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The differences between support specialists and community support specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a support specialist, becoming a community support specialist takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a support specialist has an average salary of $40,782, which is higher than the $39,320 average annual salary of a community support specialist.
The top three skills for a support specialist include customer service, patients and mental health. The most important skills for a community support specialist are social work, mental health, and rehabilitation.
| Support Specialist | Community Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $40,782 | $39,320 |
| Hourly rate | $19.61 | $18.90 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 12% |
| Number of jobs | 125,740 | 111,431 |
| Job satisfaction | 3 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 42 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 12 |
A support specialist is responsible for assisting technical and administrative support, depending on the business need. Support specialists must have extensive knowledge of the services of the organization they work for to assist customers with their inquiries and resolve complaints efficiently. A support specialist maintains documents of issue resolution, providing recommendations to improve business strategies and procedures. Support specialists must be well-versed on technology systems, perform basic troubleshooting, and secure databases. They should also have impeccable customer service and communication skills to attend with customers' needs and requests.
A community support specialist is responsible for supporting and providing care services for citizens with mental health conditions and other medical illnesses. Community support specialists coordinate with organizations and health institutions to generate resources that would help the patients in their daily activities, medications, and treatment plans. They also strategize community events and activities to observe the patients' social and personal behaviors and endorse them to a mental health professional for in-depth examination and counseling.
Support specialists and community support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Support Specialist | Community Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $40,782 | $39,320 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $64,000 | Between $27,000 And $56,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | New York | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Non Profits |
There are a few differences between a support specialist and a community support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Support Specialist | Community Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Business | Psychology |
| Most common college | Stanford University | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between support specialists' and community support specialists' demographics:
| Support Specialist | Community Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% | Male, 28.8% Female, 71.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 10.4% White, 56.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 12.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 7.0% White, 59.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |