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The differences between disaster recovery specialists and specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a disaster recovery specialist, becoming a specialist takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a disaster recovery specialist has an average salary of $64,394, which is higher than the $58,013 average annual salary of a specialist.
The top three skills for a disaster recovery specialist include grants management, infrastructure and business continuity. The most important skills for a specialist are patients, customer service, and work ethic.
| Disaster Recovery Specialist | Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $64,394 | $58,013 |
| Hourly rate | $30.96 | $27.89 |
| Growth rate | - | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 9,907 | 358,433 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 44 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 2 |
A disaster recovery specialist helps businesses protect software, hardware, and data from different kinds of disasters. They are primarily in charge of creating recovery and continuity plans, helping companies run smoothly and efficiently despite issues brought by the disasters. Their duties also include performing research and analyses, obtaining data from different departments, coordinating with fellow specialists, conducting systems tests and inspections, and utilizing research findings to develop plans and recommendations. Moreover, a disaster recovery specialist may also train staff and provide technical support as necessary.
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.
Disaster recovery specialists and specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Disaster Recovery Specialist | Specialist | |
| Average salary | $64,394 | $58,013 |
| Salary range | Between $42,000 And $97,000 | Between $32,000 And $104,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest paying state | - | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | - | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | - | - |
There are a few differences between a disaster recovery specialist and a specialist in terms of educational background:
| Disaster Recovery Specialist | Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between disaster recovery specialists' and specialists' demographics:
| Disaster Recovery Specialist | Specialist | |
| Average age | 44 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 64.9% Female, 35.1% | Male, 47.5% Female, 52.5% |
| 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, 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 | 11% | 11% |