Receptionist vs office assistant

The differences between receptionists and 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 receptionist and an office assistant. Additionally, an office assistant has an average salary of $31,517, which is higher than the $30,571 average annual salary of a receptionist.

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

Receptionist vs office assistant overview

	Receptionist	Office Assistant
Yearly salary	$30,571	$31,517
Hourly rate	$14.70	$15.15
Growth rate	-	-5%
Number of jobs	65,671	103,293
Job satisfaction	3	5
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 33%	Bachelor's Degree, 42%
Average age	42	47
Years of experience	2	2

What does a receptionist do?

Receptionists are employees assigned at the entrances or lobbies of offices. They welcome guests, check identification, issue visitor badges, attend to questions or inquiries, and direct guests to where they are supposed to go. They also receive general mail or packages, answer calls, and manage schedules. Receptionists perform various clerical or administrative functions as assigned by their supervisors. They should have good client relations skills.

What does an office assistant do?

Office assistants perform various tasks to ensure that the business runs organized and efficient. An office assistant must possess excellent communication and multi-tasking skills to handle essential duties such as scheduling meetings, monitoring office supplies, storing documents and necessary paperwork, handling customer inquiries and appointments, coordinating in company events, and accomplishing other clerical tasks and administrative support. Office assistants are also required to communicate any observation that would possibly make an impact on the company's performance.

Receptionist vs office assistant salary

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

	Receptionist	Office Assistant
Average salary	$30,571	$31,517
Salary range	Between $24,000 And $38,000	Between $24,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Vermont
Best paying company	Gensler	Analysis Group
Best paying industry	Finance	Government

Differences between receptionist and office assistant education

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

	Receptionist	Office Assistant
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 33%	Bachelor's Degree, 42%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	Western Carolina University

Receptionist vs office assistant demographics

Here are the differences between receptionists' and office assistants' demographics:

	Receptionist	Office Assistant
Average age	42	47
Gender ratio	Male, 8.4% Female, 91.6%	Male, 17.3% Female, 82.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.7% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 23.5% Asian, 6.1% White, 54.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 10.1% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 21.0% Asian, 8.3% White, 54.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between receptionist and office assistant duties and responsibilities

Receptionist example responsibilities.

Manage invoicing with QuickBooks, taking customer calls and helping with any issues, parts and equipment delivery/pickup/ordering.
Manage multiple employee/resident databases utilizing an EMR system.
Verify insurance information and manage medical records while ensuring confidentiality according to HIPAA requirements.
Manage desk operations for the YMCA, organizing and documenting members' payments and collating operational documents
Assist office management and staff with administrative projects/responsibilities such as managing time-sensitive projects, filing, copying, and collating materials.
Bill patients for medical services provide by various doctors using ICD-9 and CPT-4 coding.

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Office assistant example responsibilities.

Manage filing, photocopying, collating, and faxing public and seal case documents.
Manage CI s SharePoint pages and serve as CI s subject matter expert on SharePoint working groups.
Manage operational FedEx relationship through order fulfillment, shipment tracking, and communication with parties involve in shipment transaction.
Compile payroll records, detect and reconcile discrepancies, accurately report outcomes using QuickBooks.
Maintain office services by organizing office operations and procedures, preparing payroll, controlling correspondences, and designing filing systems.
File client paperwork upholding HIPAA standards.

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Receptionist vs office assistant skills

Common receptionist skills

Patients, 17%
Phone Calls, 14%
Customer Service, 9%
Data Entry, 9%
Telephone Calls, 8%
Front Desk, 8%

Common office assistant skills

Data Entry, 16%
Patients, 14%
Customer Service, 9%
Telephone Calls, 7%
Scheduling Appointments, 6%
Front Desk, 6%

Receptionist vs. similar jobs

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Updated January 8, 2025

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