Desk assistant vs front desk representative

The differences between desk assistants and front desk representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a front desk representative has an average salary of $29,224, which is higher than the $27,353 average annual salary of a desk assistant.

The top three skills for a desk assistant include customer service, residential life and phone calls. The most important skills for a front desk representative are reservations, customer service, and excellent guest.

Desk assistant vs front desk representative overview

	Desk Assistant	Front Desk Representative
Yearly salary	$27,353	$29,224
Hourly rate	$13.15	$14.05
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	25,019	140,332
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Average age	37	37
Years of experience	-	-

What does a desk assistant do?

A desk assistant is primarily responsible for providing customer service support through calls or desk appointments, ensuring client satisfaction. Typically, they are responsible for answering inquiries and correspondence, addressing issues and concerns, troubleshooting, and providing corrective measures or advice when necessary. Should the problems be challenging to handle, one can elevate the matter to a supervising manager. Moreover, a desk assistant may have clerical duties such as processing paperwork, maintaining documentation and a database, managing schedules, and updating systems.

What does a front desk representative do?

A front desk representative is responsible for welcoming guests, processing their reservations, and responding to their inquiries and concerns. Front desk representatives perform various administrative and clerical duties as needed, ensuring customer satisfaction to generate revenues and increase profitability, as well as keeping the company's good reputation for clients' loyalty. They organize and maintain the cleanliness of the front desk area at all times and lead guests to the appropriate department. A front desk representative must have excellent customer service and organizational skills to handle different visiting purposes of the guests.

Desk assistant vs front desk representative salary

Desk assistants and front desk representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Desk Assistant	Front Desk Representative
Average salary	$27,353	$29,224
Salary range	Between $12,000 And $61,000	Between $22,000 And $37,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	Southampton, NY
Highest paying state	New York	New York
Best paying company	Massachusetts General Hospital	Eye Consultants of Atlanta
Best paying industry	-	Retail

Differences between desk assistant and front desk representative education

There are a few differences between a desk assistant and a front desk representative in terms of educational background:

	Desk Assistant	Front Desk Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Most common major	Psychology	Business
Most common college	-	-

Desk assistant vs front desk representative demographics

Here are the differences between desk assistants' and front desk representatives' demographics:

	Desk Assistant	Front Desk Representative
Average age	37	37
Gender ratio	Male, 35.5% Female, 64.5%	Male, 27.2% Female, 72.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 6.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% Asian, 11.7% White, 51.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4%	Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 6.6% Hispanic or Latino, 21.2% Asian, 10.0% White, 50.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4%
LGBT Percentage	13%	13%

Differences between desk assistant and front desk representative duties and responsibilities

Desk assistant example responsibilities.

Use EMR software to manage patient records and files; reinforce and uphold patient confidentiality as required by HIPAA.
Fulfill front desk duties such as: customer service, operating cash register, scheduling reservations, answering phone calls and housekeeping
Check ids, close the weight room, put weights away, answer phones
Check in/out guests and operate hotel booking software.
Answer calls, complete paperwork, and ensure the hall run smoothly
Check in residents after midnight, and run check out of dorm equipment.

Front desk representative example responsibilities.

Control all guestroom allocations, ensuring that reservations are accurately record and monitor to ensure optimum occupancy and revenue is achieved.
Anticipate sold-out situations and obtain satisfactory alternative accommodations when the property cannot accommodate guests with reservations.
Control all guestroom allocations, ensuring that reservations are accurately record and monitor to ensure optimum occupancy and revenue is achieved.
Enter new and existing student information into MindBody.
Assist customers with setting up classes through MINDBODY.
Provide problem resolution services for guests and act as a professional representative for Simon while following myriad corporate policies and procedures.

Desk assistant vs front desk representative skills

Common desk assistant skills

Customer Service, 22%
Residential Life, 18%
Phone Calls, 16%
Front Desk Coverage, 8%
Administrative Tasks, 7%
Emergency Situations, 4%

Common front desk representative skills

Reservations, 25%
Customer Service, 10%
Excellent Guest, 7%
Computer System, 5%
Patients, 5%
Cash Handling, 5%

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Desk Assistant vs Front Desk Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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