Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between general interns 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 general internship and an office specialist. Additionally, a general internship has an average salary of $61,485, which is higher than the $33,477 average annual salary of an office specialist.
The top three skills for a general internship include internship program, patients and powerpoint. The most important skills for an office specialist are customer service, data entry, and patients.
| General Internship | Office Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $61,485 | $33,477 |
| Hourly rate | $29.56 | $16.09 |
| Growth rate | -5% | -5% |
| Number of jobs | 88,761 | 98,760 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 44% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A general intern is responsible for supporting the business operations by performing administrative and clerical duties under the supervision of a direct manager or tenured staff. Interns shadow employees from different teams to have a good grasp of the services and processes offered by the company, understanding each group's functions, and analyzing how the business works for the clients. They also attend and write meeting reports, assist with organizing programs and events, and conduct data processing procedures.
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.
General interns and office specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| General Internship | Office Specialist | |
| Average salary | $61,485 | $33,477 |
| Salary range | Between $44,000 And $84,000 | Between $25,000 And $43,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | General Motors | Brookhaven National Laboratory |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Finance |
There are a few differences between a general internship and an office specialist in terms of educational background:
| General Internship | Office Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 44% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between general interns' and office specialists' demographics:
| General Internship | Office Specialist | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 51.4% Female, 48.6% | Male, 18.3% Female, 81.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.4% Asian, 10.6% White, 57.0% 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% |