Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between virtual assistants and project managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a project manager has an average salary of $91,578, 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 a project manager are project management, project scope, and customer service.
| Virtual Assistant | Project Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $39,915 | $91,578 |
| Hourly rate | $19.19 | $44.03 |
| Growth rate | -8% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 49,508 | 167,116 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.17 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 50 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 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.
Project managers oversee a specific project related to the organization's business. They manage the whole project from inception to evaluation. They initiate planning with involved departments, follow-through on the plans, ensure smooth execution of the plans, and evaluate the project for further improvements should these be needed. In line with this, project managers also ensure that the project is cost-efficient and well within the budget. They also manage the different work teams involved in the project and ensure that things are running smoothly on this aspect as well.
Virtual assistants and project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Virtual Assistant | Project Manager | |
| Average salary | $39,915 | $91,578 |
| Salary range | Between $29,000 And $54,000 | Between $64,000 And $129,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | California |
| Best paying company | IBM | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Technology |
There are a few differences between a virtual assistant and a project manager in terms of educational background:
| Virtual Assistant | Project Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between virtual assistants' and project managers' demographics:
| Virtual Assistant | Project Manager | |
| Average age | 50 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 12.4% Female, 87.6% | Male, 68.9% Female, 31.1% |
| 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, 7.7% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.9% Asian, 9.0% White, 65.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 10% |