Office technician vs assistant secretary

The differences between office technicians and assistant secretaries can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an office technician and an assistant secretary. Additionally, an assistant secretary has an average salary of $107,366, which is higher than the $34,956 average annual salary of an office technician.

The top three skills for an office technician include data entry, patients and office equipment. The most important skills for an assistant secretary are telephone calls, payroll, and scheduling appointments.

Office technician vs assistant secretary overview

	Office Technician	Assistant Secretary
Yearly salary	$34,956	$107,366
Hourly rate	$16.81	$51.62
Growth rate	-5%	-8%
Number of jobs	82,512	52,165
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	47	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does an office technician do?

An Office Technician handles installation and repair tasks by using power tools and manual equipment safely and effectively. Besides installing, maintaining, and repairing central office equipment, an office technician also installs, tests, and labels cable lines. They deactivate, activate, and maintain office equipment. Other duties performed by office technicians include removing non-functional and unused office equipment, managing equipment stations and telecommunication rooms cabling, and maintaining inspection, repair, maintenance, and installation documents. Also, these professionals work as per environmental, safety, and health policies.

What does an assistant secretary do?

An assistant secretary is responsible for performing administrative and clerical duties to support the daily operations of various departments and management personnel and ensure the efficiency of business functions. Assistant secretaries usually assist in business communications, responding to customers' inquiries and concerns, reaching out to existing clients to schedule appointments, welcoming guests on the office, and routing calls to the appropriate department. They also handle data entry procedures, updating customer information on the database, as well as creating reports on business and financial transactions.

Office technician vs assistant secretary salary

Office technicians and assistant secretaries have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Office Technician	Assistant Secretary
Average salary	$34,956	$107,366
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $48,000	Between $38,000 And $302,000
Highest paying City	Anchorage, AK	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Hawaii	Rhode Island
Best paying company	Motorola Solutions	Elanco
Best paying industry	Construction	-

Differences between office technician and assistant secretary education

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

	Office Technician	Assistant Secretary
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Office technician vs assistant secretary demographics

Here are the differences between office technicians' and assistant secretaries' demographics:

	Office Technician	Assistant Secretary
Average age	47	50
Gender ratio	Male, 30.0% Female, 70.0%	Male, 21.7% Female, 78.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 23.2% Asian, 8.5% White, 54.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between office technician and assistant secretary duties and responsibilities

Office technician example responsibilities.

Manage operational FedEx relationship through order fulfillment, shipment tracking, and communication with parties involve in shipment transaction.
Interact with SCO divisions, other agencies and campuses and the public, to resolve distribution problems concerning mail and payroll.
Communicate payroll information with employees.
Verify eligibility and coverage with Medicaid and Medicare.
Certify to perform refraction to patients participating in clinical trials.
Provide patients with surgical and procedural information and instructions as appropriate.

Assistant secretary example responsibilities.

Manage and oversee all STO relate actions task to OSD impacting future and current operations in STO.
Assist main accountant with extra jobs and are trained in QuickBooks.
Proofread, edit & type legal briefs, business letters, case notes.
Book keeping, answer phone calls, run errands and handle billing using Quickbooks.
Assist in contacting and informing the parents of upcoming graduates about alumni programs and donations.
Serve as first point of contact for students, faculty, and alumni calling or visiting the main administrative office.

Office technician vs assistant secretary skills

Common office technician skills

Data Entry, 16%
Patients, 11%
Office Equipment, 7%
Office Procedures, 7%
Word Processing, 5%
Payroll, 4%

Common assistant secretary skills

Telephone Calls, 13%
Payroll, 9%
Scheduling Appointments, 9%
Financial Statements, 9%
Office Equipment, 7%
Computer System, 5%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Office Technician
Office Technician vs Assistant Secretary

Updated January 8, 2025

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