Departmental secretary vs administrative associate

The differences between departmental secretaries and administrative associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a departmental secretary and an administrative associate. Additionally, an administrative associate has an average salary of $34,873, which is higher than the $31,261 average annual salary of a departmental secretary.

The top three skills for a departmental secretary include purchase orders, dictation and epic. The most important skills for an administrative associate are administrative tasks, purchase orders, and customer service.

Departmental secretary vs administrative associate overview

	Departmental Secretary	Administrative Associate
Yearly salary	$31,261	$34,873
Hourly rate	$15.03	$16.77
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	11,012	54,499
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 57%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	2	2

Departmental secretary vs administrative associate salary

Departmental secretaries and administrative associates have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Departmental Secretary	Administrative Associate
Average salary	$31,261	$34,873
Salary range	Between $24,000 And $39,000	Between $23,000 And $51,000
Highest paying City	-	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	-	New York
Best paying company	-	Lord Abbett
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between departmental secretary and administrative associate education

There are a few differences between a departmental secretary and an administrative associate in terms of educational background:

	Departmental Secretary	Administrative Associate
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 57%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Departmental secretary vs administrative associate demographics

Here are the differences between departmental secretaries' and administrative associates' demographics:

	Departmental Secretary	Administrative Associate
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 9.4% Female, 90.6%	Male, 21.6% Female, 78.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 4.0% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between departmental secretary and administrative associate duties and responsibilities

Departmental secretary example responsibilities.

Manage financial bookkeeping efficiently for the company using QuickBooks.
Complete and monitor payroll in the API system for multiple employees.
Prepare and submit employment, payroll and tuition forms to comptroller for faculty, staff and students.
Coordinate between student, local and national political movements by issuing departmental briefings for the political science and economics departments.
Initiate and monitor requisitions through PeopleSoft for office supplies, laboratory supplies including purchasing lab animals for research and travel reimbursement.

Administrative associate example responsibilities.

Manage consultants' calendar, arrange travel, paid bills via QuickBooks software.
Support medical doctors, manage sensitive and confidential records pertaining to high risk patients with emphasis on accuracy.
Enter invoices in QuickBooks and P2P.
Fulfill medical record requests from patients, providers and insurance companies in a HIPAA compliant way.
Prepare PowerPoint presentations and address day to day general operations and office procedures.
Prepare PowerPoint & other digital media for presentations that are distributed to upper management.

Departmental secretary vs administrative associate skills

Common departmental secretary skills

Purchase Orders, 18%
Dictation, 11%
Epic, 9%
Payroll, 9%
Travel Arrangements, 9%
Telephone Calls, 9%

Common administrative associate skills

Administrative Tasks, 12%
Purchase Orders, 10%
Customer Service, 10%
Telephone Calls, 9%
Travel Arrangements, 9%
Patients, 8%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Departmental Secretary
Departmental Secretary vs Administrative Associate

Updated January 8, 2025

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