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The differences between mailroom assistants and department secretaries can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a department secretary has an average salary of $35,473, which is higher than the $29,118 average annual salary of a mailroom assistant.
The top three skills for a mailroom assistant include office equipment, data entry and HR. The most important skills for a department secretary are patients, customer service, and data entry.
| Mailroom Assistant | Department Secretary | |
| Yearly salary | $29,118 | $35,473 |
| Hourly rate | $14.00 | $17.05 |
| Growth rate | -5% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 13,048 | 80,303 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 39% |
| Average age | 45 | 50 |
| Years of experience | - | 2 |
Mailroom assistants receive incoming mail and then process, sort, and distribute it to the proper recipients. They may maintain mailroom supply inventories and sort office mail and messages. It is part of their responsibilities to check outgoing mail by preparing it for delivery, including distribution of packages and logging. Moreover, they usually operate mailroom tools such as envelope openers, postage meters, mail sorting machines, mail sealers, fold-and-insert machines, labeling machines, and scanners.
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.
Mailroom assistants and department secretaries have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Mailroom Assistant | Department Secretary | |
| Average salary | $29,118 | $35,473 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $35,000 | Between $26,000 And $47,000 |
| Highest paying City | Walnut Creek, CA | Oakland, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | California |
| Best paying company | University of California | Brigham and Women's Hospital |
| Best paying industry | Government | Government |
There are a few differences between a mailroom assistant and a department secretary in terms of educational background:
| Mailroom Assistant | Department Secretary | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 39% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between mailroom assistants' and department secretaries' demographics:
| Mailroom Assistant | Department Secretary | |
| Average age | 45 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 54.1% Female, 45.9% | Male, 7.0% Female, 93.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 8.1% White, 60.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | 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 | 7% | 6% |