Purchasing administrative assistant vs administrative office assistant

The differences between purchasing administrative 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 purchasing administrative assistant and an administrative office assistant. Additionally, a purchasing administrative assistant has an average salary of $37,889, which is higher than the $33,318 average annual salary of an administrative office assistant.

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

Purchasing administrative assistant vs administrative office assistant overview

	Purchasing Administrative Assistant	Administrative Office Assistant
Yearly salary	$37,889	$33,318
Hourly rate	$18.22	$16.02
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	48,872	81,528
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does a purchasing administrative assistant do?

Purchasing Administrative Assistants will require a high school diploma or GED, but an associate degree or higher is preferred, as well as three or more years in a purchasing role. This career will require skills in communication and negotiation, as well as a proven history of good supply management and the ability to create and administer task priority lists based on the needs of the respective company. Paying an average salary of $42K per year, but ranging between $37K and $49K, this career choice will demand the provision of support to the purchasing process and department staff, processing documents and materials and responding to inquiries, as well as maintaining information and inventories about vendors and sources.

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.

Purchasing administrative assistant vs administrative office assistant salary

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

	Purchasing Administrative Assistant	Administrative Office Assistant
Average salary	$37,889	$33,318
Salary range	Between $29,000 And $48,000	Between $25,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	Milpitas, CA	Sacramento, CA
Highest paying state	New Jersey	Hawaii
Best paying company	Aspen Snowmass	Buckley King
Best paying industry	Construction	Government

Differences between purchasing administrative assistant and administrative office assistant education

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

	Purchasing Administrative Assistant	Administrative Office Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Purchasing administrative assistant vs administrative office assistant demographics

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

	Purchasing Administrative Assistant	Administrative Office Assistant
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 8.3% Female, 91.7%	Male, 14.7% Female, 85.3%
Race ratio	Black 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, 9.2% 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 purchasing administrative assistant and administrative office assistant duties and responsibilities

Purchasing administrative assistant example responsibilities.

Support medical doctors, manage sensitive and confidential records pertaining to high risk patients with emphasis on accuracy.
Prepare purchase orders, review requisitions, supply requests and MRP purchase reports.
Assess and close A/P, A/R monthly.
Support A/P by resolving invoice problems.
Verify shipments and check into ERP system.
Certify to internally audit group for ISO compliance.

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.

Purchasing administrative assistant vs administrative office assistant skills

Common purchasing administrative assistant skills

Purchase Orders, 33%
Data Entry, 9%
Customer Service, 9%
Provides Administrative Support, 4%
Office Equipment, 4%
Travel Arrangements, 3%

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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Office and Administrative Industry
Purchasing Administrative Assistant
Purchasing Administrative Assistant vs Administrative Office Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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