Administrative staff vs administrative office specialist

The differences between administrative staff 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 staff and an administrative office specialist. Additionally, an administrative staff has an average salary of $77,101, which is higher than the $35,177 average annual salary of an administrative office specialist.

The top three skills for an administrative staff include telephone calls, word processing and travel arrangements. The most important skills for an administrative office specialist are customer service, data entry, and word processing.

Administrative staff vs administrative office specialist overview

	Administrative Staff	Administrative Office Specialist
Yearly salary	$77,101	$35,177
Hourly rate	$37.07	$16.91
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	119,030	96,945
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does an administrative staff do?

As the administrative staff, they primarily provide administrative and secretarial support for the department. Typically, they do report-writing, filing and scheduling, and payroll. They plan department weekly meetings, schedule conference calls, and work on solving administrative related concerns and issues. They do a complex task that involves multi-tasking from the preparation of department reports, analyzing data, and finding solutions. It is a requirement to be an experienced, collaborator, and trained cross-functional communicator. Moreover, other duties will include scheduling company-initiated activities, meetings, and events.

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 staff vs administrative office specialist salary

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

	Administrative Staff	Administrative Office Specialist
Average salary	$77,101	$35,177
Salary range	Between $58,000 And $101,000	Between $28,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	California	Alaska
Best paying company	NVIDIA	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	Professional	Technology

Differences between administrative staff and administrative office specialist education

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

	Administrative Staff	Administrative Office Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Western Carolina University

Administrative staff vs administrative office specialist demographics

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

	Administrative Staff	Administrative Office Specialist
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 31.9% Female, 68.1%	Male, 14.3% Female, 85.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.2% 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 staff and administrative office specialist duties and responsibilities

Administrative staff example responsibilities.

Support medical doctors, manage sensitive and confidential records pertaining to high risk patients with emphasis on accuracy.
Prepare PowerPoint presentations for management distribution.
Maintain payroll information by collect, calculate and enter data.
Prepare briefing slides and presentation material using PowerPoint and Visio.
Maintain accounting statements, databases, and other financial information such as payroll coding and budget preparation
Provide cloud base customer relationship management with Salesforce for optimization in coordination of the workforce development program and other community orient events

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 staff vs administrative office specialist skills

Common administrative staff skills

Telephone Calls, 19%
Word Processing, 16%
Travel Arrangements, 7%
Payroll, 6%
Personnel Actions, 6%
Financial Reports, 5%

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 Staff
Administrative Staff vs Administrative Office Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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