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Executive Assistant vs. Administrative Assistant: Who does your business need?
As your business grows, your responsibilities increase. You need to meet with new clients and drive sales, but busy work is taking up your time.
Who do you need to hire?
Executive assistants and administrative assistants have overlapping responsibilities. But this key difference is important:
Executive Assistants anticipate the needs of your business. They understand the big picture and know what you need without having to be told what to do.
Administrative Assistants support the needs of your business. They help you with tasks that have clearly outlined objectives and directions.
Here are some of the major responsibilities administrative and executive assistants handle so you can hire the right assistant.
What are the pros and cons?
Each role has its benefits and drawbacks. It’s up to you to decide which assistant you need on your team based on the needs of your business.
| Administrative Assistant | Executive Assistant | ||
| Advantages | Disadvantages | Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Less busywork. Admins take care of your administrative tasks. | More training. Time spent on giving instructions takes you away from client-facing tasks. | Less training. Executive assistants have the experience to start work with minimal training. | More risk. You’re entrusting an executive assistant with more confidential information and high profile tasks. |
| More flexible. You can shape their role based on your needs. | Less experience. Fewer years in the role means more ramp up time. | More experience. They can oversee staff, make higher-level judgment calls | Less flexible. Their elevated role may make them reluctant to perform admin tasks. |
| Lower salary. The average U.S. hourly wage is $18.03. | Average turnover. Admin positions have a 7.33% turnover rate on average. | Lower turnover. Many EAs choose to stay and grow in their roles. | Higher salary. The average U.S. salary is $61,740 annually. |
Hire an Assistant Today
Wizehire has created a proven process that gives you the ability to attract, screen, and easily hire the right people.
If you’re ready to hire your next assistant, we’ve done the work for you and created detailed job descriptions optimized to attract the best talent and ready-to-use job templates for both an administrative assistant and an executive assistant.
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