A contract administrative assistant works on a contractual basis at offices where they are in charge of performing support tasks. Among their responsibilities include answering calls and correspondence, filing and organizing documents, coordinating with different departments, arranging appointments and schedules, preparing and processing files, and running errands as needed. They may also monitor the inventory of office supplies, processing procurement requests when necessary. Furthermore, a contract administrative assistant must maintain an active communication line with staff for a smooth and efficient workflow.
Here are examples of responsibilities from real contract administrative assistant resumes representing typical tasks they are likely to perform in their roles.
We calculated that 16% of Contract Administrative Assistants are proficient in Data Entry, Purchase Orders, and PowerPoint. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Organizational skills, and Writing skills.
We break down the percentage of Contract Administrative Assistants that have these skills listed on their resume here:
Maintained inventory data base consistently and ensuring accuracy; heavy data entry workload.
Supported procurement projects and business-wide operations, including engineering/technical documents, contracts, bid documents, and purchase orders.
Processed database inquiries and adeptly utilized Excel spreadsheet and PowerPoint presentation software for multiple, deadline-oriented projects.
Prepared monthly financial statements and processed expense reports Kept daily calendar to manage all internal and external communications.
Updated Contracts Department documents on SharePoint.
Routed time-sensitive information to account managers and generated financial reports and charts.
"data entry," "purchase orders," and "powerpoint" aren't the only skills we found contract administrative assistants list on their resumes. In fact, there's a whole list of contract administrative assistant responsibilities that we found, including:
See the full list of contract administrative assistant skills.
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.
In this section, we compare the average contract administrative assistant annual salary with that of an assistant secretary. Typically, assistant secretaries earn a $68,293 higher salary than contract administrative assistants earn annually.
Even though contract administrative assistants and assistant secretaries have vast differences in their careers, a few of the skills required to do both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require powerpoint, financial reports, and payroll in the day-to-day roles.
As far as similarities go, this is where it ends because a contract administrative assistant responsibility requires skills such as "data entry," "purchase orders," "expense reports," and "sharepoint." Whereas a assistant secretary is skilled in "financial statements," "direct calls," "federal agencies," and "travel arrangements." So if you're looking for what truly separates the two careers, you've found it.
The education levels that assistant secretaries earn is a bit different than that of contract administrative assistants. In particular, assistant secretaries are 3.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a contract administrative assistant. Additionally, they're 1.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.
A team assistant is an employee who is responsible for performing administrative duties to help members of the office team focus on their assigned projects. Under the direct supervision of team leaders, team assistants are required to schedule appointments with clients, organize internal team meetings, and alert team members of upcoming deadlines. They keep track of project expenses and purchase receipts and input those numbers into an accounting software program or spreadsheet. Team assistants must also order supplies and products when inventories are low.
Now we're going to look at the team assistant profession. On average, team assistants earn a $662 lower salary than contract administrative assistants a year.
Not everything about these jobs is different. Take their skills, for example. Contract administrative assistants and team assistants both include similar skills like "data entry," "powerpoint," and "expense reports" on their resumes.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, several resumes showed us that contract administrative assistant responsibilities requires skills like "purchase orders," "financial reports," "contract administration," and "word processing." But a team assistant might use skills, such as, "patients," "customer service," "patient care," and "cleanliness."
Team assistants may earn a lower salary than contract administrative assistants, but team assistants earn the most pay in the professional industry with an average salary of $56,346. On the other side of things, contract administrative assistants receive higher paychecks in the pharmaceutical industry where they earn an average of $53,341.
On the topic of education, team assistants earn similar levels of education than contract administrative assistants. In general, they're 2.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.
A project assistant's role mainly revolves around assisting a project manager. The responsibilities may vary upon the industry or organization. Still, most of them will be administrative tasks such as preparing reports and documentation, responding to calls and other forms of correspondence, and coordinating with various offices and personnel. Furthermore, a Project Assistant must also ensure the department's efficient workflow, proper utilization of budget, review documentation and schedules, attend meetings, and maintain an information database.
The third profession we take a look at is project assistant. On an average scale, these workers bring in lower salaries than contract administrative assistants. In fact, they make a $509 lower salary per year.
While looking through the resumes of several contract administrative assistants and project assistants we discovered that both professions have similar skills. These similarities include skills such as "data entry," "purchase orders," and "powerpoint," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.
There are many key differences between these two careers as shown by resumes from each profession. Some of those differences include the skills required to complete responsibilities within each role. As an example of this, a contract administrative assistant is likely to be skilled in "contract administration," "front desk," "calendar management," and "clerical support," while a typical project assistant is skilled in "customer service," "project management," "data collection," and "general contractors."
Interestingly enough, project assistants earn the most pay in the technology industry, where they command an average salary of $49,238. As mentioned previously, contract administrative assistants highest annual salary comes from the pharmaceutical industry with an average salary of $53,341.
Project assistants typically study at higher levels compared with contract administrative assistants. For example, they're 7.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.
Administrative support specialists provide different types of governmental assistance. They carry out varied clerical duties in almost all industries. Most of these duties revolve around supervising and distributing information within an organization. This typically includes taking memos, answering phone calls, and managing, storing, and organizing files. They are also responsible for receiving and sending correspondence and greeting customers and clients. Some administrative support may be required to have vast professional knowledge as their duties are more specialized than the others.
The fourth career we look at typically earns lower pay than contract administrative assistants. On average, administrative supports earn a difference of $1,381 lower per year.
While both contract administrative assistants and administrative supports complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like data entry, purchase orders, and powerpoint, the two careers also vary in other skills.
Even though a few skill sets overlap, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a contract administrative assistant might have more use for skills like "contract administration," "hr," "calendar management," and "hard copy." Meanwhile, some administrative supports might include skills like "customer service," "phone calls," "patients," and "excellent organizational" on their resume.
Now, let's take a closer look at the financials in each career. The technology industry tends to pay more for administrative supports with an average of $40,623. While the highest contract administrative assistant annual salary comes from the pharmaceutical industry.
Administrative supports reach similar levels of education when compared to contract administrative assistants. The difference is that they're 1.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree more, and 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.
