How To Become A Business Support Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a business support specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Wayne Counts

If you want to be a Business Support Specialist, you will work at manufacturing sites and improve production processes. Mainly, you will manage the company's business channels, support business process changes, develop a reporting system, and collaborate with business analysts. You will need to show that you can problem-solve, think analytically, have good time management skills, use the computer competently, and work independently and in a team.

You will also be tasked with finance and budget, human resources, contract administration, facilities management function, and procurements. You will supervise daily work operations plus plan, schedule, assign, and review work. You may also need to type, know how to enter data, file, use the phone, take over front desk reception, and maintain supplies. It all depends on the size of the business where you are working.

You will be best served if you have a bachelor's degree in business administration. You can become a business support specialist with only a high school degree or GED, but you will need to have expensive experience in the company's operations. Expect to make a mid-range of $60,000 a year.

What general advice would you give to a business support specialist?

Wayne Counts

Associate Dean, The University of Texas Permian Basin

I think there will be an impact, both visible and invisible, for years to come. One of the big changes will be in how we do things. The change to remote and virtual business will probably never be fully reversed.

ScoreBusiness Support SpecialistUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $53,768

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.41%

Asian 10.61%

Black or African American 10.40%

Hispanic or Latino 16.50%

Unknown 5.40%

White 56.69%

Gender

female 65.07%

male 34.93%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.4

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a business support specialist

Explore business support specialist education requirements

Most common business support specialist degrees

Bachelor's

60.7 %

Associate

19.8 %

Master's

7.8 %

Start to develop specific business support specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Data Entry	10.11%
Business Support	9.04%
Project Management	6.84%
Patients	6.19%
Excellent Organizational	4.38%

Complete relevant business support specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New business support specialists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a business support specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real business support specialist resumes.

Research business support specialist duties and responsibilities

Maintain and manage HealthWeb intranet site that educate employees on healthcare, trends, and competitors.
Lead special communication project involving the utilization of SharePoint resulting in the ease of communication with retail banners.
Manage multiple imaging-relate projects across both radiology and cardiology service lines, both inpatient and outpatient, to completion.
Document tickets for reference and issue tracking SalesForce.

Prepare your business support specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your business support specialist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a business support specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable business support specialist resume templates

Build a professional business support specialist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your business support specialist resume.

Apply for business support specialist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a business support specialist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do business support specialists rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Business support specialist reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2024

Cons

very low salary, no career growth, very stressful and not rewarding

A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2020

Pros

Helping special needs adults read , write and do math.