Front desk office assistant vs front desk administrative assistant

The differences between front desk office assistants and front desk 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 office assistant and a front desk administrative assistant. Additionally, a front desk administrative assistant has an average salary of $33,037, 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 a front desk administrative assistant are customer service, patients, and data entry.

Front desk office assistant vs front desk administrative assistant overview

	Front Desk Office Assistant	Front Desk Administrative Assistant
Yearly salary	$31,361	$33,037
Hourly rate	$15.08	$15.88
Growth rate	-5%	-8%
Number of jobs	113,589	95,732
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 37%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
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 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.

Front desk office assistant vs front desk administrative assistant salary

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

	Front Desk Office Assistant	Front Desk Administrative Assistant
Average salary	$31,361	$33,037
Salary range	Between $20,000 And $46,000	Between $27,000 And $39,000
Highest paying City	-	Springfield, MA
Highest paying state	-	Connecticut
Best paying company	-	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	-	Professional

Differences between front desk office assistant and front desk administrative assistant education

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

	Front Desk Office Assistant	Front Desk Administrative Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 37%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Western Carolina University

Front desk office assistant vs front desk administrative assistant demographics

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

	Front Desk Office Assistant	Front Desk Administrative Assistant
Average age	47	50
Gender ratio	Male, 14.1% Female, 85.9%	Male, 10.0% Female, 90.0%
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, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between front desk office assistant and front desk administrative 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

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.

Front desk office assistant vs front desk administrative 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 front desk administrative assistant skills

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

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

Updated January 8, 2025

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