Front desk administrative assistant vs contract administrative assistant

The differences between front desk administrative assistants and contract administrative assistants 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 a contract administrative assistant. Additionally, a contract administrative assistant has an average salary of $39,073, 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 a contract administrative assistant are data entry, purchase orders, and powerpoint.

Front desk administrative assistant vs contract administrative assistant overview

	Front Desk Administrative Assistant	Contract Administrative Assistant
Yearly salary	$33,037	$39,073
Hourly rate	$15.88	$18.79
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	95,732	64,677
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does a front desk administrative assistant do?

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.

What does a contract administrative assistant do?

A contract administrative assistant works on a contractual basis at offices where they are in charge of performing support tasks. Among their responsibilities include answering calls and correspondence, filing and organizing documents, coordinating with different departments, arranging appointments and schedules, preparing and processing files, and running errands as needed. They may also monitor the inventory of office supplies, processing procurement requests when necessary. Furthermore, a contract administrative assistant must maintain an active communication line with staff for a smooth and efficient workflow.

Front desk administrative assistant vs contract administrative assistant salary

Front desk administrative assistants and contract administrative assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Front Desk Administrative Assistant	Contract Administrative Assistant
Average salary	$33,037	$39,073
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $39,000	Between $31,000 And $48,000
Highest paying City	Springfield, MA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Connecticut	Connecticut
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	Minnesota State Fair
Best paying industry	Professional	Pharmaceutical

Differences between front desk administrative assistant and contract administrative assistant education

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

	Front Desk Administrative Assistant	Contract Administrative Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Front desk administrative assistant vs contract administrative assistant demographics

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

	Front Desk Administrative Assistant	Contract Administrative Assistant
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 10.0% Female, 90.0%	Male, 10.2% Female, 89.8%
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, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between front desk administrative assistant and contract administrative assistant duties and responsibilities

Front desk administrative assistant example responsibilities.

Manage day-to-day operations including scheduling and coordinating appointments, verify patient insurance, prepare correspondences between medical providers and their patients.
Process member and team member paperwork; including member cancellations, updates, new hires/terminations/status changes, and payroll paperwork.
Monitor and complete payroll information.
Demonstrate great initiative in assisting tech team with minor technical issues and create PowerPoint presentations for business strategic purposes.
Register patients, verify eligibility of insurance, interview them in order to obtain other demographic information that are needed.
Manage day-to-day operations including scheduling and coordinating appointments, verify patient insurance, prepare correspondences between medical providers and their patients.

Contract administrative assistant example responsibilities.

Manage and develop the daily clinical schedule for the in-patient rehabilitation staff taking into consideration Medicare guidelines and staffing ratios.
Orchestrate and design all RFP and RFQ proposals.
Issue RFQ's for subcontracts, evaluate proposals, award contracts and oversee through closeout.
Streamline staff scheduling through team management software (SharePoint) by coordinating schedules, meetings, and travel arrangements.
Transfer payroll and accounting paperwork to electronic form and index for future reference.
Assist in the creation and distribution of PowerPoint presentations for company executives and outside affiliates.

Front desk administrative assistant vs contract administrative assistant skills

Common front desk administrative assistant skills

Customer Service, 15%
Patients, 12%
Data Entry, 8%
Phone Calls, 8%
Front Desk Operations, 7%
Check-In, 4%

Common contract administrative assistant skills

Data Entry, 16%
Purchase Orders, 9%
PowerPoint, 9%
Expense Reports, 5%
SharePoint, 4%
Financial Reports, 4%

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Front Desk Administrative Assistant
Front Desk Administrative Assistant vs Contract Administrative Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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