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The differences between product specialists and product managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a product specialist, becoming a product manager takes usually requires 8-10 years. Additionally, a product manager has an average salary of $111,729, which is higher than the $85,932 average annual salary of a product specialist.
The top three skills for a product specialist include customer service, product knowledge and sales floor. The most important skills for a product manager are product management, QA, and product strategy.
| Product Specialist | Product Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $85,932 | $111,729 |
| Hourly rate | $41.31 | $53.72 |
| Growth rate | 19% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 103,863 | 125,678 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 37 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 10 |
A product specialist is required to have excellent knowledge about a product and work with a business unit to ensure excellent product delivery. Product specialists perform product demonstrations to customers and other stakeholders and assist in their promotions and product releases. To gain increased revenue, product specialists must be able to identify new market opportunities. They are required to conduct product and sales training for the marketing team. They must also provide reports about their product-related activities to the management.
A product manager is responsible for ensuring product development, providing the best marketing strategies, and effectively handling the sales and marketing team. Product managers' duties include monitoring the market trends and conditions, identifying business opportunities and plan initiatives, and collaborating the product launch process with the appropriate departments. A product manager is also responsible for generating ideas on improving product features, determining timetables and reasonable pricing, and analyzing product sales. A product manager must have excellent strategic and decision-making skills to contribute to its growth and profitability.
Product specialists and product managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Product Specialist | Product Manager | |
| Average salary | $85,932 | $111,729 |
| Salary range | Between $56,000 And $130,000 | Between $81,000 And $152,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Bruno, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | ByteDance | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Retail |
There are a few differences between a product specialist and a product manager in terms of educational background:
| Product Specialist | Product Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between product specialists' and product managers' demographics:
| Product Specialist | Product Manager | |
| Average age | 37 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 59.8% Female, 40.2% | Male, 65.3% Female, 34.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.2% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 10.6% White, 66.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |