Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between senior agents and senior purchasing agents can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a senior agent and a senior purchasing agent. Additionally, a senior purchasing agent has an average salary of $73,386, which is higher than the $49,785 average annual salary of a senior agent.
The top three skills for a senior agent include right-of-way, real estate and SR. The most important skills for a senior purchasing agent are purchase orders, project management, and supplier relationships.
| Senior Agent | Senior Purchasing Agent | |
| Yearly salary | $49,785 | $73,386 |
| Hourly rate | $23.94 | $35.28 |
| Growth rate | 6% | -6% |
| Number of jobs | 28,822 | 43,833 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 48 | 48 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A senior agent manages incoming calls, generates leads, and schedules appointments for important meetings. They must accurately track and respond to the internet leads and provide top quality customer service to the clients. Their job also requires them to travel to multiple countries to monitor company functions. They must also estimate the costs of infrastructure and construction projects.
Senior Purchasing Agents are experienced employees in the company's purchasing department. They oversee the purchase requisitions of the employees. They validate requests, ensure that the requestors followed company guidelines, check the availability of the items with the chosen supplier, and forward the purchase order to the supplier. Upon fulfillment of the request, Senior Purchasing Agents check the deliveries, ensure that the items are complete and correct, forward the items to the requestor, and process the payment for the supplier. Senior Purchasing agents also prepare reports, spot trends in employee or department purchases, and create recommendations based on observations. They are also expected to form good working relationships with suppliers.
Senior agents and senior purchasing agents have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Agent | Senior Purchasing Agent | |
| Average salary | $49,785 | $73,386 |
| Salary range | Between $29,000 And $85,000 | Between $52,000 And $103,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | New York |
| Best paying company | NV Energy | Levi Strauss & Co. |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Energy |
There are a few differences between a senior agent and a senior purchasing agent in terms of educational background:
| Senior Agent | Senior Purchasing Agent | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between senior agents' and senior purchasing agents' demographics:
| Senior Agent | Senior Purchasing Agent | |
| Average age | 48 | 48 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 53.9% Female, 46.1% | Male, 57.7% Female, 42.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.4% Asian, 7.5% White, 66.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 7.7% White, 66.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |