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The differences between front desk administrative assistants and administrative staff can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a front desk administrative assistant and an administrative staff. Additionally, an administrative staff has an average salary of $77,101, which is higher than the $33,037 average annual salary of a front desk administrative assistant.
The top three skills for a front desk administrative assistant include customer service, patients and data entry. The most important skills for an administrative staff are telephone calls, word processing, and travel arrangements.
| Front Desk Administrative Assistant | Administrative Staff | |
| Yearly salary | $33,037 | $77,101 |
| Hourly rate | $15.88 | $37.07 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 95,732 | 119,030 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A front desk administrative assistant is responsible for performing administrative duties to support daily business functions and operations. Front desk administrative assistants assist guests, respond to their inquiries and concerns, and direct them to the appropriate personnel for their needs. They also monitor office inventories, write purchase requests, and distribute mails across the departments. A front desk administrative assistants review business and financial transactions to generate reports, update information on the company's database, and sort documents for reference.
As the administrative staff, they primarily provide administrative and secretarial support for the department. Typically, they do report-writing, filing and scheduling, and payroll. They plan department weekly meetings, schedule conference calls, and work on solving administrative related concerns and issues. They do a complex task that involves multi-tasking from the preparation of department reports, analyzing data, and finding solutions. It is a requirement to be an experienced, collaborator, and trained cross-functional communicator. Moreover, other duties will include scheduling company-initiated activities, meetings, and events.
Front desk administrative assistants and administrative staff have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Front Desk Administrative Assistant | Administrative Staff | |
| Average salary | $33,037 | $77,101 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $39,000 | Between $58,000 And $101,000 |
| Highest paying City | Springfield, MA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | California |
| Best paying company | University of California, Berkeley | NVIDIA |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Professional |
There are a few differences between a front desk administrative assistant and an administrative staff in terms of educational background:
| Front Desk Administrative Assistant | Administrative Staff | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between front desk administrative assistants' and administrative staff' demographics:
| Front Desk Administrative Assistant | Administrative Staff | |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 10.0% Female, 90.0% | Male, 31.9% Female, 68.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |