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Career specialist vs trainer

The differences between career specialists and trainers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a career specialist and a trainer. Additionally, a trainer has an average salary of $47,574, which is higher than the $45,299 average annual salary of a career specialist.

The top three skills for a career specialist include career development, professional development and career exploration. The most important skills for a trainer are PET, training programs, and leadership.

Career specialist vs trainer overview

Career SpecialistTrainer
Yearly salary$45,299$47,574
Hourly rate$21.78$22.87
Growth rate8%8%
Number of jobs16,35340,650
Job satisfaction-4
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Average age4444
Years of experience44

What does a career specialist do?

Also called workforce trainers, career specialists determine career and vocational opportunities for qualified job-searches using different assessments. Career specialists plan and implement a comprehensive career development program within the realm of student services. They assess and evaluate career development test results and use them as a guide for individuals. It is part of their job to counsel in terms of administrative tasks. Skills necessary for this job include communication, attention to detail, and career guidance.

What does a trainer do?

A trainer is responsible for instilling knowledge and process techniques for a specific business role. Duties of a trainer include facilitating engaging classes, identifying areas of improvement and opportunities for the learner, evaluating skills and attending to the learner's challenges, organizing training materials and scheduling training sessions, and submitting timely reports to the management on progress. Trainers are required to have excellent public communication skills and extensive product knowledge to provide effective learning methodologies and maintain strategic project management.

Career specialist vs trainer salary

Career specialists and trainers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Career SpecialistTrainer
Average salary$45,299$47,574
Salary rangeBetween $33,000 And $61,000Between $30,000 And $73,000
Highest paying CitySanta Cruz, CA-
Highest paying stateCaliforniaNew Jersey
Best paying companyBoston Public Schools-
Best paying industryEducationTechnology

Differences between career specialist and trainer education

There are a few differences between a career specialist and a trainer in terms of educational background:

Career SpecialistTrainer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityUniversity of Pennsylvania

Career specialist vs trainer demographics

Here are the differences between career specialists' and trainers' demographics:

Career SpecialistTrainer
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 31.1% Female, 68.9%Male, 48.6% Female, 51.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 6.3% Hispanic or Latino, 17.1% Asian, 5.9% White, 58.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 6.3% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 5.8% White, 59.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage12%12%

Differences between career specialist and trainer duties and responsibilities

Career specialist example responsibilities.

  • Lead advocacy efforts to increase employment opportunities for veterans by contacting hiring executives and encourage the hiring of disable veterans.
  • Determine eligibility and suitability for WIA youth services.
  • Establish applicant eligibility and suitability for WIA enrollment associate with personal barriers to employment.
  • Lead advocacy efforts to increase employment opportunities for veterans by contacting hiring executives and encourage the hiring of disable veterans.
  • Document and comply with confidentiality of student information, and Medicaid billing.

Trainer example responsibilities.

  • Manage orders through the drive-thru.
  • Instruct representatives on how to maximize functionality of relational database to effectively manage their sales territories and expenses.
  • Process customer drive-thru orders and run the different stations to prepare food.
  • Demonstrate complete knowledge of all GMP's and other applicable standards.
  • Validate and process in approve batches suitable for consumption with regulatory requirements for FDA approval.
  • Train production operators and personnel in alignment with GMP concepts/methodology.
  • Show more

Career specialist vs trainer skills

Common career specialist skills
  • Career Development, 13%
  • Professional Development, 8%
  • Career Exploration, 8%
  • Financial Aid, 6%
  • Labor Market, 5%
  • Career Planning, 5%
Common trainer skills
  • PET, 23%
  • Training Programs, 19%
  • Leadership, 15%
  • Bonds, 10%
  • Training Sessions, 3%
  • PowerPoint, 3%

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