How To Become An Office Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is an office specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Anne McConnell Ph.D.

Office specialists are in charge of the administrative duties of an organization. Their duties are performed to ensure the proper running of the organization. As an office specialist, you are in charge of planning meetings, organizing schedules, planning events, providing customer service, and solving any problems customers might have. You will also help out with research and preparing reports. Also, you are the first contact with clients either through calls or physically, which means you would be responding to client's inquiries first.

You should have organizational skills, interpersonal skills, good communication skills both in written and verbal, time management skills, and you should be computer literate and pay serious attention to details. Most office specialists have a bachelor's degree in business, account, and other related courses. You will earn an average of $31,187 per year.

What general advice would you give to an office specialist?

Anne McConnell Ph.D.

Professor, West Virginia State University

I would say it's important to be very attentive to the way you communicate with your employers, managers, and co-workers. Even sending an e-mail can be an opportunity to demonstrate your professionalism and communication skills. Some people think that no one knows how to write anymore, or how to communicate in a professional way. I don't think that's true. But we don't always think about how our writing can be a tool to communicate our competence and seriousness. If you know how to write and communicate professionally-which college grads do-then make sure to demonstrate that in the workplace.

ScoreOffice SpecialistUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,477

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.6

Growth rate -5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.15%

Asian 8.39%

Black or African American 8.11%

Hispanic or Latino 19.81%

Unknown 4.88%

White 57.66%

Gender

female 81.67%

male 18.33%

Age - 50

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 50

Stress level

6.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.3

Complexity level is basic

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an office specialist

Explore office specialist education requirements

Most common office specialist degrees

Bachelor's

44.0 %

Associate

26.1 %

High School Diploma

14.9 %

Start to develop specific office specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	17.64%
Data Entry	10.42%
Patients	9.44%
Office Equipment	6.14%
Phone Calls	5.51%

Complete relevant office specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New office specialists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an office specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real office specialist resumes.

Gain additional office specialist certifications

Office specialist certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific office specialist certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for office specialists include Certified Billing and Coding Specialist (CBCS) and Microsoft Office Specialist Master Certification (MOS).

More About Certifications

Research office specialist duties and 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.

Prepare your office specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your office specialist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an office specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable office specialist resume templates

Build a professional office specialist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your office specialist resume.