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The differences between order processing specialists and customer service specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become an order processing specialist, becoming a customer service specialist takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, an order processing specialist has an average salary of $37,540, which is higher than the $33,238 average annual salary of a customer service specialist.
The top three skills for an order processing specialist include customer service, data entry and purchase orders. The most important skills for a customer service specialist are customer service, strong customer service, and cleanliness.
| Order Processing Specialist | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $37,540 | $33,238 |
| Hourly rate | $18.05 | $15.98 |
| Growth rate | - | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 46,043 | 223,323 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 39% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Average age | 43 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 12 |
An order processing specialist is a business administrator in charge of processing customer orders by recording and processes daily purchases and activating new customer accounts. Order processing specialists work in collaboration with other teams such as sales and marketing for accurate capture and validation of orders. You may also be required to communicate with customers to confirm orders and ensure that customer requests are met accurately and in time for delivery or pick up.
Customer service specialists are employees who are responsible for providing the best customer experience to customers, usually for after-sales transactions. They attend to customers' inquiries and provide answers to their questions on products or services that the company offers. They also address customer complaints and help mitigate the concerns by offering solutions such as instructions on how to fix defects, or processing replacements or refunds. Customer service specialists also listen to customer feedback and ensure that these are logged properly so that proper departments will be able to receive them.
Order processing specialists and customer service specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Order Processing Specialist | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Average salary | $37,540 | $33,238 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $52,000 | Between $26,000 And $42,000 |
| Highest paying City | Mahwah, NJ | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Schneider Electric Industrial Services | Dell |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Finance |
There are a few differences between an order processing specialist and a customer service specialist in terms of educational background:
| Order Processing Specialist | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 39% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between order processing specialists' and customer service specialists' demographics:
| Order Processing Specialist | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Average age | 43 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 29.7% Female, 70.3% | Male, 32.0% Female, 68.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 5.9% White, 63.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 20.0% Asian, 6.8% White, 55.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 7% |