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The differences between project specialists and project management specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a project management specialist has an average salary of $81,204, which is higher than the $65,993 average annual salary of a project specialist.
The top three skills for a project specialist include customer service, project management and project proposals. The most important skills for a project management specialist are PMP, powerpoint, and status reports.
| Project Specialist | Project Management Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $65,993 | $81,204 |
| Hourly rate | $31.73 | $39.04 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 11% |
| Number of jobs | 99,583 | 145,872 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | 4 |
A project specialist's role is to ensure that a project or program's completion is within the allotted time and budget. They are primarily responsible for devising plans and strategies to quicken the pace of production or processes involved, creating a comprehensive schedule, monitoring the progress and producing reports, tracking the budget and expenditures, and coordinating with all department personnel. Moreover, a project specialist may also schedule and attend meetings, all while adhering to the company's policies and standards.
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 specialists and project management specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Project Specialist | Project Management Specialist | |
| Average salary | $65,993 | $81,204 |
| Salary range | Between $41,000 And $103,000 | Between $58,000 And $112,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Bridgewater, NJ |
| Highest paying state | California | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Meta | Enbridge |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Finance |
There are a few differences between a project specialist and a project management specialist in terms of educational background:
| Project Specialist | Project Management Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between project specialists' and project management specialists' demographics:
| Project Specialist | Project Management Specialist | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 46.7% Female, 53.3% | Male, 52.4% Female, 47.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | 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% |