Project assistant vs administrative office assistant

The differences between project assistants and administrative office 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 project assistant and an administrative office assistant. Additionally, a project assistant has an average salary of $38,564, which is higher than the $33,318 average annual salary of an administrative office assistant.

The top three skills for a project assistant include data entry, powerpoint and customer service. The most important skills for an administrative office assistant are customer service, data entry, and phone calls.

Project assistant vs administrative office assistant overview

	Project Assistant	Administrative Office Assistant
Yearly salary	$38,564	$33,318
Hourly rate	$18.54	$16.02
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	59,664	81,528
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 65%	Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does a project assistant do?

A project assistant's role mainly revolves around assisting a project manager. The responsibilities may vary upon the industry or organization. Still, most of them will be administrative tasks such as preparing reports and documentation, responding to calls and other forms of correspondence, and coordinating with various offices and personnel. Furthermore, a Project Assistant must also ensure the department's efficient workflow, proper utilization of budget, review documentation and schedules, attend meetings, and maintain an information database.

What does an administrative office assistant do?

An administrative office assistant is responsible for performing administrative duties to assist in daily management operations. These duties include taking calls and responding to client and customers' inquiries and concerns, scheduling meetings and conferences, organizing files and submitting required documents, sorting invoices for release, processing travel arrangements, receiving emails, forwarding reports to the appropriate department, and coordinating with company's events. An administrative assistant must be detail-oriented, as well as having excellent time-management and multi-tasking skills to perform duties even under minimal supervision.

Project assistant vs administrative office assistant salary

Project assistants and administrative office assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Project Assistant	Administrative Office Assistant
Average salary	$38,564	$33,318
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $57,000	Between $25,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	Portland, OR	Sacramento, CA
Highest paying state	Oregon	Hawaii
Best paying company	AstraZeneca	Buckley King
Best paying industry	Technology	Government

Differences between project assistant and administrative office assistant education

There are a few differences between a project assistant and an administrative office assistant in terms of educational background:

	Project Assistant	Administrative Office Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 65%	Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Project assistant vs administrative office assistant demographics

Here are the differences between project assistants' and administrative office assistants' demographics:

	Project Assistant	Administrative Office Assistant
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 32.9% Female, 67.1%	Male, 14.7% Female, 85.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between project assistant and administrative office assistant duties and responsibilities

Project assistant example responsibilities.

Manage SharePoint document repository and ensure that project managers comply with PMO policies.
Manage facilities by coordinating relocation of departments by using the facilities management database and VISIO.
Compose and balance departmental grants, tabulate and process payroll distribution, manage and maintain office routine during supervisor's absence.
Manage QA budget for assign projects by identifying actual and potential budget over-runs and under-runs, develop and monitor project/program plans.
Create a useful project tracking tool call JIRA.
Communicate with donors via phone, email, and twitter.

Administrative office assistant example responsibilities.

Develop and manage external financial relationships between clients and the IRS.
Manage the receptionist area, including greeting visitors and responding to telephone and in-person requests for information.
Establish and maintain effective communications and cohesive working relationships with company associates, telephone and walk-in customers, and site visitors.
Dust offices and clean windows and doors.
Update information in CATT database, as well as make appointments for therapists and psychiatrists in Sharepoint.
Create electronic filing system to alleviate paper copies and recruit fellow co-workers to get on board with SharePoint.

Project assistant vs administrative office assistant skills

Common project assistant skills

Data Entry, 11%
PowerPoint, 8%
Customer Service, 8%
Project Management, 8%
Meeting Minutes, 4%
Data Collection, 4%

Common administrative office assistant skills

Customer Service, 14%
Data Entry, 13%
Phone Calls, 7%
Payroll, 5%
PowerPoint, 4%
Database Management, 4%

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Project Assistant
Project Assistant vs Administrative Office Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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