Administrative support specialist vs administrative professional

The differences between administrative support specialists and administrative professionals 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 support specialist and an administrative professional. Additionally, an administrative professional has an average salary of $39,486, which is higher than the $38,244 average annual salary of an administrative support specialist.

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

Administrative support specialist vs administrative professional overview

	Administrative Support Specialist	Administrative Professional
Yearly salary	$38,244	$39,486
Hourly rate	$18.39	$18.98
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	139,654	87,372
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	2	2

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.

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.

Administrative support specialist vs administrative professional salary

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

	Administrative Support Specialist	Administrative Professional
Average salary	$38,244	$39,486
Salary range	Between $29,000 And $49,000	Between $23,000 And $65,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Connecticut	Connecticut
Best paying company	King County	HomeOwners Advantage
Best paying industry	Government	-

Differences between administrative support specialist and administrative professional education

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

	Administrative Support Specialist	Administrative Professional
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Administrative support specialist vs administrative professional demographics

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

	Administrative Support Specialist	Administrative Professional
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 20.5% Female, 79.5%	Male, 17.4% Female, 82.6%
Race ratio	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%	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%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between administrative support specialist and administrative professional duties and responsibilities

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 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 support specialist vs administrative professional skills

Common administrative support specialist skills

Customer Service, 16%
Data Entry, 8%
Patients, 6%
PowerPoint, 5%
Administrative Functions, 4%
Office Equipment, 4%

Common administrative professional skills

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

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Office and Administrative Industry
Administrative Support Specialist
Administrative Support Specialist vs Administrative Professional

Updated January 8, 2025

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