Office employee vs office specialist

The differences between office employees 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 employee and an office specialist. Additionally, an office employee has an average salary of $35,825, which is higher than the $33,477 average annual salary of an office specialist.

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

Office employee vs office specialist overview

	Office Employee	Office Specialist
Yearly salary	$35,825	$33,477
Hourly rate	$17.22	$16.09
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	74,182	98,760
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	2	2

What does an office employee do?

An office employee is someone who performs clerical and any other tasks usually performed by managers. Office employees are employed as clerical workers in offices or organizations. They execute tasks such as typing and word processing, answering phone calls, bookkeeping, and stenography. It is their responsibility to ensure the smooth daily operations of an office. Their diligence, communication skills, customer service, hard work, and attention to detail are necessary for this job.

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 employee vs office specialist salary

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

	Office Employee	Office Specialist
Average salary	$35,825	$33,477
Salary range	Between $19,000 And $64,000	Between $25,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	East Palo Alto, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	California	Massachusetts
Best paying company	OSF HealthCare	Brookhaven National Laboratory
Best paying industry	Professional	Finance

Differences between office employee and office specialist education

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

	Office Employee	Office Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Office employee vs office specialist demographics

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

	Office Employee	Office Specialist
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 34.4% Female, 65.6%	Male, 18.3% Female, 81.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 17.7% Asian, 7.9% White, 59.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%	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 employee and office specialist duties and responsibilities

Office employee example responsibilities.

Manage operational FedEx relationship through order fulfillment, shipment tracking, and communication with parties involve in shipment transaction.
Complete payroll by compiling hours and verifying submissions weekly, via QuickBooks.
File paperwork, organize PowerPoint presentations, assist with typing correspondence and fax documents to appropriate destination.
Demonstrate ability to maintain composure and work efficiently in a fast-pace environment while following HIPAA guidelines.

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 employee vs office specialist skills

Common office employee skills

Customer Service, 72%
Telephone Calls, 5%
Customer Accounts, 4%
Medical Billing, 4%
Computer System, 2%
Front Desk, 1%

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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