Secretary vs administrative professional

The differences between secretaries and administrative professionals can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a secretary and an administrative professional. Additionally, an administrative professional has an average salary of $39,486, which is higher than the $36,442 average annual salary of a secretary.

The top three skills for a secretary include customer service, telephone calls and payroll. The most important skills for an administrative professional are customer service, powerpoint, and data entry.

Secretary vs administrative professional overview

	Secretary	Administrative Professional
Yearly salary	$36,442	$39,486
Hourly rate	$17.52	$18.98
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	69,315	87,372
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does a secretary do?

Secretaries are employees who are responsible for many of the administrative needs of the office. They are usually assigned to executives or to a specific department. They manage schedules and appointments, often handling the calendar in the office. They are also responsible for keeping files organized, whether physical or digital copies. During office meetings, secretaries are in charge of documenting the minutes of the meeting and highlighting the action steps that need to be taken. They may also be assigned to check on concerned departments who need to present deliverables in the next office meeting.

What does an administrative professional do?

An administrative professional specializes in performing administrative support and clerical tasks in a company or office, ensuring accuracy and smooth workflow. Their responsibilities typically revolve around managing schedules, arranging appointments and meetings, producing progress reports and presentations, delegating tasks, and attending meetings on behalf of executives or staff. There are also instances when an administrative assistant must answer calls and correspondence, respond to inquiries and concerns, welcome guests, relay messages, and provide staff with any support tasks or documents.

Secretary vs administrative professional salary

Secretaries and administrative professionals have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Secretary	Administrative Professional
Average salary	$36,442	$39,486
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $51,000	Between $23,000 And $65,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	Connecticut
Best paying company	Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith	HomeOwners Advantage
Best paying industry	Government	-

Differences between secretary and administrative professional education

There are a few differences between a secretary and an administrative professional in terms of educational background:

	Secretary	Administrative Professional
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Western Carolina University

Secretary vs administrative professional demographics

Here are the differences between secretaries' and administrative professionals' demographics:

	Secretary	Administrative Professional
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 10.1% Female, 89.9%	Male, 17.4% Female, 82.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.5% Asian, 3.9% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	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%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between secretary and administrative professional duties and responsibilities

Secretary example responsibilities.

Manage and oversee all STO relate actions task to OSD impacting future and current operations in STO.
Manage financial bookkeeping efficiently for the company using QuickBooks.
Lead DoD team that assist Pakistan in gaining military capabilities to conduct counter-terrorism operations against the Taliban.
Present information orally, using Microsoft PowerPoint to military officials on various office and personnel administrative functions.
Track progress monitoring for corrective reading and corrective math.
Copy and distribute medical records according to guidelines set by HIPPA

Administrative professional example responsibilities.

Manage documentation, folder structures and user permissions in SharePoint.
Participate in committee meetings by preparing minutes and presentation summaries, planning meeting agendas, and organizing and managing meeting logistics.
Keep vendors accounts up to date, process payroll, collect on accounts receivable, keep accounts payable up to date.
Create document libraries for several hospital initiatives in SharePoint.
Receive and distribute payroll garnishment/bankruptcy notification letters to employees.
Develop and maintain relevant organizational charts, facilitating retrieval of staff data in PowerPoint format.

Secretary vs administrative professional skills

Common secretary skills

Customer Service, 15%
Telephone Calls, 11%
Payroll, 9%
Scheduling Appointments, 9%
Word Processing, 5%
Office Equipment, 5%

Common administrative professional skills

Customer Service, 16%
PowerPoint, 12%
Data Entry, 11%
Travel Arrangements, 7%
Administrative Tasks, 3%
Office Equipment, 3%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Secretary
Secretary vs Administrative Professional

Updated January 8, 2025

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