Office clerk vs office specialist

The differences between office clerks 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 an office clerk and an office specialist. Additionally, an office specialist has an average salary of $33,477, which is higher than the $30,927 average annual salary of an office clerk.

The top three skills for an office clerk include customer service, data entry and telephone calls. The most important skills for an office specialist are customer service, data entry, and patients.

Office clerk vs office specialist overview

	Office Clerk	Office Specialist
Yearly salary	$30,927	$33,477
Hourly rate	$14.87	$16.09
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	106,497	98,760
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	2	2

What does an office clerk do?

Office clerks are administrative employees who handle clerical activities for the organization. They are in charge of managing company records, organizing and storing documents, filing and sorting hard copies of documents, and liaising with other departments or external partners. They are also in charge of handling and scheduling meetings and appointments, managing the reservation of office meeting rooms, and manning telephone lines. Office clerks may also be in charge of ordering office supplies, preparing purchase requisitions for office needs, sending out and receiving official company documents, and other correspondences.

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.

Office clerk vs office specialist salary

Office clerks and office specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Office Clerk	Office Specialist
Average salary	$30,927	$33,477
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $38,000	Between $25,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	Englewood, CO	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Alaska	Massachusetts
Best paying company	University of Massachusetts Boston	Brookhaven National Laboratory
Best paying industry	Transportation	Finance

Differences between office clerk and office specialist education

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

	Office Clerk	Office Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Office clerk vs office specialist demographics

Here are the differences between office clerks' and office specialists' demographics:

	Office Clerk	Office Specialist
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 23.3% Female, 76.7%	Male, 18.3% Female, 81.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 23.7% Asian, 7.9% White, 53.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	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%

Differences between office clerk and office specialist duties and responsibilities

Office clerk example responsibilities.

Complete medical records requests as specified under HIPAA regulations.
Scan EOB's and attach to payments in software system.
Perform electronic billing of Medicare, Medicaid, and HMO/PPO submissions.
Follow all HIPAA guidelines and safety rules as required within the healthcare policy.
Perform account analysis on credit balance accounts using insurance explanation of benefit information (EOB).
Provide information about establishment, such as location of departments or offices, employees within the organization, or services provide.

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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.

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Office clerk vs office specialist skills

Common office clerk skills

Customer Service, 21%
Data Entry, 18%
Telephone Calls, 7%
Payroll, 5%
Office Equipment, 4%
Office Machines, 3%

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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Updated January 8, 2025

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