Office assistant vs executive assistant

The differences between office assistants and executive assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become an office assistant, becoming an executive assistant takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, an executive assistant has an average salary of $50,539, which is higher than the $31,517 average annual salary of an office assistant.

The top three skills for an office assistant include data entry, patients and customer service. The most important skills for an executive assistant are powerpoint, customer service, and phone calls.

Office assistant vs executive assistant overview

	Office Assistant	Executive Assistant
Yearly salary	$31,517	$50,539
Hourly rate	$15.15	$24.30
Growth rate	-5%	-8%
Number of jobs	103,293	93,116
Job satisfaction	5	4.4
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 42%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Average age	47	49
Years of experience	2	4

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.

What does an executive assistant do?

Executive assistants are employees who are assigned to work under the supervision of company executives. They manage the activities of the executives they are assigned to by manning the executive's calendar, scheduling appointments, setting meetings, ensuring that the executives are familiar with their schedule for the day, and taking note of any deliverable that may be needed. They are also responsible for taking care of any document or paperwork that the executive needs, as well as preparing presentation materials or briefers for meetings. Executive assistants are also usually exposed to actual company operations to further understand how the business works and to be of better help to the executive.

Office assistant vs executive assistant salary

Office assistants and executive assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Office Assistant	Executive Assistant
Average salary	$31,517	$50,539
Salary range	Between $24,000 And $41,000	Between $35,000 And $71,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Vermont	New York
Best paying company	Analysis Group	Meta
Best paying industry	Government	Finance

Differences between office assistant and executive assistant education

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

	Office Assistant	Executive Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 42%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Office assistant vs executive assistant demographics

Here are the differences between office assistants' and executive assistants' demographics:

	Office Assistant	Executive Assistant
Average age	47	49
Gender ratio	Male, 17.3% Female, 82.7%	Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 5.0% White, 71.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	6%	10%

Differences between office assistant and executive assistant duties and responsibilities

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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Executive assistant example responsibilities.

Manage and maintain AVP calendar and schedule using independent judgment.
Manage and review WinStar (KRONOS) time clock hours for hourly union employees.
Organize and manage administrative, audio/visual (WebEx, GoToMeeting), and catering of department meetings.
Manage the scope of accounting processes including billing, bookkeeping and expense data management with strong oversight of A/R and A/P.
Create and manage executive presentations using Visio and PowerPoint.
Compile, manage and organize travel and expense reports processing and submitting reports using PeopleSoft for reimbursement.

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Office assistant vs executive assistant skills

Common office assistant skills

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

Common executive assistant skills

PowerPoint, 13%
Customer Service, 8%
Phone Calls, 6%
Calendar Management, 6%
Administrative Tasks, 3%
Financial Reports, 3%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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