Department administrator vs department secretary

The differences between department administrators and department 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 department administrator and a department secretary. Additionally, a department administrator has an average salary of $49,768, which is higher than the $35,473 average annual salary of a department secretary.

The top three skills for a department administrator include patient care, patients and financial reports. The most important skills for a department secretary are patients, customer service, and data entry.

Department administrator vs department secretary overview

	Department Administrator	Department Secretary
Yearly salary	$49,768	$35,473
Hourly rate	$23.93	$17.05
Growth rate	5%	-8%
Number of jobs	84,441	80,303
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Average age	43	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does a department administrator do?

Department administrators are professionals who are responsible for performing administrative and clerical tasks for a specific department within an organization. These administrators are required to prepare financial statements for clients while evaluating revisions through feedback with stakeholders. They must work with the human resources department to recruit and identify workers for retraining and skill upgrades. Department administrators must also develop and streamline departmental policies and processes so that they can ensure efficiency, productivity, and accountability.

What does a department secretary do?

A department secretary is responsible for providing administrative and clerical support to a specific department, ensuring smooth operations to maintain high-quality services to the customers and business partners. Department secretaries should have excellent knowledge of office management principles, especially on data processing procedures and customer service processes. They handle the scheduling of meetings and conferences, responding to customers' inquiries and concerns, directing visitors to the appropriate personnel and department, sorting files, and submitting business transactions and financial reports. A department secretary also recommends strategic procedures to generate more revenues and increase the company's profitability.

Department administrator vs department secretary salary

Department administrators and department secretaries have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Department Administrator	Department Secretary
Average salary	$49,768	$35,473
Salary range	Between $34,000 And $72,000	Between $26,000 And $47,000
Highest paying City	South San Francisco, CA	Oakland, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	California
Best paying company	MacArthur Foundation	Brigham and Women's Hospital
Best paying industry	Energy	Government

Differences between department administrator and department secretary education

There are a few differences between a department administrator and a department secretary in terms of educational background:

	Department Administrator	Department Secretary
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	California State University - Bakersfield	Stanford University

Department administrator vs department secretary demographics

Here are the differences between department administrators' and department secretaries' demographics:

	Department Administrator	Department Secretary
Average age	43	50
Gender ratio	Male, 30.3% Female, 69.7%	Male, 7.0% Female, 93.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 8.8% White, 64.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	9%	6%

Differences between department administrator and department secretary duties and responsibilities

Department administrator example responsibilities.

Manage calendars, correspondence, logs, reports and maintain documentation in Prolog.
Lead implementation of local area network and upgrade of scheduling, billing and A/R software.
Manage patient records ensuring confidentiality and compliance with all HIPAA regulations.
Initiate and manage the implementation of facilities management oversight of external properties.
Direct Medicaid health plan management division activities (manage care program operations, quality improvement, and contract administration).
Verify vendor quotes and resolve invoice discrepancies.

Department secretary example responsibilities.

Lead DoD team that assist Pakistan in gaining military capabilities to conduct counter-terrorism operations against the Taliban.
Volunteer for ISO auditor duties to ensure ISO procedures are followed for certification.
Perform payroll functions, including maintaining timekeeping information and processing and submitting payroll.
Prepare materials for monthly board of directors meetings including PowerPoint presentations, agendas and minutes.
Complete all payroll documentation, enter all payroll documentation into computer program, and submit to payroll department.
Create PowerPoint presentations used for business development, organize files and develop spreadsheets, fax reports and scan documents.

Department administrator vs department secretary skills

Common department administrator skills

Patient Care, 10%
Patients, 10%
Financial Reports, 7%
Human Resources, 6%
Payroll, 6%
Departmental Policies, 5%

Common department secretary skills

Patients, 22%
Customer Service, 10%
Data Entry, 7%
Medical Terminology, 7%
Patient Care, 4%
Word Processing, 4%

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Department Administrator vs Department Secretary

Updated January 8, 2025

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