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The differences between resident assistants and assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a resident assistant, becoming an assistant takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, an assistant has an average salary of $37,363, which is higher than the $29,971 average annual salary of a resident assistant.
The top three skills for a resident assistant include home health, CPR and vital signs. The most important skills for an assistant are patients, customer service, and patient care.
| Resident Assistant | Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $29,971 | $37,363 |
| Hourly rate | $14.41 | $17.96 |
| Growth rate | 12% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 19,033 | 557,900 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 43 | 50 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 2 |
Resident assistants help manage peers or younger students who live in a particular residence hall on campus. They are usually in charge of welcoming fellow students, providing residence hall tours, and helping students cope with their new environment. To help students become more at ease with their environment, resident assistants usually act as buddies. They answer inquiries that the students may have and act as the bridge between the students and the residence hall management. They assist with administrative activities in the residence hall, such as handing out forms for students and ensuring documents are correctly filled out.
An assistant intern is responsible for facilitating administrative and clerical tasks as assigned by the management. Assistant interns' duties include keeping records of meetings, receiving calls and handling customer inquiries, assisting on writing reports and data entry processing, cooperating and providing support for business events, and adhering to company policies and regulatory procedures. Successful assistant interns must have excellent time-management, multi-tasking, and communication skills. They must be a team player and fast-learner to handle various tasks in the corporate industry.
Resident assistants and assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Resident Assistant | Assistant | |
| Average salary | $29,971 | $37,363 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $39,000 | Between $16,000 And $82,000 |
| Highest paying City | Roseville, CA | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | California | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Mount St. Mary's University | Latham & Watkins |
| Best paying industry | Education | Education |
There are a few differences between a resident assistant and an assistant in terms of educational background:
| Resident Assistant | Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Business |
| Most common college | SUNY at Binghamton | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between resident assistants' and assistants' demographics:
| Resident Assistant | Assistant | |
| Average age | 43 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 34.0% Female, 66.0% | Male, 40.7% Female, 59.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 6.7% White, 58.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.1% | Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 6% |