Front office administrator vs office specialist

The differences between front office administrators and office 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 front office administrator, becoming an office specialist takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a front office administrator has an average salary of $33,516, which is higher than the $33,477 average annual salary of an office specialist.

The top three skills for a front office administrator include patients, front desk and appointment scheduling. The most important skills for an office specialist are customer service, data entry, and patients.

Front office administrator vs office specialist overview

	Front Office Administrator	Office Specialist
Yearly salary	$33,516	$33,477
Hourly rate	$16.11	$16.09
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	147,279	98,760
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	6	2

What does a front office administrator do?

Front desk administrators work for different industries at the front desk of the front office area. They are responsible mostly for handling calls and transfers these calls to extension/local numbers. They manage booking travel appointments, answering inquiries, doing paperwork, and maintaining a professional image. They greet visitors and attend to visitors' inquiries. In addition, they assist other departments by performing other miscellaneous administrative tasks as required, and they often serve as ushers during client visits. Moreover, this job requires excellent interpersonal skills and good communication skills.

What does an office specialist do?

An office specialist is responsible for performing administrative and clerical duties to support the organization's daily operations. Office specialists must be highly organizational, as well as having excellent time-management skills to handle work units. They have duties including data entry procedures, greeting visitors, responding to customers' inquiries through phone calls and e-mails, and filing and sorting documents. Office specialists are responsible for creating meeting reports, scheduling appointments, evaluating financial statements, coordinating with other staff for event planning, and assisting the senior management with complex functions.

Front office administrator vs office specialist salary

Front office administrators and office specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Front Office Administrator	Office Specialist
Average salary	$33,516	$33,477
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $40,000	Between $25,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	Lakewood, WA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Washington	Massachusetts
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	Brookhaven National Laboratory
Best paying industry	Non Profits	Finance

Differences between front office administrator and office specialist education

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

	Front Office Administrator	Office Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	California State University - Bakersfield	Western Carolina University

Front office administrator vs office specialist demographics

Here are the differences between front office administrators' and office specialists' demographics:

	Front Office Administrator	Office Specialist
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 9.9% Female, 90.1%	Male, 18.3% Female, 81.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.7% Asian, 5.2% White, 60.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	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	8%	6%

Differences between front office administrator and office specialist duties and responsibilities

Front office administrator example responsibilities.

Manage correspondence and documentation for OSHA compliance and hold some accounts payable responsibilities by coding invoices for processing and payment.
Handle day to day transactions, schedule patients, place patients onto traction tables and administer E-Stem/Ice.
Observe and perform patient's therapies such as, electric muscle stimulation, mechanical traction and acupuncture.
Cross train in veterinary technician duties including vaccines, administering medications, medical treatment for kennel and hospitalize patients.
Follow HIPPA protocol for sterilization of rooms/instruments.
Create a neck comparison using patient's cervical x-ray.

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.

Front office administrator vs office specialist skills

Common front office administrator skills

Patients, 21%
Front Desk, 6%
Appointment Scheduling, 6%
Phone Calls, 6%
Excellent Interpersonal, 6%
Data Entry, 5%

Common office specialist skills

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

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Front Office Administrator
Front Office Administrator vs Office Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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