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Supervisor vs assistant supervisor

The differences between supervisors and assistant supervisors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a supervisor, becoming an assistant supervisor takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a supervisor has an average salary of $53,902, which is higher than the $39,907 average annual salary of an assistant supervisor.

The top three skills for a supervisor include customer service, safety procedures and sales floor. The most important skills for an assistant supervisor are customer service, safety procedures, and direct supervision.

Supervisor vs assistant supervisor overview

SupervisorAssistant Supervisor
Yearly salary$53,902$39,907
Hourly rate$25.91$19.19
Growth rate--
Number of jobs224,92032,901
Job satisfaction5-
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 44%Bachelor's Degree, 43%
Average age4647
Years of experience26

What does a supervisor do?

Supervisors are responsible for overseeing the daily functions of employees in a specific team, department, or even a work shift. They create work schedules, organize work processes and workflows, train new hires, provide necessary reports related to the team function and the employees, monitor and evaluate employee performance, and ensure that goals of the specific team or department are met. When needed, supervisors also provide guidance to employees in terms of their career or even personal challenges. They also help in fostering harmonious work relationships by resolving interpersonal conflicts at work. To be successful in their role, they must have leadership skills, time management skills, decision-making capabilities, analytical skills, and problem-solving skills.

What does an assistant supervisor do?

An assistant supervisor is responsible for assisting supervisors in various tasks and functioning as their point of contact to coordinate with employees in a company, ensuring that their needs are understood and relayed. Aside from overseeing the operations of workflow and workforce, an assistant supervisor's duties will also revolve around clerical tasks such as preparing reports and necessary documents, handling the leaves of employees, and other forms of correspondence. Furthermore, an assistant supervisor can also recruit and train staff, assign workload and verify documentation procedures.

Supervisor vs assistant supervisor salary

Supervisors and assistant supervisors have different pay scales, as shown below.

SupervisorAssistant Supervisor
Average salary$53,902$39,907
Salary rangeBetween $31,000 And $92,000Between $28,000 And $55,000
Highest paying CityNew York, NYRochester, NY
Highest paying stateAlaskaNew York
Best paying companyReed SmithEmerson College
Best paying industryHealth CareGovernment

Differences between supervisor and assistant supervisor education

There are a few differences between a supervisor and an assistant supervisor in terms of educational background:

SupervisorAssistant Supervisor
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 44%Bachelor's Degree, 43%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeStanford UniversityCalifornia State University - Bakersfield

Supervisor vs assistant supervisor demographics

Here are the differences between supervisors' and assistant supervisors' demographics:

SupervisorAssistant Supervisor
Average age4647
Gender ratioMale, 55.8% Female, 44.2%Male, 53.0% Female, 47.0%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 12.2% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 19.0% Asian, 4.6% White, 59.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 19.2% Asian, 5.3% White, 60.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage6%8%

Differences between supervisor and assistant supervisor duties and responsibilities

Supervisor example responsibilities.

  • Lead continuous process improvement and six sigma teams to meet ISO 9001 and QS 9000 standards.
  • Manage and implement merchandising strategy for POS marketing and display inventory.
  • Lead comprehensive training for each new volunteer or court-mandate worker regarding OSHA regulations and warehouse procedure.
  • Organize care with 6 CNAs.
  • Coordinate lifeguard duty schedule for all pools.
  • Maintain cleanliness throughout kitchen, coolers, and freezer areas.
  • Show more

Assistant supervisor example responsibilities.

  • Interact with clients and manage client relationships, including escalate issues; team with executive leadership regarding strategy and operations.
  • Monitor and update admit status to maintain CMS compliance for place of service.
  • Facilitate and deliver training as required under CMS department guidelines including EJT, initiatives, and up training.
  • Implement menu plans to meet customers' requirements, ensuring availability of food items for those patrons with food allergies.
  • Report monthly/quarterly/annual reports in PowerPoint for presentation to clients and corporate executives.
  • Train faculty and students to create course relate videos/audio and PowerPoint presentations.
  • Show more

Supervisor vs assistant supervisor skills

Common supervisor skills
  • Customer Service, 11%
  • Safety Procedures, 9%
  • Sales Floor, 9%
  • POS, 9%
  • Direct Supervision, 9%
  • Payroll, 5%
Common assistant supervisor skills
  • Customer Service, 23%
  • Safety Procedures, 12%
  • Direct Supervision, 11%
  • Payroll, 4%
  • CPR, 4%
  • Patient Care, 3%

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