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The differences between administrative specialists and 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 specialist and an office specialist. Additionally, an administrative specialist has an average salary of $38,758, which is higher than the $33,477 average annual salary of an office specialist.
The top three skills for an administrative specialist include customer service, data entry and powerpoint. The most important skills for an office specialist are customer service, data entry, and patients.
| Administrative Specialist | Office Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $38,758 | $33,477 |
| Hourly rate | $18.63 | $16.09 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -5% |
| Number of jobs | 71,227 | 98,760 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 48% | Bachelor's Degree, 44% |
| Average age | 50 | 47 |
| 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 office specialist is responsible for performing administrative and clerical duties to support the organization's daily operations. Office specialists must be highly organizational, as well as having excellent time-management skills to handle work units. They have duties including data entry procedures, greeting visitors, responding to customers' inquiries through phone calls and e-mails, and filing and sorting documents. Office specialists are responsible for creating meeting reports, scheduling appointments, evaluating financial statements, coordinating with other staff for event planning, and assisting the senior management with complex functions.
Administrative specialists and office specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Administrative Specialist | Office Specialist | |
| Average salary | $38,758 | $33,477 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $58,000 | Between $25,000 And $43,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | California | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Meta | Brookhaven National Laboratory |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Finance |
There are a few differences between an administrative specialist and an office specialist in terms of educational background:
| Administrative Specialist | Office Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 48% | Bachelor's Degree, 44% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between administrative specialists' and office specialists' demographics:
| Administrative Specialist | Office Specialist | |
| Average age | 50 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 24.4% Female, 75.6% | Male, 18.3% Female, 81.7% |
| 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, 8.1% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 19.8% Asian, 8.4% White, 57.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |