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The differences between maintenance clerks and department 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 maintenance clerk and a department assistant. Additionally, a department assistant has an average salary of $40,698, which is higher than the $31,527 average annual salary of a maintenance clerk.
The top three skills for a maintenance clerk include customer service, cleanliness and sales floor. The most important skills for a department assistant are patients, customer service, and data entry.
| Maintenance Clerk | Department Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $31,527 | $40,698 |
| Hourly rate | $15.16 | $19.57 |
| Growth rate | -3% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 121,574 | 88,268 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 30% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Average age | 45 | 50 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A maintenance clerk typically works in an organization's maintenance department. As a maintenance clerk, your duties will include overseeing maintenance information, ensuring the department's smooth operation, and generating computer reports. Additionally, you will be responsible for maintaining and managing inventory records and answering telephone calls. Other duties that you will likely perform include preparing written and correspondence materials for personnel, providing or coordinating the response to personnel and customer inquiries, and tracking equipment for maintenance.
A department assistant is responsible for performing administrative and clerical duties to support and ensure the smooth operations of an entire department. Department assistants manage meeting calendars, book travel appointments, assist with company events, respond to clients' inquiries and requests through phone calls or personal visits, update customer records, organize electronic files, create business proposals, and monitor supplies. A department assistant must have excellent organizational and communication skills, as well as the ability to multitask under minimal supervision.
Maintenance clerks and department assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Maintenance Clerk | Department Assistant | |
| Average salary | $31,527 | $40,698 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $38,000 | Between $24,000 And $67,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | New Hampshire | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | Southern California Edison | Dorsey & Whitney |
| Best paying industry | Government | - |
There are a few differences between a maintenance clerk and a department assistant in terms of educational background:
| Maintenance Clerk | Department Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 30% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between maintenance clerks' and department assistants' demographics:
| Maintenance Clerk | Department Assistant | |
| Average age | 45 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 41.4% Female, 58.6% | Male, 34.0% Female, 66.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 7.0% White, 60.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 6% |