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The differences between virtual assistants and 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 office assistant. Additionally, a virtual assistant has an average salary of $39,915, which is higher than the $31,517 average annual salary of an office assistant.
The top three skills for a virtual assistant include data entry, customer service and email management. The most important skills for an office assistant are data entry, patients, and customer service.
| Virtual Assistant | Office Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $39,915 | $31,517 |
| Hourly rate | $19.19 | $15.15 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -5% |
| Number of jobs | 49,508 | 103,293 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 42% |
| Average age | 50 | 47 |
| 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.
Office assistants perform various tasks to ensure that the business runs organized and efficient. An office assistant must possess excellent communication and multi-tasking skills to handle essential duties such as scheduling meetings, monitoring office supplies, storing documents and necessary paperwork, handling customer inquiries and appointments, coordinating in company events, and accomplishing other clerical tasks and administrative support. Office assistants are also required to communicate any observation that would possibly make an impact on the company's performance.
Virtual assistants and office assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Virtual Assistant | Office Assistant | |
| Average salary | $39,915 | $31,517 |
| Salary range | Between $29,000 And $54,000 | Between $24,000 And $41,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Vermont |
| Best paying company | IBM | Analysis Group |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Government |
There are a few differences between a virtual assistant and an office assistant in terms of educational background:
| Virtual Assistant | Office Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 42% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between virtual assistants' and office assistants' demographics:
| Virtual Assistant | Office Assistant | |
| Average age | 50 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 12.4% Female, 87.6% | Male, 17.3% Female, 82.7% |
| 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, 10.1% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 21.0% Asian, 8.3% White, 54.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |