Administrative professional vs administrative office specialist

The differences between administrative professionals and administrative office 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 professional and an administrative office specialist. Additionally, an administrative professional has an average salary of $39,486, which is higher than the $35,177 average annual salary of an administrative office specialist.

The top three skills for an administrative professional include customer service, powerpoint and data entry. The most important skills for an administrative office specialist are customer service, data entry, and word processing.

Administrative professional vs administrative office specialist overview

	Administrative Professional	Administrative Office Specialist
Yearly salary	$39,486	$35,177
Hourly rate	$18.98	$16.91
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	87,372	96,945
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does an administrative professional do?

An administrative professional specializes in performing administrative support and clerical tasks in a company or office, ensuring accuracy and smooth workflow. Their responsibilities typically revolve around managing schedules, arranging appointments and meetings, producing progress reports and presentations, delegating tasks, and attending meetings on behalf of executives or staff. There are also instances when an administrative assistant must answer calls and correspondence, respond to inquiries and concerns, welcome guests, relay messages, and provide staff with any support tasks or documents.

What does an administrative office specialist do?

An administrative office specialist helps offices to run efficiently and smoothly by performing clerical support tasks. Their responsibilities often include preparing and processing documents, arranging meetings and appointments, monitoring the budgets and expenditures, answering calls and correspondence, handling the inventory and procurement of office supplies, and developing strategies to optimize office operations. They may also address issues and concerns, resolving them promptly and professionally. Furthermore, as an administrative office specialist, it is essential to coordinate staff, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.

Administrative professional vs administrative office specialist salary

Administrative professionals and administrative office specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Administrative Professional	Administrative Office Specialist
Average salary	$39,486	$35,177
Salary range	Between $23,000 And $65,000	Between $28,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	Connecticut	Alaska
Best paying company	HomeOwners Advantage	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between administrative professional and administrative office specialist education

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

	Administrative Professional	Administrative Office Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Administrative professional vs administrative office specialist demographics

Here are the differences between administrative professionals' and administrative office specialists' demographics:

	Administrative Professional	Administrative Office Specialist
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 17.4% Female, 82.6%	Male, 14.3% Female, 85.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 15.0% Asian, 4.0% White, 66.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between administrative professional and administrative office specialist duties and responsibilities

Administrative professional example responsibilities.

Manage documentation, folder structures and user permissions in SharePoint.
Participate in committee meetings by preparing minutes and presentation summaries, planning meeting agendas, and organizing and managing meeting logistics.
Keep vendors accounts up to date, process payroll, collect on accounts receivable, keep accounts payable up to date.
Create document libraries for several hospital initiatives in SharePoint.
Receive and distribute payroll garnishment/bankruptcy notification letters to employees.
Develop and maintain relevant organizational charts, facilitating retrieval of staff data in PowerPoint format.

Administrative office specialist example responsibilities.

Participate in committee meetings by preparing minutes and presentation summaries, planning meeting agendas, and organizing and managing meeting logistics.
Develop PowerPoint presentations for seminars and workshops.
Prepare briefings for senior level management using Microsoft PowerPoint.
Prepare bi-weekly payroll reports and special cost analyses and forecasting.
Coordinate accessibility into main office building along with identification badge and process direct deposit via state guidelines for payroll.
Coordinate travel arrangements in DTS; schedule mode of transportation, prepare trip folders, arrange lodging reservations and develop itineraries.

Administrative professional vs administrative office specialist skills

Common administrative professional skills

Customer Service, 16%
PowerPoint, 12%
Data Entry, 11%
Travel Arrangements, 7%
Administrative Tasks, 3%
Office Equipment, 3%

Common administrative office specialist skills

Customer Service, 27%
Data Entry, 8%
Word Processing, 6%
Payroll, 3%
PowerPoint, 3%
Phone Calls, 3%

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Administrative Professional
Administrative Professional vs Administrative Office Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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