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Career guide · Assistant administration

Assistant Administration Jobs in 2026

Assistant administration jobs cover the full spectrum of US administrative work: the core administrative assistant job description, medical administrative assistant jobs, office administrator jobs, and the major metro variants including administrative assistant jobs NYC and administrative assistant jobs LA. This guide walks through what the work involves, what pay to expect, and how administrative careers grow. For broader context, see our administrative careers guide.

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Overview

Administrative assistant work, what the role covers

Administrative assistant jobs and assistant administration jobs cover the daily work that keeps a US office running. The admin assistant supports a team, a department, or an executive.

This guide covers the main role variants. We look at the standard job description, medical admin work, office administrator roles, and the major metro markets. For broader context, see our administrative careers guide.


The standard administrative assistant job description

Most US administrative assistant job postings list the same core tasks:

  • Calendar and meeting management
  • Document preparation and filing
  • Expense report processing
  • Supply ordering
  • Basic email and phone correspondence
  • Travel booking for the team or executive
  • Onboarding support for new hires

Soft skills matter just as much. Strong admin assistants are professional, discreet, reliable, and good with time.

Most postings ask for Microsoft Office or Google Workspace skills at the basic level. The job changes less than people think across industries. What changes is the seniority of the people you support and the tools each employer uses.

Medical administrative assistant jobs

Medical administrative assistant jobs are non-clinical roles at:

  • Clinics
  • Hospitals
  • Dental practices
  • Specialty medical groups

The work covers patient scheduling, insurance checks, prior-authorization follow-up, EHR updates, and basic patient communication.

Most US employers train new hires on their specific EHR system. The most common ones include:

  • Epic
  • Athenahealth
  • eClinicalWorks
  • Cerner

Pay starts at $18 to $26 per hour at entry level. Senior medical admin staff earn $24 to $32 per hour. HIPAA awareness and basic medical terms are expected.

Administrative assistant jobs NYC and administrative assistant jobs LA

NYC and LA anchor the top of US administrative pay.

Administrative assistant jobs NYC at Midtown finance and law firms pay $25 to $40 per hour at entry level. Administrative assistant jobs LA pay in a similar range. Media, entertainment, and finance employers lead the LA market.

Cost of living offsets most of the metro pay premium. Strong candidates often come from prior office, retail, or hospitality work. Professional polish in interviews matters. Major staffing firms like Robert Half and OfficeTeam place heavily in both cities.

Office administrator jobs and office administration jobs

Office administrator jobs sit one step above the standard admin assistant tier. The role often runs the operational side of the office.

Typical duties include:

  • Vendor coordination
  • Facilities and supplies
  • Light HR support
  • Supervision of junior admin staff

Most postings ask for three to five years of admin experience plus clear operational judgment.

Pay runs $25 to $40 per hour at this tier. Senior office administrators at larger employers earn $50,000 to $75,000 per year. Office managers (one step further up) earn $58,000 to $95,000 per year. Pay varies by company size and metro.

Finding office administrator jobs near me

The best places to find office administrator jobs near you:

  • LinkedIn Jobs filtered by your city
  • Direct career pages of major US employers
  • Local staffing agencies (Robert Half, OfficeTeam, Adecco)
  • Indeed local searches
  • Industry-specific job boards

Local applications convert faster than national ones. Employers want candidates who can start without moving.

What works best on applications: a clean resume showing three to five years of admin experience, skill with the major office tools, clear operational judgment, and a short thoughtful cover note. Spray-and-pray applications rarely land.

Industries hiring administrative assistants right now

The largest US admin-assistant employers cluster across these sectors:

  • Healthcare (Humana, HCA, regional hospital systems, private medical practices)
  • Legal services (BigLaw firms in major metros, regional firms)
  • Financial services (banks, credit unions, RIA firms)
  • Corporate operations at large enterprises
  • Professional services (consulting, accounting, real estate)
  • Schools and universities
  • Non-profits

Healthcare is the biggest single category by volume. The operational need is steady. Legal and finance roles pay above the median because the work needs more discretion and polish.

How assistant administration careers grow

The standard US admin career path runs in clear stages:

  • Entry-level administrative assistant (0 to 2 years)
  • Mid-level admin (2 to 4 years)
  • Senior coordinator (4 to 6 years)
  • Executive assistant (5 to 8 years)
  • Office manager or chief of staff (8+ years)

Pay roughly doubles across that span.

Several adjacent paths also open up around the senior coordinator tier:

  • Project management
  • Operations
  • Customer success
  • Human resources

The path is real. Many people who start as admin assistants grow into operations managers, chiefs of staff, HR business partners, and senior executive support roles by their mid-thirties.

Types of jobs

Eight common assistant administration roles

Administrative assistant work splits into a handful of standard role categories. The cards below describe each one and typical US pay ranges.

  • Entry-Tier Administrative Assistant

    The standard starting seat at US corporate offices, professional services firms, and small businesses. Most postings explicitly accept candidates with no prior administrative experience.

    Calendar management, document organization, expense reports, supply ordering, basic correspondence, meeting prep.

    Pay: $17 to $24 per hour at entry level.

  • Medical Administrative Assistant

    Healthcare-focused administrative work at clinics, hospitals, dental practices, and specialty groups. Requires HIPAA awareness and basic medical-terminology comfort.

    Patient scheduling, insurance verification, EHR updates, prior-authorization follow-up, basic patient communication.

    Pay: $18 to $26 per hour at entry level.

  • Legal Administrative Assistant

    Law firm administrative role. Demands familiarity with legal vocabulary, document formatting, court filing systems, and case-management software.

    Court filing coordination, document preparation, deadline tracking, client intake, attorney calendar management.

    Pay: $20 to $30 per hour at entry level.

  • NYC Administrative Assistant

    Local NYC administrative role at finance, law, media, or corporate employers. Anchors the high end of US administrative pay.

    Standard admin mix with NYC-specific employer expectations: professional polish, fast pace, executive-adjacent work.

    Pay: $25 to $40 per hour at entry level.

  • LA Administrative Assistant

    Local LA administrative role at media, entertainment, finance, or corporate employers. Comparable pay to NYC at most employer categories.

    Standard admin mix with LA-specific employer expectations: industry-fluent, professional polish, occasional creative-industry context.

    Pay: $24 to $38 per hour at entry level.

  • Office Administrator

    A step above standard administrative work. Oversees the operational side of an office (vendor coordination, facilities, supplies, light HR) and may supervise other admin staff.

    Vendor management, facilities oversight, supply management, light HR support, supervision of admin staff.

    Pay: $25 to $40 per hour or $52,000 to $82,000 annually.

  • Senior Administrative Coordinator

    An experienced admin role with broader scope. Often supports senior leadership or coordinates across multiple teams within a department.

    Complex calendar management, multi-team coordination, expense management at scale, project tracking, executive support.

    Pay: $28 to $38 per hour.

  • Office Manager

    A management-track role overseeing the full operational and logistical needs of an office. Hires, manages, and trains other administrative staff.

    Vendor coordination, office operations, supply and facilities management, HR liaison, supervision of multiple admin staff.

    Pay: $30 to $48 per hour or $58,000 to $95,000 annually.

Qualifications and skills employers look for

What US administrative employers screen for

US administrative employers screen for a small consistent set of skills. None require advanced credentials at the entry tier, and most provide one to four weeks of paid training.

  • Microsoft Office Suite fluency

    Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint at the baseline. MOS certification lifts response rates on entry-level applications meaningfully.

  • Google Workspace fluency

    Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, and Sheets are the default at most modern technology, SaaS, and scale-up employers. Comfort with both Microsoft and Google stacks expands the job pool noticeably.

  • Calendar and scheduling discipline

    Scheduling across multiple calendars, time zones, and competing priorities is the core operational skill of admin work. Strong schedulers get noticed for executive admin roles within twelve to twenty-four months.

  • Professional written correspondence

    Email replies, meeting notes, and routine business correspondence all run on writing. Clear, professional writing at this tier is a strong signal to hiring managers.

  • Professional verbal communication

    Phone calls, video meetings, and in-person interactions all run through verbal communication. Professional polish during the interview is often a stronger signal than the resume itself.

  • Detail orientation

    Wrong dates on a calendar, wrong amounts on an expense report, or wrong addresses on a mail-out create real problems. Detail-oriented administrative assistants get promoted faster.

  • Time management

    Admin assistants juggle dozens of small open items every week. The ability to prioritize ruthlessly and not let items drop is what separates strong administrative work from average.

  • Confidentiality and discretion

    Admin work routinely involves sensitive information: salary, performance, legal matters, medical records, executive communications. Discretion is the soft skill employers screen for hardest.

  • Excel basics (SUM, AVERAGE, pivot tables)

    The entry-tier Excel bar is real but not high. LinkedIn Learning courses cover the territory in a few hours.

  • HIPAA awareness for healthcare admin

    Required for any non-clinical healthcare administrative role. Free online training is available through the HHS website plus employer-provided onboarding training.

Career progression

Administrative career progression

Administrative careers in the US progress through five recognizable stages over a decade or so. Pay roughly doubles across that span.

  1. Administrative Assistant (Starter)

    0 to 2 years

    The entry seat. Structured paid training during the first one to four weeks. Daily rhythms become clear within the first month, and progressive responsibility builds across the first year.

  2. Administrative Assistant (Mid-Tier)

    2 to 4 years

    An experienced admin trusted with harder calendar work, more sensitive correspondence, and informal mentoring of new hires. Pay typically increases 15 to 25 percent.

  3. Senior Coordinator Tier

    4 to 7 years

    Broader operational scope. Often supports a senior executive or coordinates across multiple teams. Opens the path to executive admin or office manager roles.

  4. Executive Assistant

    5 to 9 years

    Supports a C-level executive or senior VP. Higher stakes, more discretion required, and direct authority to act on the executive's behalf on routine matters.

  5. Office Manager or Chief of Staff

    8+ years

    Two distinct senior tracks. Office manager covers the operational and facilities side. Chief of staff covers the strategic and project-management side for a senior executive.

FAQ

Administrative assistant careers, common questions

Practical answers about the job description, medical admin specialty, metro variants, and career growth.

  • A typical US administrative assistant job description lists calendar and meeting management, document preparation and organization, expense report processing, supply ordering, basic correspondence, support for executive or team travel, onboarding support for new hires, and the standard soft skills (professional communication, discretion, reliability, time management). Most postings also call out Microsoft Office or Google Workspace fluency at the baseline and the ability to work from a professional office environment.

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