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The differences between support specialists and family 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 family support specialist takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a support specialist has an average salary of $40,782, which is higher than the $37,343 average annual salary of a family support specialist.
The top three skills for a support specialist include customer service, patients and mental health. The most important skills for a family support specialist are social work, child abuse, and patients.
| Support Specialist | Family Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $40,782 | $37,343 |
| Hourly rate | $19.61 | $17.95 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 125,740 | 143,739 |
| Job satisfaction | 3 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 4 |
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 family support specialist is an individual who provides counseling and rehabilitation services to families who are facing crises so that their lives can be improved. Family support specialists conduct interviews with members of a family to determine areas that need support such as anti-social behavior, bullying, or domestic violence. They collaborate with healthcare and social professionals to evaluate caseload needs. In cases of relevant child protection, family support specialists are also required to attend court sessions.
Support specialists and family support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Support Specialist | Family Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $40,782 | $37,343 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $64,000 | Between $24,000 And $55,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Trenton, NJ |
| Highest paying state | New York | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | Catholic Health East |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Professional |
There are a few differences between a support specialist and a family support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Support Specialist | Family Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Business | Psychology |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Hunter College of the City University of New York |
Here are the differences between support specialists' and family support specialists' demographics:
| Support Specialist | Family Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% | Male, 14.0% Female, 86.0% |
| 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, 13.4% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 2.7% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 10% |