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The differences between virtual assistants and administrative 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 virtual assistant and an administrative office assistant. Additionally, a virtual assistant has an average salary of $39,915, which is higher than the $33,318 average annual salary of an administrative office assistant.
The top three skills for a virtual assistant include data entry, customer service and email management. The most important skills for an administrative office assistant are customer service, data entry, and phone calls.
| Virtual Assistant | Administrative Office Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $39,915 | $33,318 |
| Hourly rate | $19.19 | $16.02 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 49,508 | 81,528 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
Virtual Assistants are remote workers who work with clients that need assistance. They usually do administrative or clerical activities such as managing soft copies of a document, writing e-mail correspondences, managing calendars, scheduling appointments, and other activities. They manage the e-mail of their clients and respond to inquiries and other messages. They also manage phone calls by answering calls, taking messages, and dialing for their clients. Virtual Assistants may also be asked to handle travel-related tasks of their clients, such as creating itineraries, booking flights, and booking hotels.
An administrative office assistant is responsible for performing administrative duties to assist in daily management operations. These duties include taking calls and responding to client and customers' inquiries and concerns, scheduling meetings and conferences, organizing files and submitting required documents, sorting invoices for release, processing travel arrangements, receiving emails, forwarding reports to the appropriate department, and coordinating with company's events. An administrative assistant must be detail-oriented, as well as having excellent time-management and multi-tasking skills to perform duties even under minimal supervision.
Virtual assistants and administrative office assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Virtual Assistant | Administrative Office Assistant | |
| Average salary | $39,915 | $33,318 |
| Salary range | Between $29,000 And $54,000 | Between $25,000 And $43,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Sacramento, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | IBM | Buckley King |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Government |
There are a few differences between a virtual assistant and an administrative office assistant in terms of educational background:
| Virtual Assistant | Administrative Office Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between virtual assistants' and administrative office assistants' demographics:
| Virtual Assistant | Administrative Office Assistant | |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 12.4% Female, 87.6% | Male, 14.7% Female, 85.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.0% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.5% 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, 66.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |