Administrative officer vs administrative support specialist

The differences between administrative officers and administrative support specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an administrative officer and an administrative support specialist. Additionally, an administrative officer has an average salary of $64,338, which is higher than the $38,244 average annual salary of an administrative support specialist.

The top three skills for an administrative officer include veterans, human resources and rehabilitation. The most important skills for an administrative support specialist are customer service, data entry, and patients.

Administrative officer vs administrative support specialist overview

	Administrative Officer	Administrative Support Specialist
Yearly salary	$64,338	$38,244
Hourly rate	$30.93	$18.39
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	98,238	139,654
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does an administrative officer do?

An administrative officer is responsible for performing administrative and clerical duties to support the company's operations and maintain efficient production. Administrative officers should have excellent office management principles, handling various tasks under minimal supervision and strict deadline. They must be detail-oriented, especially on data processing systems, to encode information and update the company's documents. An administrative officer should be highly-communicative to respond to customers' inquiries and concerns, negotiate with suppliers and third-party vendors, scheduling meetings, and creating business transaction reports.

What does an administrative support specialist do?

An administrative support specialist is an individual who is involved in the office management, clerical tasks, and back-office duties of an organization. To run the office smoothly, administrative support specialists must manage the purchasing and inventory of office supplies as well as schedule the maintenance of office equipment. They serve as a liaison for executives by screening incoming calls and emails, sorting mails, and setting appointments with employees, customers, and vendors. Administrative support specialists must also be able to draft memos and edit report proposals and other business documents.

Administrative officer vs administrative support specialist salary

Administrative officers and administrative support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Administrative Officer	Administrative Support Specialist
Average salary	$64,338	$38,244
Salary range	Between $40,000 And $103,000	Between $29,000 And $49,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Oregon	Connecticut
Best paying company	UBS	King County
Best paying industry	Finance	Government

Differences between administrative officer and administrative support specialist education

There are a few differences between an administrative officer and an administrative support specialist in terms of educational background:

	Administrative Officer	Administrative Support Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Administrative officer vs administrative support specialist demographics

Here are the differences between administrative officers' and administrative support specialists' demographics:

	Administrative Officer	Administrative Support Specialist
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 42.8% Female, 57.2%	Male, 20.5% Female, 79.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between administrative officer and administrative support specialist duties and responsibilities

Administrative officer example responsibilities.

Orchestrate special events and reservations; manage customer relations and provide exemplary service to all customers.
Assist veterans during registration and authentication processes.
Develop agendas and PowerPoint presentations for c-level executives.
Interview patients before surgery/examinations and inform patients of necessary requirements before procedures.
Schedule appointments and meetings and oversee all travel logistics for senior management.
Communicate with outside vendors for probationer's drug rehabilitation, domestic violence, and education.

Administrative support specialist example responsibilities.

Create PowerPoint presentations, manage spreadsheet information/graphs and provide reports as necessary.
Participate in committee meetings by preparing minutes and presentation summaries, planning meeting agendas, and organizing and managing meeting logistics.
Assist SharePoint intranet creation and documentation.
Generate PowerPoint presentations for meetings and training.
Maintain and post unit documents utilizing SharePoint.
Maintain files on all division civilian personnel, submit accurate payroll sheets for assign civilian personnel.

Administrative officer vs administrative support specialist skills

Common administrative officer skills

Veterans, 9%
Human Resources, 9%
Rehabilitation, 5%
Personnel Actions, 5%
Financial Management, 5%
Patients, 5%

Common administrative support specialist skills

Customer Service, 16%
Data Entry, 8%
Patients, 6%
PowerPoint, 5%
Administrative Functions, 4%
Office Equipment, 4%

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Administrative Officer
Administrative Officer vs Administrative Support Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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