Student employee vs front office assistant

The differences between student employees and front office 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 student employee and a front office assistant. Additionally, a front office assistant has an average salary of $32,913, which is higher than the $24,086 average annual salary of a student employee.

The top three skills for a student employee include customer service, food safety and financial aid. The most important skills for a front office assistant are patients, customer service, and excellent interpersonal.

Student employee vs front office assistant overview

	Student Employee	Front Office Assistant
Yearly salary	$24,086	$32,913
Hourly rate	$11.58	$15.82
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	12,497	149,847
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 66%	Bachelor's Degree, 24%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	2	2

What does a student employee do?

Student employees are students who have a job within a school campus. Their duties may include working in the classrooms, cafeterias, and dorms. These employees receive a salary for their work, provided they maintain the grade requirements set by the school. The requirements for this position vary for every school. These may include having a minimum of 3.0 for graduates and 2.0 for undergraduates. They typically work 40 hours a week and may hold two or more positions to reach the required number of work hours.

What does a front office assistant do?

Front office assistants typically work and perform their duty within the office. They do office support duties like welcome and greet customers, answer phone calls, and schedule and plan appointments. It is their responsibility to sort mails, route calls, and listen to voicemails. They need to organize and give out communications promptly. Also, they do clerical tasks, manage inventory, and maintain their work area. They must be keen to details, can multitask and have excellent communication and customer service skills.

Student employee vs front office assistant salary

Student employees and front office assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Student Employee	Front Office Assistant
Average salary	$24,086	$32,913
Salary range	Between $17,000 And $32,000	Between $26,000 And $40,000
Highest paying City	Denver, CO	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Colorado	Connecticut
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	Education	Health Care

Differences between student employee and front office assistant education

There are a few differences between a student employee and a front office assistant in terms of educational background:

	Student Employee	Front Office Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 66%	Bachelor's Degree, 24%
Most common major	Business	Medical Assisting Services
Most common college	Northwestern University	University of Pennsylvania

Student employee vs front office assistant demographics

Here are the differences between student employees' and front office assistants' demographics:

	Student Employee	Front Office Assistant
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 46.1% Female, 53.9%	Male, 9.7% Female, 90.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 10.3% White, 58.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	Black or African American, 10.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 23.7% Asian, 7.5% White, 53.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between student employee and front office assistant duties and responsibilities

Student employee example responsibilities.

Manage club documents and advertise several events through Facebook.
Install structures and fixtures, such as windows, frames, floorings, and trim.
Instruct in helping students who struggle with mathematics.
Enhance, retouch, and resize photographs using Photoshop.
Create posters promote special guest speakers visiting CNM using Photoshop.
Coordinate college recruitment activities at career fairs, high school scholarship awards and specific industry requests.

Front office assistant example responsibilities.

Manage correspondence and documentation for OSHA compliance and hold some accounts payable responsibilities by coding invoices for processing and payment.
Ensure compliance with HIPAA and OSHA regulations to improve customer relations and promote favorable patient/physician interactions.
Download all transcription for the physicians and mail out letters and patient consults.
Utilize knowledge of ICD-9 and CPT coding by verifying explanation of benefits render to patient, for insurance purposes.
Collect co-pays, enter update demographics into EHR/EMR, enter ICD-9 and CPT codes as needed into patient records electronically
Verify insurance to include commercial and Medicaid.

Student employee vs front office assistant skills

Common student employee skills

Customer Service, 22%
Food Safety, 9%
Financial Aid, 7%
Front Desk, 7%
Food Preparation, 5%
Public Facilities, 4%

Common front office assistant skills

Patients, 21%
Customer Service, 9%
Excellent Interpersonal, 7%
Patient Demographics, 5%
Patient Care, 5%
Front Desk, 4%

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Student Employee
Student Employee vs Front Office Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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