Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between staff assistants and assistant secretaries can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a staff assistant and an assistant secretary. Additionally, an assistant secretary has an average salary of $107,366, which is higher than the $41,778 average annual salary of a staff assistant.
The top three skills for a staff assistant include customer service, patients and data entry. The most important skills for an assistant secretary are telephone calls, payroll, and scheduling appointments.
| Staff Assistant | Assistant Secretary | |
| Yearly salary | $41,778 | $107,366 |
| Hourly rate | $20.09 | $51.62 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 126,202 | 52,165 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 47% |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A staff assistant is a company employee who is tasked to support and help staff members to adequately fill their roles and assuring that the organization is running efficiently. Working under an administrative supervisor, an assistant's tasks include answering phone calls, scheduling meetings or appointments, and booking the necessary travels. Moreover, an assistant should have excellent skills in written and verbal communication and is highly organized with minimal supervision. An assistant may be able to work in a wide variety of settings, which includes healthcare facilities and government offices.
An assistant secretary is responsible for performing administrative and clerical duties to support the daily operations of various departments and management personnel and ensure the efficiency of business functions. Assistant secretaries usually assist in business communications, responding to customers' inquiries and concerns, reaching out to existing clients to schedule appointments, welcoming guests on the office, and routing calls to the appropriate department. They also handle data entry procedures, updating customer information on the database, as well as creating reports on business and financial transactions.
Staff assistants and assistant secretaries have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Staff Assistant | Assistant Secretary | |
| Average salary | $41,778 | $107,366 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $63,000 | Between $38,000 And $302,000 |
| Highest paying City | Bridgewater, MA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | Massasoit Community College | Elanco |
| Best paying industry | Professional | - |
There are a few differences between a staff assistant and an assistant secretary in terms of educational background:
| Staff Assistant | Assistant Secretary | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 47% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between staff assistants' and assistant secretaries' demographics:
| Staff Assistant | Assistant Secretary | |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 29.4% Female, 70.6% | Male, 21.7% Female, 78.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |