General internship vs office assistant

The differences between general interns and 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 general internship and an office assistant. Additionally, a general internship has an average salary of $61,485, which is higher than the $31,517 average annual salary of an office assistant.

The top three skills for a general internship include internship program, patients and powerpoint. The most important skills for an office assistant are data entry, patients, and customer service.

General internship vs office assistant overview

	General Internship	Office Assistant
Yearly salary	$61,485	$31,517
Hourly rate	$29.56	$15.15
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	88,761	103,293
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	Bachelor's Degree, 42%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	2	2

What does a general internship do?

A general intern is responsible for supporting the business operations by performing administrative and clerical duties under the supervision of a direct manager or tenured staff. Interns shadow employees from different teams to have a good grasp of the services and processes offered by the company, understanding each group's functions, and analyzing how the business works for the clients. They also attend and write meeting reports, assist with organizing programs and events, and conduct data processing procedures.

What does an office assistant do?

Office assistants perform various tasks to ensure that the business runs organized and efficient. An office assistant must possess excellent communication and multi-tasking skills to handle essential duties such as scheduling meetings, monitoring office supplies, storing documents and necessary paperwork, handling customer inquiries and appointments, coordinating in company events, and accomplishing other clerical tasks and administrative support. Office assistants are also required to communicate any observation that would possibly make an impact on the company's performance.

General internship vs office assistant salary

General interns and office assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	General Internship	Office Assistant
Average salary	$61,485	$31,517
Salary range	Between $44,000 And $84,000	Between $24,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Washington	Vermont
Best paying company	General Motors	Analysis Group
Best paying industry	Professional	Government

Differences between general internship and office assistant education

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

	General Internship	Office Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	Bachelor's Degree, 42%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	Western Carolina University

General internship vs office assistant demographics

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

	General Internship	Office Assistant
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 51.4% Female, 48.6%	Male, 17.3% Female, 82.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.4% Asian, 10.6% White, 57.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	Black or African American, 10.1% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 21.0% Asian, 8.3% White, 54.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between general internship and office assistant duties and responsibilities

General internship example responsibilities.

Manage a web-base graphical interface that utilize a SQL database to better track fabrication lab operations.
Update and revise both standard and project specific engineering drawings in AutoCAD.
Update websites and Facebook page on the latest collections, successfully increasing followers and web traffic.
Work extensively with AutoCAD drafting floor plans, general planning, and designing using ADA standards.
Needle guidance for radiologists in thyroid fine needle aspirations and breast core biopsies under sterile conditions.
Handle all A/P functions with growing responsibility in the areas of A/R, purchasing and personnel administration.

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Office assistant example responsibilities.

Manage filing, photocopying, collating, and faxing public and seal case documents.
Manage CI s SharePoint pages and serve as CI s subject matter expert on SharePoint working groups.
Manage operational FedEx relationship through order fulfillment, shipment tracking, and communication with parties involve in shipment transaction.
Compile payroll records, detect and reconcile discrepancies, accurately report outcomes using QuickBooks.
Maintain office services by organizing office operations and procedures, preparing payroll, controlling correspondences, and designing filing systems.
File client paperwork upholding HIPAA standards.

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General internship vs office assistant skills

Common general internship skills

Internship Program, 21%
Patients, 19%
PowerPoint, 11%
Patient Care, 6%
Financial Statements, 4%
Data Analysis, 4%

Common office assistant skills

Data Entry, 16%
Patients, 14%
Customer Service, 9%
Telephone Calls, 7%
Scheduling Appointments, 6%
Front Desk, 6%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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