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The differences between legal secretaries and department secretaries can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a legal secretary, becoming a department secretary takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a legal secretary has an average salary of $41,725, which is higher than the $35,473 average annual salary of a department secretary.
The top three skills for a legal secretary include litigation, legal correspondence and dictation. The most important skills for a department secretary are patients, customer service, and data entry.
| Legal Secretary | Department Secretary | |
| Yearly salary | $41,725 | $35,473 |
| Hourly rate | $20.06 | $17.05 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 13,182 | 80,303 |
| Job satisfaction | 3 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 37% | Bachelor's Degree, 39% |
| Average age | 54 | 50 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 2 |
Legal secretaries are employees in a law firm who are responsible for many administrative tasks. They handle the tasks such as filing and keeping records, ensuring that all documents are stored properly, and update contact information data and other essential office databases. They must also be knowledgeable on the law because they are, at times, assigned to draw up legal documents such as motions and subpoenas, conduct legal research, and write up other important office memoranda. Legal secretaries should be organized, trustworthy, and level-headed.
A department secretary is responsible for providing administrative and clerical support to a specific department, ensuring smooth operations to maintain high-quality services to the customers and business partners. Department secretaries should have excellent knowledge of office management principles, especially on data processing procedures and customer service processes. They handle the scheduling of meetings and conferences, responding to customers' inquiries and concerns, directing visitors to the appropriate personnel and department, sorting files, and submitting business transactions and financial reports. A department secretary also recommends strategic procedures to generate more revenues and increase the company's profitability.
Legal secretaries and department secretaries have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Legal Secretary | Department Secretary | |
| Average salary | $41,725 | $35,473 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $60,000 | Between $26,000 And $47,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Oakland, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Kane Russell Coleman Logan | Brigham and Women's Hospital |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Government |
There are a few differences between a legal secretary and a department secretary in terms of educational background:
| Legal Secretary | Department Secretary | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 37% | Bachelor's Degree, 39% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Bentley University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between legal secretaries' and department secretaries' demographics:
| Legal Secretary | Department Secretary | |
| Average age | 54 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 5.2% Female, 94.8% | Male, 7.0% Female, 93.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.5% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 13.2% Asian, 2.7% White, 71.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 15% | 6% |