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The differences between certification specialists and project specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a project specialist has an average salary of $65,993, which is higher than the $45,265 average annual salary of a certification specialist.
The top three skills for a certification specialist include patients, medical terminology and surgical procedures. The most important skills for a project specialist are customer service, project management, and project proposals.
| Certification Specialist | Project Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $45,265 | $65,993 |
| Hourly rate | $21.76 | $31.73 |
| Growth rate | 11% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 43,565 | 99,583 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A certification specialist is primarily in charge of conducting inspections and assessments, ensuring operations and procedures comply with certification guidelines and requirements. Although their responsibilities may vary upon their industry or organization of employment, it usually entails reviewing certification applications and system plans, arranging schedules and tests, organizing orientations, providing advice or guidance to new members of the workforce, and implementing strategies. Moreover, they also perform administrative support tasks such as processing the necessary documents, facilitating activities, and coordinating with internal and external parties.
A project specialist's role is to ensure that a project or program's completion is within the allotted time and budget. They are primarily responsible for devising plans and strategies to quicken the pace of production or processes involved, creating a comprehensive schedule, monitoring the progress and producing reports, tracking the budget and expenditures, and coordinating with all department personnel. Moreover, a project specialist may also schedule and attend meetings, all while adhering to the company's policies and standards.
Certification specialists and project specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Certification Specialist | Project Specialist | |
| Average salary | $45,265 | $65,993 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $81,000 | Between $41,000 And $103,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | California |
| Best paying company | Apple | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Insurance | Professional |
There are a few differences between a certification specialist and a project specialist in terms of educational background:
| Certification Specialist | Project Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between certification specialists' and project specialists' demographics:
| Certification Specialist | Project Specialist | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 26.3% Female, 73.7% | Male, 46.7% Female, 53.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |