Department secretary vs department specialist

The differences between department secretaries and department specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a department specialist has an average salary of $49,764, which is higher than the $35,473 average annual salary of a department secretary.

The top three skills for a department secretary include patients, customer service and data entry. The most important skills for a department specialist are product knowledge, drive sales, and cleanliness.

Department secretary vs department specialist overview

	Department Secretary	Department Specialist
Yearly salary	$35,473	$49,764
Hourly rate	$17.05	$23.93
Growth rate	-8%	-
Number of jobs	80,303	55,038
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 39%	Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Average age	50	41
Years of experience	2	-

What does a department secretary do?

A department secretary is responsible for providing administrative and clerical support to a specific department, ensuring smooth operations to maintain high-quality services to the customers and business partners. Department secretaries should have excellent knowledge of office management principles, especially on data processing procedures and customer service processes. They handle the scheduling of meetings and conferences, responding to customers' inquiries and concerns, directing visitors to the appropriate personnel and department, sorting files, and submitting business transactions and financial reports. A department secretary also recommends strategic procedures to generate more revenues and increase the company's profitability.

What does a department specialist do?

A department specialist drives the profitable sales growth of a company through proper planning and execution of corporate merchandise direction. Department specialists develop plans and strategies to achieve corporate sales results through action planning, consistent accountability, and effective communication. They initiate and carry out business-wide software and hardware standardization. Also, they coordinate space utilization or facility scheduling optimization for programs focused on members.

Department secretary vs department specialist salary

Department secretaries and department specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Department Secretary	Department Specialist
Average salary	$35,473	$49,764
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $47,000	Between $35,000 And $70,000
Highest paying City	Oakland, CA	Urban Honolulu, HI
Highest paying state	California	Hawaii
Best paying company	Brigham and Women's Hospital	Springs Charter Schools
Best paying industry	Government	Government

Differences between department secretary and department specialist education

There are a few differences between a department secretary and a department specialist in terms of educational background:

	Department Secretary	Department Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 39%	Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	-

Department secretary vs department specialist demographics

Here are the differences between department secretaries' and department specialists' demographics:

	Department Secretary	Department Specialist
Average age	50	41
Gender ratio	Male, 7.0% Female, 93.0%	Male, 37.6% Female, 62.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 20.6% Asian, 7.7% White, 56.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	6%	7%

Differences between department secretary and department specialist duties and responsibilities

Department secretary example responsibilities.

Lead DoD team that assist Pakistan in gaining military capabilities to conduct counter-terrorism operations against the Taliban.
Volunteer for ISO auditor duties to ensure ISO procedures are followed for certification.
Perform payroll functions, including maintaining timekeeping information and processing and submitting payroll.
Prepare materials for monthly board of directors meetings including PowerPoint presentations, agendas and minutes.
Complete all payroll documentation, enter all payroll documentation into computer program, and submit to payroll department.
Create PowerPoint presentations used for business development, organize files and develop spreadsheets, fax reports and scan documents.

Department specialist example responsibilities.

Manage a high volume of patient information from authorizing diagnostic procedures and scheduling patients.
Conduct continuous inventory evaluation via analysis of POS computer data.
Provide account coverage on government, corporate, and mortgage-backed securities.
Strengthen organizational visibility by leading community outreach initiatives, fulfilling roles as youth mentor and orchestrating event planning and logistics.
Assist with scanning old patient records into EMR, other duties assign.
Communicate all policy and procedure violations to management, prepare detailed memos outlining the issues.

Department secretary vs department specialist skills

Common department secretary skills

Patients, 22%
Customer Service, 10%
Data Entry, 7%
Medical Terminology, 7%
Patient Care, 4%
Word Processing, 4%

Common department specialist skills

Product Knowledge, 14%
Drive Sales, 11%
Cleanliness, 11%
Customer Satisfaction, 9%
Customer Service, 9%
Office Equipment, 8%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Department Secretary
Department Secretary vs Department Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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