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Staff assistant vs front desk administrative assistant

The differences between staff assistants and front desk administrative assistants 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 a front desk administrative assistant. Additionally, a staff assistant has an average salary of $41,778, which is higher than the $33,037 average annual salary of a front desk administrative assistant.

The top three skills for a staff assistant include customer service, patients and data entry. The most important skills for a front desk administrative assistant are customer service, patients, and data entry.

Staff assistant vs front desk administrative assistant overview

Staff AssistantFront Desk Administrative Assistant
Yearly salary$41,778$33,037
Hourly rate$20.09$15.88
Growth rate-8%-8%
Number of jobs126,20295,732
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 60%Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Average age5050
Years of experience22

What does a staff assistant do?

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.

What does a front desk administrative assistant do?

A front desk administrative assistant is responsible for performing administrative duties to support daily business functions and operations. Front desk administrative assistants assist guests, respond to their inquiries and concerns, and direct them to the appropriate personnel for their needs. They also monitor office inventories, write purchase requests, and distribute mails across the departments. A front desk administrative assistants review business and financial transactions to generate reports, update information on the company's database, and sort documents for reference.

Staff assistant vs front desk administrative assistant salary

Staff assistants and front desk administrative assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

Staff AssistantFront Desk Administrative Assistant
Average salary$41,778$33,037
Salary rangeBetween $27,000 And $63,000Between $27,000 And $39,000
Highest paying CityBridgewater, MASpringfield, MA
Highest paying stateConnecticutConnecticut
Best paying companyMassasoit Community CollegeUniversity of California, Berkeley
Best paying industryProfessionalProfessional

Differences between staff assistant and front desk administrative assistant education

There are a few differences between a staff assistant and a front desk administrative assistant in terms of educational background:

Staff AssistantFront Desk Administrative Assistant
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 60%Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeWestern Carolina UniversityWestern Carolina University

Staff assistant vs front desk administrative assistant demographics

Here are the differences between staff assistants' and front desk administrative assistants' demographics:

Staff AssistantFront Desk Administrative Assistant
Average age5050
Gender ratioMale, 29.4% Female, 70.6%Male, 10.0% Female, 90.0%
Race ratioBlack 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, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage6%6%

Differences between staff assistant and front desk administrative assistant duties and responsibilities

Staff assistant example responsibilities.

  • Manage, troubleshoot, install and resolve hardware, software configurations, and network relate issues.
  • Manage candidate Facebook page and facilitate other advertising.
  • Manage fireworks inventory through QuickBooks and process customer wholesale orders.
  • Orchestrate special events and reservations; manage customer relations and provide exemplary service to all customers.
  • Conduct weekly groups for newly refer veterans and potential landlords on the HUD VASH searching process.
  • Supervise the daily operations, office work and customer service in a windows replacement company).
  • Show more

Front desk administrative assistant example responsibilities.

  • Manage day-to-day operations including scheduling and coordinating appointments, verify patient insurance, prepare correspondences between medical providers and their patients.
  • Process member and team member paperwork; including member cancellations, updates, new hires/terminations/status changes, and payroll paperwork.
  • Monitor and complete payroll information.
  • Demonstrate great initiative in assisting tech team with minor technical issues and create PowerPoint presentations for business strategic purposes.
  • Register patients, verify eligibility of insurance, interview them in order to obtain other demographic information that are needed.
  • Manage day-to-day operations including scheduling and coordinating appointments, verify patient insurance, prepare correspondences between medical providers and their patients.
  • Show more

Staff assistant vs front desk administrative assistant skills

Common staff assistant skills
  • Customer Service, 15%
  • Patients, 10%
  • Data Entry, 7%
  • PowerPoint, 5%
  • Office Procedures, 5%
  • Veterans, 4%
Common front desk administrative assistant skills
  • Customer Service, 15%
  • Patients, 12%
  • Data Entry, 8%
  • Phone Calls, 8%
  • Front Desk Operations, 7%
  • Check-In, 4%

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