Office specialist vs office technician

The differences between office specialists and office technicians 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 specialist and an office technician. Additionally, an office technician has an average salary of $34,956, which is higher than the $33,477 average annual salary of an office specialist.

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

Office specialist vs office technician overview

	Office Specialist	Office Technician
Yearly salary	$33,477	$34,956
Hourly rate	$16.09	$16.81
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	98,760	82,512
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 36%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	2	2

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.

What does an office technician do?

An Office Technician handles installation and repair tasks by using power tools and manual equipment safely and effectively. Besides installing, maintaining, and repairing central office equipment, an office technician also installs, tests, and labels cable lines. They deactivate, activate, and maintain office equipment. Other duties performed by office technicians include removing non-functional and unused office equipment, managing equipment stations and telecommunication rooms cabling, and maintaining inspection, repair, maintenance, and installation documents. Also, these professionals work as per environmental, safety, and health policies.

Office specialist vs office technician salary

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

	Office Specialist	Office Technician
Average salary	$33,477	$34,956
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $43,000	Between $25,000 And $48,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Anchorage, AK
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Hawaii
Best paying company	Brookhaven National Laboratory	Motorola Solutions
Best paying industry	Finance	Construction

Differences between office specialist and office technician education

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

	Office Specialist	Office Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 36%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Office specialist vs office technician demographics

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

	Office Specialist	Office Technician
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 18.3% Female, 81.7%	Male, 30.0% Female, 70.0%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 23.2% Asian, 8.5% White, 54.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between office specialist and office technician duties and responsibilities

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.

Show more

Office technician example responsibilities.

Manage operational FedEx relationship through order fulfillment, shipment tracking, and communication with parties involve in shipment transaction.
Interact with SCO divisions, other agencies and campuses and the public, to resolve distribution problems concerning mail and payroll.
Communicate payroll information with employees.
Verify eligibility and coverage with Medicaid and Medicare.
Certify to perform refraction to patients participating in clinical trials.
Provide patients with surgical and procedural information and instructions as appropriate.

Show more

Office specialist vs office technician skills

Common office specialist skills

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

Common office technician skills

Data Entry, 16%
Patients, 11%
Office Equipment, 7%
Office Procedures, 7%
Word Processing, 5%
Payroll, 4%

Office Specialist vs. similar jobs

Office Specialist related careers

Office Specialist related jobs

What similar roles do

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse office and administrative jobs

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z