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The differences between personal assistants and executive secretaries can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a personal assistant, becoming an executive secretary takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, an executive secretary has an average salary of $46,594, which is higher than the $40,026 average annual salary of a personal assistant.
The top three skills for a personal assistant include run errands, companionship and scheduling appointments. The most important skills for an executive secretary are office procedures, payroll, and word processing.
| Personal Assistant | Executive Secretary | |
| Yearly salary | $40,026 | $46,594 |
| Hourly rate | $19.24 | $22.40 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 21,638 | 103,802 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 41% | Bachelor's Degree, 44% |
| Average age | 49 | 49 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 4 |
Personal assistants are employees working for individuals who need help in managing their personal affairs. Personal assistants manage the daily activities of their employers. They are in charge of managing their employer's schedules and appointments, often coordinating their meetings and orienting them on their schedule at the start of the day. They also arrange travel needs, from looking for travel tickets to booking accommodations. When they have built enough trust with their employer, they are entrusted to also manage personal financial accounts and are often given access to other confidential information related to the employer.
The primary role of executive secretaries is to provide clerical support to an executive or a high-level administrator. They are the ones who conduct the different administrative support tasks for executives which include managing the calendar of executives, answering phone calls, conducting research and sorting important files, preparing and proofreading monthly reports and industry documents that are relevant to the role of executives, and performing some bookkeeping activities such as invoice creation and office inventory tracking.
Personal assistants and executive secretaries have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Personal Assistant | Executive Secretary | |
| Average salary | $40,026 | $46,594 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $60,000 | Between $31,000 And $69,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | New York | New York |
| Best paying company | AbbVie | InfosysPublicService |
| Best paying industry | Real Estate | Government |
There are a few differences between a personal assistant and an executive secretary in terms of educational background:
| Personal Assistant | Executive Secretary | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 41% | Bachelor's Degree, 44% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between personal assistants' and executive secretaries' demographics:
| Personal Assistant | Executive Secretary | |
| Average age | 49 | 49 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 19.3% Female, 80.7% | Male, 7.7% Female, 92.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 5.8% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 7.4% White, 57.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | 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 | 12% | 10% |