What does a college assistant do?
A college assistant is responsible for administrative, clerical, and research work in educational institutions. Your day-to-day duties may vary but typically include answering telephone calls, maintaining records such as rosters and inventory control records, and ordering office supplies and equipment. In addition, you will be responsible for assisting in research activities by collecting and compiling data, performing data entry, and preparing reports. Other duties include providing assistance in instructional programs, processing expenses, and purchasing reports, and advertising various events through social media.
College assistant responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real college assistant resumes:
- Manage and develop the daily clinical schedule for the in-patient rehabilitation staff taking into consideration Medicare guidelines and staffing ratios.
- Create PowerPoint presentations for various events as needed.
- Design PowerPoint presentations for recruitment events, college fairs, and information sessions.
- Assist children with mild disabilities on their spelling, math, and reading homework
- Join new PCs to a Microsoft windows domain environment, imaging computers to school standard.
- Tutor students with diverse mathematical abilities in various undergraduate math courses
- Create and maintain a paper filing system for assort veterans forms and other important documentation.
- Learned interpersonal communication and organization.
- Assist customers with purchases and sales, handle the new releases of books and DVDs.
- Learned interpersonal communication and organization.
College assistant skills and personality traits
We calculated that 20% of College Assistants are proficient in Cleanliness, English Language, and Customer Service. They’re also known for soft skills such as Writing skills, Interpersonal skills, and Patience.
We break down the percentage of College Assistants that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Cleanliness, 20%
Assisted with maintaining the cleanliness of the dining room
- English Language, 16%
Teach students about the structure and content of the English Language, including proper grammar, sentence structure, and spelling.
- Customer Service, 11%
Handle responsibilities of providing excellent customer service by answering questions and suggests appropriate actions to meet the requirement of customers.
- Data Entry, 7%
Perform data entry, filing, locating records using alphabetical and numerical procedures.
- Mathematics, 5%
Tutored Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry to undergraduate students
- Windows, 4%
Assisted college students, faculty, and staff with school related issues, printing, Microsoft Office, Mac and Windows.
Common skills that a college assistant uses to do their job include "cleanliness," "english language," and "customer service." You can find details on the most important college assistant responsibilities below.
Writing skills. The most essential soft skill for a college assistant to carry out their responsibilities is writing skills. This skill is important for the role because "secretaries and administrative assistants write memos and emails when communicating with managers, employees, and customers." Additionally, a college assistant resume shows how their duties depend on writing skills: "designed and conducted independent workshops for small group of students, focusing on cuny reading and writing assessment test. "
Interpersonal skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling college assistant duties is interpersonal skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "secretaries and administrative assistants interact with clients, customers, or staff." According to a college assistant resume, here's how college assistants can utilize interpersonal skills in their job responsibilities: "communicated with students and school staff in a positive and professional manner utilizing appropriate customer service and interpersonal skills. "
Organizational skills. For certain college assistant responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "organizational skills." The day-to-day duties of a college assistant rely on this skill, as "secretaries and administrative assistants keep files, folders, and schedules in order so that an office runs efficiently." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what college assistants do: "utilized organizational and time management skills to assist mathematics professors on grading homework assignments and exams. "
The three companies that hire the most college assistants are:
- The City University of New York40 college assistants jobs
- Midwestern University6 college assistants jobs
- Aims Community College3 college assistants jobs
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Compare different college assistants
College assistant vs. Administrative support assistant
Administrative support assistants are individuals who provide support to employees and managers. They provide assistance in general functions in various administrative or academic units. Their primary duties involve the management and dissemination of information within an organization. They take memos, maintain files, and answer phone calls. They should develop skills in technology, written and verbal communication, independence, and organization. Excellent skills in problem-solving, time management, and attention to detail are also important.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between college assistants and administrative support assistant. For instance, college assistant responsibilities require skills such as "cleanliness," "english language," "mathematics," and "computer software." Whereas a administrative support assistant is skilled in "provides administrative support," "patients," "phone calls," and "background checks." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Administrative support assistants earn the highest salaries when working in the government industry, with an average yearly salary of $37,118. On the other hand, college assistants are paid more in the education industry with an average salary of $32,309.administrative support assistants tend to reach similar levels of education than college assistants. In fact, administrative support assistants are 2.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.College assistant vs. Administrative services assistant
An administrative services assistant is responsible for performing administrative support to an organization, ensuring smooth operations, and providing the best services for the customers. Administrative services assistants are usually the first point of contact of visitors, responding to their inquiries and concerns, verifying appointments, and leading them to the appropriate personnel or department. They are also present in meetings and conferences, creating minutes reports, presenting documents, and suggesting opportunities to improve operational functions and increase profitability. An administrative services assistant does data processing, sort files, monitor office inventories, and other related tasks as required.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that college assistant responsibilities requires skills like "cleanliness," "english language," "mathematics," and "windows." But an administrative services assistant might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "home health," "provides administrative support," "patients," and "phone calls."
Administrative services assistants earn a higher average salary than college assistants. But administrative services assistants earn the highest pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $36,395. Additionally, college assistants earn the highest salaries in the education with average pay of $32,309 annually.In general, administrative services assistants achieve similar levels of education than college assistants. They're 2.9% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.College assistant vs. Program and administrative assistant
The Program and Administrative assistant work alongside a company's admin to manage all administrative tasks and activities. The program and administrative assistant work in both clerical duties and organizing files and storage. Included are making and receiving calls, setting, reminding, and following-up appointments, meetings, and events. The program and administrative assistant acts as the primary contact person of the administration and may be tasked to do a lot of clerical work. If you are interested in this position, you can start now.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a college assistant is likely to be skilled in "cleanliness," "english language," "customer service," and "mathematics," while a typical program and administrative assistant is skilled in "database management," "routine correspondence," "provides administrative support," and "financial reports."
Program and administrative assistants earn the best pay in the education industry, where they command an average salary of $34,661. College assistants earn the highest pay from the education industry, with an average salary of $32,309.program and administrative assistants typically earn similar educational levels compared to college assistants. Specifically, they're 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.College assistant vs. Assistant secretary
An assistant secretary is responsible for performing administrative and clerical duties to support the daily operations of various departments and management personnel and ensure the efficiency of business functions. Assistant secretaries usually assist in business communications, responding to customers' inquiries and concerns, reaching out to existing clients to schedule appointments, welcoming guests on the office, and routing calls to the appropriate department. They also handle data entry procedures, updating customer information on the database, as well as creating reports on business and financial transactions.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between college assistants and assistant secretaries, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a college assistant might have more use for skills like "cleanliness," "english language," "customer service," and "data entry." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of assistant secretaries require skills like "scheduling appointments," "financial statements," "computer system," and "federal agencies. "
Assistant secretaries reach similar levels of education compared to college assistants, in general. The difference is that they're 0.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.8% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Updated January 8, 2025
