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The differences between executive secretaries and senior executives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an executive secretary and a senior executive. Additionally, a senior executive has an average salary of $104,507, which is higher than the $46,594 average annual salary of an executive secretary.
The top three skills for an executive secretary include office procedures, payroll and word processing. The most important skills for a senior executive are customer service, project management, and SR.
| Executive Secretary | Senior Executive | |
| Yearly salary | $46,594 | $104,507 |
| Hourly rate | $22.40 | $50.24 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 103,802 | 74,894 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 44% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Average age | 49 | 49 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
The primary role of executive secretaries is to provide clerical support to an executive or a high-level administrator. They are the ones who conduct the different administrative support tasks for executives which include managing the calendar of executives, answering phone calls, conducting research and sorting important files, preparing and proofreading monthly reports and industry documents that are relevant to the role of executives, and performing some bookkeeping activities such as invoice creation and office inventory tracking.
A senior executive is responsible for supporting the chief technology officer and other higher officials on implementing critical corporate decisions, especially on identifying business opportunities to extend business partnership scopes and drive more revenue resources, supporting the company's financial stability. Senior executives oversee departmental operations across the company, ensuring production efficiency and high-quality output deliverables. They may also handle operational budgets and allocate adequate resources to each department's head. A senior executive attends meetings and conferences with other executives, sharing updates with stakeholders, and strategizing project management processes.
Executive secretaries and senior executives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Executive Secretary | Senior Executive | |
| Average salary | $46,594 | $104,507 |
| Salary range | Between $31,000 And $69,000 | Between $63,000 And $172,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Hartford, CT |
| Highest paying state | New York | Connecticut |
| Best paying company | InfosysPublicService | Intuit |
| Best paying industry | Government | Pharmaceutical |
There are a few differences between an executive secretary and a senior executive in terms of educational background:
| Executive Secretary | Senior Executive | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 44% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between executive secretaries' and senior executives' demographics:
| Executive Secretary | Senior Executive | |
| Average age | 49 | 49 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 7.7% Female, 92.3% | Male, 57.4% Female, 42.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 5.0% White, 71.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 5.0% White, 71.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |