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The differences between administrative specialists and administrative receptionists 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 specialist and an administrative receptionist. Additionally, an administrative specialist has an average salary of $38,758, which is higher than the $31,502 average annual salary of an administrative receptionist.
The top three skills for an administrative specialist include customer service, data entry and powerpoint. The most important skills for an administrative receptionist are customer service, patients, and data entry.
| Administrative Specialist | Administrative Receptionist | |
| Yearly salary | $38,758 | $31,502 |
| Hourly rate | $18.63 | $15.15 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 71,227 | 91,892 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 48% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
An administrative specialist is in charge of various clerical tasks to support supervisors and management staff. Their responsibility is to act as the main point of contact among clients through answering calls and responding to inquiries, managing schedules, arranging appointments and travel, addressing complaints and resolving internal issues, managing payroll, and keeping an organized database. Furthermore, an administrative specialist can also conduct research and analysis, prepare reports and other forms of documentation, and coordinate workflow in a particular area.
An administrative receptionist is responsible for performing administrative tasks, handling visitors' inquiries and concerns, verifying appointments, and leading them to the appropriate personnel and department, as well as handling and routing calls. Administrative receptionists also keep records of the staff meeting and executive conference, including company and promotional events. They receive packages and mail, sort documents, manage office supply inventories, create incident reports, and report suspicious guests within the premises. An administrative receptionist must have excellent communication and customer service skills, especially on resolving and escalating complaints.
Administrative specialists and administrative receptionists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Administrative Specialist | Administrative Receptionist | |
| Average salary | $38,758 | $31,502 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $58,000 | Between $25,000 And $38,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Oakland, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | Meta | Beacon Hill Staffing Group |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between an administrative specialist and an administrative receptionist in terms of educational background:
| Administrative Specialist | Administrative Receptionist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 48% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between administrative specialists' and administrative receptionists' demographics:
| Administrative Specialist | Administrative Receptionist | |
| Average age | 50 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 24.4% Female, 75.6% | Male, 8.0% Female, 92.0% |
| 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% |