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Technical assistant vs executive assistant

The differences between technical assistants and executive assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a technical assistant, becoming an executive assistant takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, an executive assistant has an average salary of $50,539, which is higher than the $34,159 average annual salary of a technical assistant.

The top three skills for a technical assistant include patients, customer service and patient care. The most important skills for an executive assistant are powerpoint, customer service, and phone calls.

Technical assistant vs executive assistant overview

Technical AssistantExecutive Assistant
Yearly salary$34,159$50,539
Hourly rate$16.42$24.30
Growth rate10%-8%
Number of jobs73,75093,116
Job satisfaction-4.4
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 53%Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Average age4249
Years of experience24

What does a technical assistant do?

A technical assistant is responsible for supporting business operations by doing administrative and technical tasks under a direct supervisor or tenured staff. Duties of a technical assistant include creating meeting reports, scheduling events, responding to clients' inquiries through email and phone calls, monitoring office inventories, basic troubleshooting on defective equipment, providing recommendations on product development, and analyzing operations processes. Technical assistants require strong time-management and multi-tasking skills to perform tasks in a fast-paced environment and high-level operations.

What does an executive assistant do?

Executive assistants are employees who are assigned to work under the supervision of company executives. They manage the activities of the executives they are assigned to by manning the executive's calendar, scheduling appointments, setting meetings, ensuring that the executives are familiar with their schedule for the day, and taking note of any deliverable that may be needed. They are also responsible for taking care of any document or paperwork that the executive needs, as well as preparing presentation materials or briefers for meetings. Executive assistants are also usually exposed to actual company operations to further understand how the business works and to be of better help to the executive.

Technical assistant vs executive assistant salary

Technical assistants and executive assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

Technical AssistantExecutive Assistant
Average salary$34,159$50,539
Salary rangeBetween $22,000 And $51,000Between $35,000 And $71,000
Highest paying CityBoston, MASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateMassachusettsNew York
Best paying companyThe American Musical and Dramatic AcademyMeta
Best paying industryInsuranceFinance

Differences between technical assistant and executive assistant education

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

Technical AssistantExecutive Assistant
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 53%Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeStanford UniversityWestern Carolina University

Technical assistant vs executive assistant demographics

Here are the differences between technical assistants' and executive assistants' demographics:

Technical AssistantExecutive Assistant
Average age4249
Gender ratioMale, 54.8% Female, 45.2%Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 15.8% Asian, 11.9% White, 55.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 5.0% White, 71.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage11%10%

Differences between technical assistant and executive assistant duties and responsibilities

Technical assistant example responsibilities.

  • Create and manage original MARC records from OCLC database including verification, editing and updating of data and shelf list.
  • Manage customer complaints and internal GMP audits for product manufacturing, coordinate FDA audits and recommend corrective actions.
  • Input service reports into AS400 using 10 key.
  • Assist with ambulation, transfer from bed to chair and CPR certify.
  • Work involve development in PHP with back end as MYSQL server database.
  • Operate heat sealers, centrifuges, sterile docking equipment, and irradiation unit.
  • Show more

Executive assistant example responsibilities.

  • Manage and maintain AVP calendar and schedule using independent judgment.
  • Manage and review WinStar (KRONOS) time clock hours for hourly union employees.
  • Organize and manage administrative, audio/visual (WebEx, GoToMeeting), and catering of department meetings.
  • Manage the scope of accounting processes including billing, bookkeeping and expense data management with strong oversight of A/R and A/P.
  • Create and manage executive presentations using Visio and PowerPoint.
  • Compile, manage and organize travel and expense reports processing and submitting reports using PeopleSoft for reimbursement.
  • Show more

Technical assistant vs executive assistant skills

Common technical assistant skills
  • Patients, 23%
  • Customer Service, 12%
  • Patient Care, 11%
  • Technical Assistance, 6%
  • Lab Equipment, 5%
  • Phlebotomy, 4%
Common executive assistant skills
  • PowerPoint, 13%
  • Customer Service, 8%
  • Phone Calls, 6%
  • Calendar Management, 6%
  • Administrative Tasks, 3%
  • Financial Reports, 3%

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