Private secretary vs personal assistant

The differences between private secretaries and personal assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a private secretary and a personal assistant. Additionally, a personal assistant has an average salary of $40,026, which is higher than the $33,422 average annual salary of a private secretary.

The top three skills for a private secretary include scheduling appointments, routine correspondence and city officials. The most important skills for a personal assistant are run errands, companionship, and scheduling appointments.

Private secretary vs personal assistant overview

	Private Secretary	Personal Assistant
Yearly salary	$33,422	$40,026
Hourly rate	$16.07	$19.24
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	11,548	21,638
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 37%	Bachelor's Degree, 41%
Average age	50	49
Years of experience	2	2

Private secretary vs personal assistant salary

Private secretaries and personal assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Private Secretary	Personal Assistant
Average salary	$33,422	$40,026
Salary range	Between $22,000 And $50,000	Between $26,000 And $60,000
Highest paying City	-	New York, NY
Highest paying state	-	New York
Best paying company	-	AbbVie
Best paying industry	-	Real Estate

Differences between private secretary and personal assistant education

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

	Private Secretary	Personal Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 37%	Bachelor's Degree, 41%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Private secretary vs personal assistant demographics

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

	Private Secretary	Personal Assistant
Average age	50	49
Gender ratio	Male, 17.0% Female, 83.0%	Male, 19.3% Female, 80.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	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%
LGBT Percentage	6%	12%

Differences between private secretary and personal assistant duties and responsibilities

Private secretary example responsibilities.

Manage fireworks inventory through QuickBooks and process customer wholesale orders.
Reconcile payroll records on staff members.
Administer office staff's payroll time sheets.
Prepare discharges, enter all updates into OASAS system and review patient information to verify patients eligibility to receive transportation reimbursement.
Co-Ordinate of the CDG s diary and oversee general day-to-day office management.
Maintain confidential files for individuals requesting arbitration, liaison between labor and management to complete the grievance process.

Personal assistant example responsibilities.

Manage all errands including dry cleaning, pharmacy, and personal shopping for groceries, clothing, and gifts.
Manage daily operations of the gallery including budgeting, small payroll and reconciling business accounts, eliminating off-site accounting fees.
Maintain company books including A/R, A/P, bank statements and other reports.
Handle payroll, phones, A/R, A/P, and general accounting procedures.
Book appointments, confirm travel accommodations, complete payroll using QuickBooks, maintain business licenses and insurance
Wash windows, walls, and woodwork.

Private secretary vs personal assistant skills

Common private secretary skills

Scheduling Appointments, 44%
Routine Correspondence, 21%
City Officials, 18%
Payroll, 7%
Telephone Calls, 5%
Personnel Actions, 3%

Common personal assistant skills

RUN Errands, 29%
Companionship, 8%
Scheduling Appointments, 6%
Meal Prep, 5%
Household Chores, 5%
Travel Arrangements, 5%