Front desk office assistant vs general office assistant

The differences between front desk office assistants and general 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 a general office assistant. Additionally, a front desk office assistant has an average salary of $31,361, which is higher than the $30,764 average annual salary of a general 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 general office assistant are data entry, customer service, and general office assistance.

Front desk office assistant vs general office assistant overview

	Front Desk Office Assistant	General Office Assistant
Yearly salary	$31,361	$30,764
Hourly rate	$15.08	$14.79
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	113,589	131,527
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 37%	Bachelor's Degree, 41%
Average age	47	47
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 general office assistant do?

A general office assistant is in charge of performing clerical support tasks to help an office run smoothly and efficiently. Their responsibilities include managing the office calendar and schedules, preparing and processing documents, handling calls and correspondence, organizing and disseminating files, greeting visitors, and running errands as needed. They must also monitor the inventory of office supplies, processing procurement requests as necessary. Furthermore, a general office assistant may assist staff in projects and programs while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.

Front desk office assistant vs general office assistant salary

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

	Front Desk Office Assistant	General Office Assistant
Average salary	$31,361	$30,764
Salary range	Between $20,000 And $46,000	Between $24,000 And $39,000
Highest paying City	-	Annapolis, MD
Highest paying state	-	Alaska
Best paying company	-	Cargill
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between front desk office assistant and general office assistant education

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

	Front Desk Office Assistant	General Office Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 37%	Bachelor's Degree, 41%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Western Carolina University

Front desk office assistant vs general office assistant demographics

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

	Front Desk Office Assistant	General Office Assistant
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 14.1% Female, 85.9%	Male, 20.8% Female, 79.2%
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, 9.0% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 21.7% Asian, 9.1% White, 54.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between front desk office assistant and general 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

General office assistant example responsibilities.

Manage operational FedEx relationship through order fulfillment, shipment tracking, and communication with parties involve in shipment transaction.
Utilize QuickBooks to prepare checks and process for submission to insurance companies.
Assign jobs to the installers into the computer by their installer identification number, addressed any payroll questions from the installers.
Distribute payroll and verify accuracy.
Maintain general office tidiness run errands and perform other job-relate duties as assigned.
Lead DoD team that assist Pakistan in gaining military capabilities to conduct counter-terrorism operations against the Taliban.

Front desk office assistant vs general 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 general office assistant skills

Data Entry, 26%
Customer Service, 12%
General Office Assistance, 9%
Front Desk, 7%
Schedule Appointments, 6%
Office Equipment, 6%

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Front Desk Office Assistant
Front Desk Office Assistant vs General Office Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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