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Personal assistant/office assistant vs secretary

The differences between personal assistants/office assistants and secretaries can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a personal assistant/office assistant and a secretary. Additionally, a personal assistant/office assistant has an average salary of $53,954, which is higher than the $36,442 average annual salary of a secretary.

The top three skills for a personal assistant/office assistant include customer service, travel arrangements and financial statements. The most important skills for a secretary are customer service, telephone calls, and payroll.

Personal assistant/office assistant vs secretary overview

Personal Assistant/Office AssistantSecretary
Yearly salary$53,954$36,442
Hourly rate$25.94$17.52
Growth rate-8%-8%
Number of jobs82,37969,315
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 44%Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Average age5050
Years of experience22

Personal assistant/office assistant vs secretary salary

Personal assistants/office assistants and secretaries have different pay scales, as shown below.

Personal Assistant/Office AssistantSecretary
Average salary$53,954$36,442
Salary rangeBetween $37,000 And $77,000Between $26,000 And $51,000
Highest paying City-San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state-California
Best paying company-Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith
Best paying industry-Government

Differences between personal assistant/office assistant and secretary education

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

Personal Assistant/Office AssistantSecretary
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 44%Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeWestern Carolina UniversityUniversity of Pennsylvania

Personal assistant/office assistant vs secretary demographics

Here are the differences between personal assistants/office assistants' and secretaries' demographics:

Personal Assistant/Office AssistantSecretary
Average age5050
Gender ratioMale, 14.3% Female, 85.7%Male, 10.1% Female, 89.9%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.5% Asian, 3.9% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage6%6%

Differences between personal assistant/office assistant and secretary duties and responsibilities

Personal assistant/office assistant example responsibilities.

  • Manage accounting operations, accounting close, account reporting and reconciliations.
  • Set up and attend conference calls between SEO companies to help promote.
  • Develop onsite body content, meta descriptions and page titles in support of SEO strategies.
  • Organize a brand new practice by creating all department forms such as patient registration and HIPAA law information.
  • Help implement practice's quality assurance and control program, efforts ensure compliance with HIPAA, CLIA and OSHA regulations.
  • Perform payroll procedures and used QuickBooks to record daily accounting activities.
  • Show more

Secretary example responsibilities.

  • Manage and oversee all STO relate actions task to OSD impacting future and current operations in STO.
  • Manage financial bookkeeping efficiently for the company using QuickBooks.
  • Lead DoD team that assist Pakistan in gaining military capabilities to conduct counter-terrorism operations against the Taliban.
  • Present information orally, using Microsoft PowerPoint to military officials on various office and personnel administrative functions.
  • Track progress monitoring for corrective reading and corrective math.
  • Copy and distribute medical records according to guidelines set by HIPPA
  • Show more

Personal assistant/office assistant vs secretary skills

Common personal assistant/office assistant skills
  • Customer Service, 16%
  • Travel Arrangements, 7%
  • Financial Statements, 6%
  • Appointment Scheduling, 5%
  • Front Desk, 4%
  • QuickBooks, 4%
Common secretary skills
  • Customer Service, 15%
  • Telephone Calls, 11%
  • Payroll, 9%
  • Scheduling Appointments, 9%
  • Word Processing, 5%
  • Office Equipment, 5%

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