Administrative specialist vs administrative support specialist

The differences between administrative specialists 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 specialist and an administrative support specialist. Additionally, an administrative specialist has an average salary of $38,758, which is higher than the $38,244 average annual salary of an administrative support specialist.

The top three skills for an administrative specialist include customer service, data entry and powerpoint. The most important skills for an administrative support specialist are customer service, data entry, and patients.

Administrative specialist vs administrative support specialist overview

	Administrative Specialist	Administrative Support Specialist
Yearly salary	$38,758	$38,244
Hourly rate	$18.63	$18.39
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	71,227	139,654
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does an administrative specialist do?

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.

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 specialist vs administrative support specialist salary

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

	Administrative Specialist	Administrative Support Specialist
Average salary	$38,758	$38,244
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $58,000	Between $29,000 And $49,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	California	Connecticut
Best paying company	Meta	King County
Best paying industry	Technology	Government

Differences between administrative specialist and administrative support specialist education

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

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

Administrative specialist vs administrative support specialist demographics

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

	Administrative Specialist	Administrative Support Specialist
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 24.4% Female, 75.6%	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 specialist and administrative support specialist duties and responsibilities

Administrative specialist example responsibilities.

Participate in committee meetings by preparing minutes and presentation summaries, planning meeting agendas, and organizing and managing meeting logistics.
Process incoming and outgoing medical records with newly implement HIPAA requirements.
Maintain personnel records, electronic databases, oversee and administer department SharePoint website.
Redesign and reformat PowerPoint presentations, customize individual client presentations for specific look & feel.
Create and successfully implement a new faculty form to collect necessary information for payroll forms.
Conduct training of new personnel using spreadsheets & PowerPoint presentations to ensure compliance of organizational policies & procedures.

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 specialist vs administrative support specialist skills

Common administrative specialist skills

Customer Service, 14%
Data Entry, 6%
PowerPoint, 6%
Office Procedures, 5%
Patients, 5%
Payroll, 4%

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 Specialist
Administrative Specialist vs Administrative Support Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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