It can be very overwhelming to choose your career direction, particularly when you look at a career that takes years of investment to make successful progress. In particular, a special projects assistant needs strong work ethics and hard work to get far because it is such a competitive industry.
The special projects assistant, commonly known as SPA, reports to the Program Officer for Special Projects and takes duties. A good SPA should be versatile by executing and coordinating administrative activities with little supervision. The primary responsibility of a special project assistant is to perform analysis on related topics of the organizations and assist with communications of individual projects.
Most employers require a bachelor's degree with a focus or job experience in related fields. They also sometimes require candidates to have experience in a professional office setting managing projects, carrying out complicated scheduling, and emailing. The average annual salary of a special project assistant ranges from $33,725 to $55,451.
Special Projects Assistant Overview
Special Projects Assistant Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a special projects assistant. For example, did you know that they make an average of $16.51 an hour? That's $34,350 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 55,400 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Special Projects Assistant Do
There are certain skills that many special projects assistants have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, patience and interpersonal skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a special projects assistant, we found that a lot of resumes listed 17.9% of special projects assistants included special projects, while 7.5% of resumes included special education, and 5.9% of resumes included procedures. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the special projects assistant job title. But what industry to start with? Most special projects assistants actually find jobs in the education and non profits industries.
How To Become a Special Projects Assistant
If you're interested in becoming a special projects assistant, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 46.1% of special projects assistants have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 21.1% of special projects assistants have master's degrees. Even though most special projects assistants have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a special projects assistant. When we researched the most common majors for a special projects assistant, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on special projects assistant resumes include associate degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a special projects assistant. In fact, many special projects assistant jobs require experience in a role such as internship. Meanwhile, many special projects assistants also have previous career experience in roles such as administrative assistant or sales associate.
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Special Projects Assistant Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of executive assistant you might progress to a role such as office manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title operations manager.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Special Projects Assistant
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Worthington Schools Special ED Assistant Special ED Assistant | Worthington Schools Worthington Schools | 01/27/2021 01/27/2021 | $42,65801/27/2021 $42,658 |
All-Star Personnel Teardown **Special Project***-1ST Shift Spanish Teardown **Special Project***-1ST Shift Spanish | All-Star Personnel All-Star Personnel | 01/26/2021 01/26/2021 | $25,04401/26/2021 $25,044 |
Billings School District #2 Substitute Special Needs Assistants Substitute Special Needs Assistants | Billings School District #2 Billings School District #2 | 01/25/2021 01/25/2021 | $22,95701/25/2021 $22,957 |
Denver Public Schools Special Needs Assistant Special Needs Assistant | Denver Public Schools Denver Public Schools | 01/23/2021 01/23/2021 | $32,91201/23/2021 $32,912 |
Actblue Special Projects Assistant Special Projects Assistant | Actblue Actblue | 01/15/2021 01/15/2021 | $50,00001/15/2021 $50,000 |
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Special Projects Assistant Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a Special Projects Assistant. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a Special Projects Assistant Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Special Projects Assistant resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Colleges for Special Projects Assistants
1. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
2. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
3. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
4. Maine Maritime Academy
Castine, ME • Public
5. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
6. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Public
7. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Public
8. Villanova University
Villanova, PA • Private
9. San Diego State University
San Diego, CA • Public
10. Bentley University
Waltham, MA • Private
Top Skills For a Special Projects Assistant
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 17.9% of special projects assistants listed special projects on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and patience are important as well.
- Special Projects, 17.9%
- Special Education, 7.5%
- Procedures, 5.9%
- Powerpoint, 5.2%
- Policy Issues, 4.6%
- Other Skills, 58.9% See All Special Projects Assistant Skills
Best States For a Special Projects Assistant
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a special projects assistant. The best states for people in this position are Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, and Delaware. Special projects assistants make the most in Massachusetts with an average salary of $63,212. Whereas in New York and Connecticut, they would average $60,845 and $58,646, respectively. While special projects assistants would only make an average of $56,640 in Delaware, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Connecticut
$58,646
Avg. Salary
2. New York
$60,845
Avg. Salary
3. Pennsylvania
$48,753
Avg. Salary
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