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The differences between operations associates and contractor/consultants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a contractor/consultant has an average salary of $84,811, which is higher than the $52,703 average annual salary of an operations associate.
The top three skills for an operations associate include customer service, sales floor and basic math. The most important skills for a contractor/consultant are healthcare, post implementation, and data analysis.
| Operations Associate | Contractor/Consultant | |
| Yearly salary | $52,703 | $84,811 |
| Hourly rate | $25.34 | $40.77 |
| Growth rate | -8% | 11% |
| Number of jobs | 70,275 | 64,573 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
An operations associate is responsible for performing administrative and clerical tasks to support the organization's daily operations. An operations associate must have excellent organizational skills to perform various duties for different business functions under the supervision of an operations manager. Operations associates respond to clients' inquiries and concerns, prepare meeting reports, schedule appointments, assisting on payroll release, update employees' information on the database, process contract agreements, and help the senior management to identify business opportunities that would generate revenues.
A contractor is a self-employed businessperson who agrees to work for a fixed price. His/her job involves the evaluation of clients' needs and actual performance of work. On the other hand, a consultant is a skilled independent businessperson who provides expert teaching and training in a specific market by assisting existing staff for the improvement of operations, problem-solving, and development of strategies. His/her role is to assess clients' needs and provide expert advice and opinion. However, both individuals are not employees, since they came from outside of the organization to perform such services.
Operations associates and contractor/consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Operations Associate | Contractor/Consultant | |
| Average salary | $52,703 | $84,811 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $95,000 | Between $58,000 And $123,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | New York | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Biogen | Cerner |
| Best paying industry | - | Technology |
There are a few differences between an operations associate and a contractor/consultant in terms of educational background:
| Operations Associate | Contractor/Consultant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between operations associates' and contractor/consultants' demographics:
| Operations Associate | Contractor/Consultant | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 50.2% Female, 49.8% | Male, 66.2% Female, 33.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |