From answering phone calls to managing schedules and budgets, program assistants are important positions to the program managers they work for. In fact, without program assistants there to coordinate meetings and process financial documents, program managers probably wouldn't know what to do.
Sure, program assistant jobs aren't hard to come by (in fact, we can't think of an industry where the position isn't available), but if you really want to get ahead of the competition, you might want to consider earning a degree. Whatever helps you become really great at management or gives you experience in administrative duties will surely put you as a front-runner when it comes to being selected for a job.
Did you know that the majority of program assistants stay in that position for a long time. In fact, over 40% of program assistants stay in that position for over six years. So if you're looking for a long-time job, this is a great professional solution.
Program Assistant Overview
Program Assistant Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a program assistant. For example, did you know that they make an average of $14.94 an hour? That's $31,085 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 13% and produce 52,200 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Program Assistant Do
There are certain skills that many program assistants have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed compassion, problem-solving skills and time-management skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a program assistant, we found that a lot of resumes listed 8.7% of program assistants included communication, while 7.9% of resumes included customer service, and 7.0% of resumes included data entry. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the program assistant job title. But what industry to start with? Most program assistants actually find jobs in the education and non profits industries.
How To Become a Program Assistant
If you're interested in becoming a program assistant, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 49.7% of program assistants have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 18.1% of program assistants have master's degrees. Even though most program assistants have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a program assistant. When we researched the most common majors for a program assistant, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on program assistant resumes include associate degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a program assistant. In fact, many program assistant jobs require experience in a role such as internship. Meanwhile, many program assistants also have previous career experience in roles such as administrative assistant or cashier.
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Program Assistant Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a program assistant can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as program coordinator, progress to a title such as consultant and then eventually end up with the title business manager.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Program Assistant
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Loundoun County Government Court Fines/Coll Program Asst Court Fines/Coll Program Asst | Loundoun County Government Loundoun County Government | 01/30/2021 01/30/2021 | $46,45701/30/2021 $46,457 |
Spokane County Lifesaving Programs Assistant--Extra Help Lifesaving Programs Assistant--Extra Help | Spokane County Spokane County | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $50,00001/29/2021 $50,000 |
Natural Resources Defense Council Program Assistant Program Assistant | Natural Resources Defense Council Natural Resources Defense Council | 01/28/2021 01/28/2021 | $45,25001/28/2021 $45,250 |
University of Washington Program Assistant, Undergraduate Programs Program Assistant, Undergraduate Programs | University of Washington University of Washington | 01/28/2021 01/28/2021 | $36,28801/28/2021 $36,288 |
Fresno County Superintendent of Schools Program Assistant-Early Care & Education Program Assistant-Early Care & Education | Fresno County Superintendent of Schools Fresno County Superintendent of Schools | 01/27/2021 01/27/2021 | $44,34001/27/2021 $44,340 |
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Program Assistant Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a Program Assistant. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a Program Assistant Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Program Assistant resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Colleges for Program Assistants
1. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
2. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Public
3. California State University - Dominguez Hills
Carson, CA • Public
4. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
5. Howard University
Washington, DC • Private
6. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
7. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
8. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Public
9. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Public
10. University of California - San Diego
La Jolla, CA • Public
Top Skills For a Program Assistant
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 8.7% of program assistants listed communication on their resume, but soft skills such as compassion and problem-solving skills are important as well.
- Communication, 8.7%
- Customer Service, 7.9%
- Data Entry, 7.0%
- HR, 5.5%
- Special Education, 3.9%
- Other Skills, 67.0% See All Program Assistant Skills
Best States For a Program Assistant
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a program assistant. The best states for people in this position are Connecticut, Alaska, California, and New York. Program assistants make the most in Connecticut with an average salary of $44,211. Whereas in Alaska and California, they would average $42,054 and $38,777, respectively. While program assistants would only make an average of $37,952 in New York, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Connecticut
$44,211
Avg. Salary
2. Alaska
$42,054
Avg. Salary
3. Minnesota
$36,982
Avg. Salary
How Do Program Assistant Rate Their Jobs?
Top Program Assistant Employers
We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ program assistants and discovered their number of program assistant opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Johns Hopkins University was the best, especially with an average salary of $33,651. Hicks Canyon Child Development Center follows up with an average salary of $32,401, and then comes Boys & Girls Clubs of America with an average of $17,894. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a program assistant. The employers include Lang College, Johns Hopkins University, and Starting Point