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The differences between project leaders and project management specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a project leader, becoming a project management specialist takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a project leader has an average salary of $98,559, which is higher than the $81,204 average annual salary of a project management specialist.
The top three skills for a project leader include project management, work ethic and C++. The most important skills for a project management specialist are PMP, powerpoint, and status reports.
| Project Leader | Project Management Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $98,559 | $81,204 |
| Hourly rate | $47.38 | $39.04 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 11% |
| Number of jobs | 221,165 | 145,872 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
A project leader is responsible for supervising the team and managing the distribution of tasks to ensure the project's success with the highest efficiency and accuracy. Duties of a project leader include motivating the team, managing the team's needs and concerns, providing effective strategies to improve the team's performance, creating reports, monitoring the team's progress, and maintaining the coordination between team members. A project leader should have exceptional leadership skills to handle the team's operation and identify areas of improvement to deliver excellent results.
A project management specialist is an individual who manages an entire project and serves as a point of contact for a client or customer. Project management specialists must provide detailed cost analysis and timetable reports to keep projects on schedule and budget. They must ask for frequent updates from all staff assigned so that they can identify potential problems that may keep projects from being completed on time. Project management specialists must also prepare progress reports of projects and create presentations for senior management.
Project leaders and project management specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Project Leader | Project Management Specialist | |
| Average salary | $98,559 | $81,204 |
| Salary range | Between $70,000 And $138,000 | Between $58,000 And $112,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Bridgewater, NJ |
| Highest paying state | California | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Boston Consulting Group | Enbridge |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Finance |
There are a few differences between a project leader and a project management specialist in terms of educational background:
| Project Leader | Project Management Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between project leaders' and project management specialists' demographics:
| Project Leader | Project Management Specialist | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 69.0% Female, 31.0% | Male, 52.4% Female, 47.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 8.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 11.8% White, 66.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 12% |