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The differences between service secretaries and office specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a service secretary and an office specialist. Additionally, an office specialist has an average salary of $33,477, which is higher than the $30,948 average annual salary of a service secretary.
The top three skills for a service secretary include patients, customer service and data entry. The most important skills for an office specialist are customer service, data entry, and patients.
| Service Secretary | Office Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $30,948 | $33,477 |
| Hourly rate | $14.88 | $16.09 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -5% |
| Number of jobs | 25,307 | 98,760 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 30% | Bachelor's Degree, 44% |
| Average age | 50 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A service secretary performs administrative and clerical duties, such as maintaining databases and filing systems, coordinating meetings, and preparing documents. The core skills that a service secretary should possess to perform his/her or her responsibilities include strong interpersonal skills, knowledge of general office procedures, and the ability to operate office equipment. Service secretaries are employed in industries like business, law, and education. Having extensive experience in secretarial and clerical work is an advantage to qualify for the service secretary position.
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.
Service secretaries and office specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Service Secretary | Office Specialist | |
| Average salary | $30,948 | $33,477 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $42,000 | Between $25,000 And $43,000 |
| Highest paying City | East Hartford, CT | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | EastHartford Schools | Brookhaven National Laboratory |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Finance |
There are a few differences between a service secretary and an office specialist in terms of educational background:
| Service Secretary | Office Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 30% | Bachelor's Degree, 44% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between service secretaries' and office specialists' demographics:
| Service Secretary | Office Specialist | |
| Average age | 50 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 7.0% Female, 93.0% | Male, 18.3% Female, 81.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 8.1% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 19.8% Asian, 8.4% White, 57.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |