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The differences between front desk administrative assistants and administrative supports 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 support. Additionally, an administrative support has an average salary of $37,692, 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 support are customer service, administrative tasks, and data entry.
| Front Desk Administrative Assistant | Administrative Support | |
| Yearly salary | $33,037 | $37,692 |
| Hourly rate | $15.88 | $18.12 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 95,732 | 114,480 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| 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.
Administrative support specialists provide different types of governmental assistance. They carry out varied clerical duties in almost all industries. Most of these duties revolve around supervising and distributing information within an organization. This typically includes taking memos, answering phone calls, and managing, storing, and organizing files. They are also responsible for receiving and sending correspondence and greeting customers and clients. Some administrative support may be required to have vast professional knowledge as their duties are more specialized than the others.
Front desk administrative assistants and administrative supports have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Front Desk Administrative Assistant | Administrative Support | |
| Average salary | $33,037 | $37,692 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $39,000 | Between $26,000 And $53,000 |
| Highest paying City | Springfield, MA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | University of California, Berkeley | Pacific Investment Management Company LLC |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Technology |
There are a few differences between a front desk administrative assistant and an administrative support in terms of educational background:
| Front Desk Administrative Assistant | Administrative Support | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between front desk administrative assistants' and administrative supports' demographics:
| Front Desk Administrative Assistant | Administrative Support | |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 10.0% Female, 90.0% | Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6% |
| 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, 9.1% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |