High School | Illinois Institute of Technology |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Government |
There are a few differences between a clerical aide and a receptionist secretary in terms of educational background:
| Clerical Aide | Receptionist Secretary | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 33% | High School Diploma, 37% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | - |
Here are the differences between clerical aides' and receptionist secretaries' demographics:
| Clerical Aide | Receptionist Secretary | |
| Average age | 47 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 17.5% Female, 82.5% | Male, 5.6% Female, 94.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 21.0% Asian, 8.0% White, 53.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% | Black or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 21.1% Asian, 6.3% White, 56.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |