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The differences between business support specialists and 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 a business support specialist and a support specialist. Additionally, a business support specialist has an average salary of $53,768, which is higher than the $40,782 average annual salary of a support specialist.
The top three skills for a business support specialist include data entry, business support and project management. The most important skills for a support specialist are customer service, patients, and mental health.
| Business Support Specialist | Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $53,768 | $40,782 |
| Hourly rate | $25.85 | $19.61 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 161,206 | 125,740 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 3 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A business support specialist is responsible for evaluating the current production and manufacturing processes, improving the operational standards, and identifying opportunities to maximize the staff's productivity and efficiency. Business support specialists determine areas of improvement with the business procedures and strategize methods to deliver high-quality outputs for client satisfaction. They also coordinate with the marketing and sales team to monitor business channels and establish solutions to enhance the company's brand image within the target market.
A support specialist is responsible for assisting technical and administrative support, depending on the business need. Support specialists must have extensive knowledge of the services of the organization they work for to assist customers with their inquiries and resolve complaints efficiently. A support specialist maintains documents of issue resolution, providing recommendations to improve business strategies and procedures. Support specialists must be well-versed on technology systems, perform basic troubleshooting, and secure databases. They should also have impeccable customer service and communication skills to attend with customers' needs and requests.
Business support specialists and support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Business Support Specialist | Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $53,768 | $40,782 |
| Salary range | Between $30,000 And $95,000 | Between $25,000 And $64,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | New York | New York |
| Best paying company | Genentech | Microsoft |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | Technology |
There are a few differences between a business support specialist and a support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Business Support Specialist | Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between business support specialists' and support specialists' demographics:
| Business Support Specialist | Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 34.9% Female, 65.1% | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.5% Asian, 10.6% White, 56.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 10.4% White, 56.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |