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The differences between child support specialists and specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a child support specialist, becoming a specialist takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a specialist has an average salary of $58,013, which is higher than the $38,271 average annual salary of a child support specialist.
The top three skills for a child support specialist include customer service, social work and child support cases. The most important skills for a specialist are patients, customer service, and work ethic.
| Child Support Specialist | Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $38,271 | $58,013 |
| Hourly rate | $18.40 | $27.89 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 143,623 | 358,433 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 2 |
A child support specialist is primarily in charge of monitoring child support payments, ensuring individuals with financial obligations comply with the legal settlement terms. They mainly work in the legal industry, where their responsibilities include assessing the clients' financial situations, gathering and analyzing financial statements, performing interviews and follow-up calls, and producing regular progress reports. Furthermore, as a child support specialist, it is essential to maintain records of all transactions and procedures, resolving issues and concerns should there be any.
Specialists are employees who are responsible for specific tasks or activities in the department they are assigned to. The actions or tasks they work on are related to their educational background or work experiences. They are usually highly skilled in specializations related to the work they are assigned to. Specialists are also highly trained on the competencies that are required of their specialty. As such, they are focused on the skills and competencies that are needed to enhance their experience in their specific field further.
Child support specialists and specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Child Support Specialist | Specialist | |
| Average salary | $38,271 | $58,013 |
| Salary range | Between $29,000 And $49,000 | Between $32,000 And $104,000 |
| Highest paying City | Rockville, MD | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | University of Rochester | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Government | - |
There are a few differences between a child support specialist and a specialist in terms of educational background:
| Child Support Specialist | Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between child support specialists' and specialists' demographics:
| Child Support Specialist | Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 19.9% Female, 80.1% | Male, 47.5% Female, 52.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 13.4% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 2.7% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5% | Black or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 10.5% White, 55.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 11% |