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 specialist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real office specialist resumes:
- 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.
- Handle and maintain confidential documents in accordance with HIPAA and FERPA regulations.
- Prepare mail and packages for external shipment and coordinate deliveries and pick-ups (includes USPS, pickup/delivery).
- Prepare presentations and organizational charts for senior management using PowerPoint.
- Edit and proof documents and create PowerPoint presentations while executing reception responsibilities.
- Prepare payroll adjusting entries/budgete modifications.
- Clean tables, sweep floors, wipe windows, and organize cabinets.
- Print and distribute WIC program vouchers to participants.
- Assist and support the WIC program coordinator by compiling special formula requesting and corresponding with participants for formula pick up.
- Prepare payroll adjusting entries/budgete modifications.
Office specialist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 18% of Office Specialists are proficient in Customer Service, Data Entry, and Patients. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Detail oriented, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Office Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 18%
Provide excellent customer service by communicating with customers, employees and other individuals to answer questions and explain information.
- Data Entry, 10%
Performed data entry using Microsoft excel, modified documents using Microsoft word, and managed physician calendars using Microsoft outlook.
- Patients, 9%
Provided support for enrolling patients into health coverage programs and manage sensitive patient information to ensure accuracy and confidentiality.
- Office Equipment, 6%
Skilled in a variety of modern office equipment, including computer and verbal/written communication and Microsoft Suite.
- Phone Calls, 6%
General reception duties, all scheduling insurance authorizations, charting/documentation and patient phone calls.
- Word Processing, 4%
Supported technical word processing for Engineering staff through a wide variety of correspondence, documents, technical reports, and contracts.
"customer service," "data entry," and "patients" are among the most common skills that office specialists use at work. You can find even more office specialist responsibilities below, including:
Customer-service skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for an office specialist to have is customer-service skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "general office clerks often provide general information to company staff, customers, or the public." Office specialists often use customer-service skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "assist with answering phones and assist with customer service by scheduling appointments, directing questions to the right discipline. "
Detail oriented. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling office specialist duties is detail oriented. The role rewards competence in this skill because "general office clerks perform many clerical tasks that require attention to detail, such as preparing bills." According to an office specialist resume, here's how office specialists can utilize detail oriented in their job responsibilities: "results-oriented data entry professional with 10 years managing clerical, communication and project management tasks in corporate environments. "
Organizational skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of office specialists is organizational skills. This skill is critical to many everyday office specialist duties, as "general office clerks file and retrieve records." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "served as organizational liaison in the presence of issues and performed general administrative functions as needed. "
The three companies that hire the most office specialists are:
- Thrivent15 office specialists jobs
- The State of Oregon12 office specialists jobs
- Southern Illinois Healthcare11 office specialists jobs
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Compare different office specialists
Office specialist vs. Administrative support specialist
An administrative support specialist is an individual who is involved in the office management, clerical tasks, and back-office duties of an organization. To run the office smoothly, administrative support specialists must manage the purchasing and inventory of office supplies as well as schedule the maintenance of office equipment. They serve as a liaison for executives by screening incoming calls and emails, sorting mails, and setting appointments with employees, customers, and vendors. Administrative support specialists must also be able to draft memos and edit report proposals and other business documents.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between office specialists and administrative support specialist. For instance, office specialist responsibilities require skills such as "office support," "hr," "office management," and "hipaa." Whereas a administrative support specialist is skilled in "office procedures," "strong customer service," "human resources," and "database management." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Administrative support specialists really shine in the government industry with an average salary of $42,241. Comparatively, office specialists tend to make the most money in the finance industry with an average salary of $37,752.On average, administrative support specialists reach similar levels of education than office specialists. Administrative support specialists are 2.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Office specialist vs. Business office associate
Business office associates are responsible for providing clerical and administrative support to the office staff for efficient and smooth operations of the office operations. They typically perform a number of tasks that include managing and entering data to spreadsheets and databases, organizing and maintaining files and documents, and assisting with bookkeeping activities. Additionally, they are responsible for managing work projects and overall office management, collaborating with other departments, and maintaining financial documents and customer information. Business office associates are also expected to oversee human resource activities such as handling of employment forms and administering health insurance.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, office specialist responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "phone calls," "word processing," "office support," and "financial reports." Meanwhile, a business office associate has duties that require skills in areas such as "vehicle sales," "payable functions," "cash management," and "proper paperwork." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
In general, business office associates achieve similar levels of education than office specialists. They're 0.2% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for office specialists in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Richard Filipink Ph.D.
Professor, Western Illinois University
Office specialist vs. Office worker
An office worker is responsible for performing administrative and clerical duties to support the daily operations of the business. Office workers assist in receiving calls to respond to the clients' inquiries and concerns, as well as welcoming visitors, verifying their appointments, and leading them to the appropriate personnel and department for their business needs. They also do data processing, sorting mail, and filing documents for easy retrieval and reference, especially during meetings and company activities.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, office specialists are more likely to have skills like "patients," "phone calls," "office support," and "financial reports." But a office worker is more likely to have skills like "computer programs," "credit card," "computer software," and "windows."
Office workers earn the highest salary when working in the education industry, where they receive an average salary of $40,267. Comparatively, office specialists have the highest earning potential in the finance industry, with an average salary of $37,752.office workers typically earn similar educational levels compared to office specialists. Specifically, they're 1.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Office specialist vs. Office clerk
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.
Types of office specialist
Updated January 8, 2025
