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The differences between front desk agents and desk assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a front desk agent has an average salary of $31,008, which is higher than the $27,353 average annual salary of a desk assistant.
The top three skills for a front desk agent include reservations, team work and guest service. The most important skills for a desk assistant are customer service, residential life, and phone calls.
| Front Desk Agent | Desk Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $31,008 | $27,353 |
| Hourly rate | $14.91 | $13.15 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 96,392 | 25,019 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 42% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
Front desk agents are usually the first hotel employees that the guest encounters upon entering the hotel. They greet and welcome guests. They are in charge of checking and validating the guests' reservations and issuing their room keys. Front desk agents are responsible for collecting any applicable fees from the guests and ensuring that only the registered guests stay. Front desk agents also coordinate with the housekeeping team and any other team to ensure that the guests' stay is the best.
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.
Front desk agents and desk assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Front Desk Agent | Desk Assistant | |
| Average salary | $31,008 | $27,353 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $37,000 | Between $12,000 And $61,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | Washington | New York |
| Best paying company | Brookhaven National Laboratory | Massachusetts General Hospital |
| Best paying industry | Hospitality | - |
There are a few differences between a front desk agent and a desk assistant in terms of educational background:
| Front Desk Agent | Desk Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 42% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Most common major | Business | Psychology |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between front desk agents' and desk assistants' demographics:
| Front Desk Agent | Desk Assistant | |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 31.2% Female, 68.8% | Male, 35.5% Female, 64.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.7% Unknown, 6.8% Hispanic or Latino, 22.1% Asian, 9.9% White, 50.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 13% | 13% |