Front desk office assistant vs administrative office assistant

The differences between front desk office assistants and administrative office 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 office assistant and an administrative office assistant. Additionally, an administrative office assistant has an average salary of $33,318, which is higher than the $31,361 average annual salary of a front desk office assistant.

The top three skills for a front desk office assistant include front desk, patients and customer service. The most important skills for an administrative office assistant are customer service, data entry, and phone calls.

Front desk office assistant vs administrative office assistant overview

	Front Desk Office Assistant	Administrative Office Assistant
Yearly salary	$31,361	$33,318
Hourly rate	$15.08	$16.02
Growth rate	-5%	-8%
Number of jobs	113,589	81,528
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 37%	Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Average age	47	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does a front desk office assistant do?

Front desk office assistants are the first point of contact for anyone visiting a business or an office. They greet workers and clients and perform routine administrative tasks around the office. These tasks include taking phone calls, scheduling appointments, responding to inquiries and concerns of guests, maintaining and arranging office files, taking and delivering messages, and sending mail. Being polite, jovial, and firm are key characteristics in this role.

What does an administrative office assistant do?

An administrative office assistant is responsible for performing administrative duties to assist in daily management operations. These duties include taking calls and responding to client and customers' inquiries and concerns, scheduling meetings and conferences, organizing files and submitting required documents, sorting invoices for release, processing travel arrangements, receiving emails, forwarding reports to the appropriate department, and coordinating with company's events. An administrative assistant must be detail-oriented, as well as having excellent time-management and multi-tasking skills to perform duties even under minimal supervision.

Front desk office assistant vs administrative office assistant salary

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

	Front Desk Office Assistant	Administrative Office Assistant
Average salary	$31,361	$33,318
Salary range	Between $20,000 And $46,000	Between $25,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	-	Sacramento, CA
Highest paying state	-	Hawaii
Best paying company	-	Buckley King
Best paying industry	-	Government

Differences between front desk office assistant and administrative office assistant education

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

	Front Desk Office Assistant	Administrative Office Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 37%	Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Western Carolina University

Front desk office assistant vs administrative office assistant demographics

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

	Front Desk Office Assistant	Administrative Office Assistant
Average age	47	50
Gender ratio	Male, 14.1% Female, 85.9%	Male, 14.7% Female, 85.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 23.5% Asian, 7.6% White, 53.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

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

Front desk office assistant example responsibilities.

Manage front-line customer service efforts and deliver maximum revenue generation by scheduling patients and maintaining substantial client database.
Enter patient demographics into EMR.
Track patient files records, and other information including entry of data into EMR.
Follow health center and departmental protocols for communication with patients and providers.
Respond to incoming patient calls, including conducting phone triage to determine necessity of scheduling appointments
Enhance student body knowledge by researching key facts to create educational PowerPoint slides to be publish throughout campus

Administrative office assistant example responsibilities.

Develop and manage external financial relationships between clients and the IRS.
Manage the receptionist area, including greeting visitors and responding to telephone and in-person requests for information.
Establish and maintain effective communications and cohesive working relationships with company associates, telephone and walk-in customers, and site visitors.
Dust offices and clean windows and doors.
Update information in CATT database, as well as make appointments for therapists and psychiatrists in Sharepoint.
Create electronic filing system to alleviate paper copies and recruit fellow co-workers to get on board with SharePoint.

Front desk office assistant vs administrative office assistant skills

Common front desk office assistant skills

Front Desk, 20%
Patients, 18%
Customer Service, 9%
Phone Calls, 9%
Data Entry, 8%
Appointment Scheduling, 5%

Common administrative office assistant skills

Customer Service, 14%
Data Entry, 13%
Phone Calls, 7%
Payroll, 5%
PowerPoint, 4%
Database Management, 4%

Front Desk Office Assistant vs. similar jobs

Front Desk Office Assistant related careers

Front Desk Office Assistant related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Office and Administrative Industry
Front Desk Office Assistant
Front Desk Office Assistant vs Administrative Office Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse office and administrative jobs