Project assistant vs front desk administrative assistant

The differences between project assistants and front desk administrative 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 a front desk administrative assistant. Additionally, a project assistant has an average salary of $38,564, which is higher than the $33,037 average annual salary of a front desk administrative assistant.

The top three skills for a project assistant include data entry, powerpoint and customer service. The most important skills for a front desk administrative assistant are customer service, patients, and data entry.

Project assistant vs front desk administrative assistant overview

	Project Assistant	Front Desk Administrative Assistant
Yearly salary	$38,564	$33,037
Hourly rate	$18.54	$15.88
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	59,664	95,732
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 65%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
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 a front desk administrative assistant do?

A front desk administrative assistant is responsible for performing administrative duties to support daily business functions and operations. Front desk administrative assistants assist guests, respond to their inquiries and concerns, and direct them to the appropriate personnel for their needs. They also monitor office inventories, write purchase requests, and distribute mails across the departments. A front desk administrative assistants review business and financial transactions to generate reports, update information on the company's database, and sort documents for reference.

Project assistant vs front desk administrative assistant salary

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

	Project Assistant	Front Desk Administrative Assistant
Average salary	$38,564	$33,037
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $57,000	Between $27,000 And $39,000
Highest paying City	Portland, OR	Springfield, MA
Highest paying state	Oregon	Connecticut
Best paying company	AstraZeneca	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	Technology	Professional

Differences between project assistant and front desk administrative assistant education

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

	Project Assistant	Front Desk Administrative Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 65%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Project assistant vs front desk administrative assistant demographics

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

	Project Assistant	Front Desk Administrative Assistant
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 32.9% Female, 67.1%	Male, 10.0% Female, 90.0%
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, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between project assistant and front desk administrative 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.

Front desk administrative assistant example responsibilities.

Manage day-to-day operations including scheduling and coordinating appointments, verify patient insurance, prepare correspondences between medical providers and their patients.
Process member and team member paperwork; including member cancellations, updates, new hires/terminations/status changes, and payroll paperwork.
Monitor and complete payroll information.
Demonstrate great initiative in assisting tech team with minor technical issues and create PowerPoint presentations for business strategic purposes.
Register patients, verify eligibility of insurance, interview them in order to obtain other demographic information that are needed.
Manage day-to-day operations including scheduling and coordinating appointments, verify patient insurance, prepare correspondences between medical providers and their patients.

Project assistant vs front desk administrative assistant skills

Common project assistant skills

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

Common front desk administrative assistant skills

Customer Service, 15%
Patients, 12%
Data Entry, 8%
Phone Calls, 8%
Front Desk Operations, 7%
Check-In, 4%

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Project Assistant vs Front Desk Administrative Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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