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The differences between senior executives and executive assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a senior executive and an executive assistant. Additionally, a senior executive has an average salary of $104,507, which is higher than the $50,539 average annual salary of an executive assistant.
The top three skills for a senior executive include customer service, project management and SR. The most important skills for an executive assistant are powerpoint, customer service, and phone calls.
| Senior Executive | Executive Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $104,507 | $50,539 |
| Hourly rate | $50.24 | $24.30 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 74,894 | 93,116 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 49 | 49 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A senior executive is responsible for supporting the chief technology officer and other higher officials on implementing critical corporate decisions, especially on identifying business opportunities to extend business partnership scopes and drive more revenue resources, supporting the company's financial stability. Senior executives oversee departmental operations across the company, ensuring production efficiency and high-quality output deliverables. They may also handle operational budgets and allocate adequate resources to each department's head. A senior executive attends meetings and conferences with other executives, sharing updates with stakeholders, and strategizing project management processes.
Executive assistants are employees who are assigned to work under the supervision of company executives. They manage the activities of the executives they are assigned to by manning the executive's calendar, scheduling appointments, setting meetings, ensuring that the executives are familiar with their schedule for the day, and taking note of any deliverable that may be needed. They are also responsible for taking care of any document or paperwork that the executive needs, as well as preparing presentation materials or briefers for meetings. Executive assistants are also usually exposed to actual company operations to further understand how the business works and to be of better help to the executive.
Senior executives and executive assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Executive | Executive Assistant | |
| Average salary | $104,507 | $50,539 |
| Salary range | Between $63,000 And $172,000 | Between $35,000 And $71,000 |
| Highest paying City | Hartford, CT | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | New York |
| Best paying company | Intuit | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | Finance |
There are a few differences between a senior executive and an executive assistant in terms of educational background:
| Senior Executive | Executive Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between senior executives' and executive assistants' demographics:
| Senior Executive | Executive Assistant | |
| Average age | 49 | 49 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 57.4% Female, 42.6% | Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 5.0% White, 71.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 5.0% White, 71.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |