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The differences between contractor/consultants and operations specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a contractor/consultant has an average salary of $84,811, which is higher than the $54,752 average annual salary of an operations specialist.
The top three skills for a contractor/consultant include healthcare, post implementation and data analysis. The most important skills for an operations specialist are customer service, logistics, and basic math.
| Contractor/Consultant | Operations Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $84,811 | $54,752 |
| Hourly rate | $40.77 | $26.32 |
| Growth rate | 11% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 64,573 | 109,181 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A contractor is a self-employed businessperson who agrees to work for a fixed price. His/her job involves the evaluation of clients' needs and actual performance of work. On the other hand, a consultant is a skilled independent businessperson who provides expert teaching and training in a specific market by assisting existing staff for the improvement of operations, problem-solving, and development of strategies. His/her role is to assess clients' needs and provide expert advice and opinion. However, both individuals are not employees, since they came from outside of the organization to perform such services.
An operations specialist is responsible for optimizing the business' daily operations, ensuring smooth process flow to provide the best services to clients. Operations specialists' duties include analyzing business procedures, identifying opportunities for business improvement, tracking the department's metrics and activities, providing assistance to colleagues, suggesting strategies for operations efficiency, and managing customer's inquiries and complaints. An operations specialist must be an excellent team player and detail-oriented, as well as proven time-management and decision-making skills to meet clients' needs and support the business' objectives.
Contractor/consultants and operations specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Contractor/Consultant | Operations Specialist | |
| Average salary | $84,811 | $54,752 |
| Salary range | Between $58,000 And $123,000 | Between $35,000 And $85,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | Cerner | Coatue Management |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Government |
There are a few differences between a contractor/consultant and an operations specialist in terms of educational background:
| Contractor/Consultant | Operations Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between contractor/consultants' and operations specialists' demographics:
| Contractor/Consultant | Operations Specialist | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 66.2% Female, 33.8% | Male, 50.6% Female, 49.4% |
| 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% |