Clerical staff vs office specialist

The differences between clerical staff and office 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 clerical staff and an office specialist. Additionally, an office specialist has an average salary of $33,477, which is higher than the $32,118 average annual salary of a clerical staff.

The top three skills for a clerical staff include data entry, patients and clerical support. The most important skills for an office specialist are customer service, data entry, and patients.

Clerical staff vs office specialist overview

	Clerical Staff	Office Specialist
Yearly salary	$32,118	$33,477
Hourly rate	$15.44	$16.09
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	85,811	98,760
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 42%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	2	2

Clerical staff vs office specialist salary

Clerical staff and office specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Clerical Staff	Office Specialist
Average salary	$32,118	$33,477
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $40,000	Between $25,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	Oxnard, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	California	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Contra Costa College	Brookhaven National Laboratory
Best paying industry	Insurance	Finance

Differences between clerical staff and office specialist education

There are a few differences between a clerical staff and an office specialist in terms of educational background:

	Clerical Staff	Office Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 42%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Western Carolina University

Clerical staff vs office specialist demographics

Here are the differences between clerical staff' and office specialists' demographics:

	Clerical Staff	Office Specialist
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 19.7% Female, 80.3%	Male, 18.3% Female, 81.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 18.8% Asian, 7.9% White, 57.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	Black or African American, 8.1% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 19.8% Asian, 8.4% White, 57.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between clerical staff and office specialist duties and responsibilities

Clerical staff example responsibilities.

Manage the receptionist area, including greeting visitors and responding to telephone and in-person requests for information.
Assist in accounts payable, payroll, and process OR/Rec room charges for the billing department.
Supervise clerical staff, prepare payroll, maintain accounts payable, and order medical and office supplies ensuring sufficient stock.
Follow all request for medical records by abiding the HIPPA regulation and scan appropriate medical documents to the client's charts.
Comply with confidentiality; adhere to all HIPPA guidelines/ regulations.
Manage the receptionist area, including greeting visitors and responding to telephone and in-person requests for information.

Office specialist example responsibilities.

Provide support for enrolling patients into health coverage programs and manage sensitive patient information to ensure accuracy and confidentiality.
Manage and maintain patients' medical records by utilizing computer applications management database processing system to ensure county compliance.
Manage operational FedEx relationship through order fulfillment, shipment tracking, and communication with parties involve in shipment transaction.
Provide assistance to office staff including preparing and proofreading memos and grants, transcribing meeting minutes for staff and answering phones.
Perform multiple bookkeeping duties including departmental payroll, print financial reports and other financial material as needed.
Communicate HIPAA compliance to staff, field and outside agencies.

Clerical staff vs office specialist skills

Common clerical staff skills

Data Entry, 30%
Patients, 17%
Clerical Support, 9%
Database Management, 6%
Front Desk, 5%
Payroll, 3%

Common office specialist skills

Customer Service, 18%
Data Entry, 10%
Patients, 9%
Office Equipment, 6%
Phone Calls, 6%
Word Processing, 4%