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The differences between virtual assistants and editorial 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 editorial assistant. Additionally, an editorial assistant has an average salary of $43,141, which is higher than the $39,915 average annual salary of a virtual assistant.
The top three skills for a virtual assistant include data entry, customer service and email management. The most important skills for an editorial assistant are fact check, fiction, and press releases.
| Virtual Assistant | Editorial Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $39,915 | $43,141 |
| Hourly rate | $19.19 | $20.74 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 49,508 | 26,839 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 82% |
| 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 editorial assistant is primarily responsible for performing support-related tasks for an editor or editing staff. Most of the duties will be clerical such as writing content for print and media, answering calls and correspondence, responding to inquiries, running errands, and following directives from the editor. There are also instances when an editorial assistant must perform fact-checking or proofreading tasks, arrange appointments and travel documents, process paperwork, greet visitors, and even attend meetings and other work-related events.
Virtual assistants and editorial assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Virtual Assistant | Editorial Assistant | |
| Average salary | $39,915 | $43,141 |
| Salary range | Between $29,000 And $54,000 | Between $35,000 And $53,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Denver, CO |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Colorado |
| Best paying company | IBM | Columbia University in the City of New York |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Government |
There are a few differences between a virtual assistant and an editorial assistant in terms of educational background:
| Virtual Assistant | Editorial Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 82% |
| Most common major | Business | English |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between virtual assistants' and editorial assistants' demographics:
| Virtual Assistant | Editorial Assistant | |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 12.4% Female, 87.6% | Male, 27.7% Female, 72.3% |
| 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, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |