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The differences between support specialists and operations support 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 support specialist and an operations support specialist. Additionally, an operations support specialist has an average salary of $44,233, which is higher than the $40,782 average annual salary of a support specialist.
The top three skills for a support specialist include customer service, patients and mental health. The most important skills for an operations support specialist are operations support, customer service, and data entry.
| Support Specialist | Operations Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $40,782 | $44,233 |
| Hourly rate | $19.61 | $21.27 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 125,740 | 176,034 |
| Job satisfaction | 3 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
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.
The duties of an operations support specialist depend on one's line of work or industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around addressing issues and concerns, troubleshooting, and conducting corrective measures, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations. They may also evaluate the processes in a company, identifying vulnerabilities, and recommending improvements. Furthermore, an operations support specialist must also perform clerical tasks such as producing progress reports and presentations, arranging schedules, assessing workforce performance, and maintaining accurate records.
Support specialists and operations support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Support Specialist | Operations Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $40,782 | $44,233 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $64,000 | Between $27,000 And $71,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | New York | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | KLA |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a support specialist and an operations support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Support Specialist | Operations Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between support specialists' and operations support specialists' demographics:
| Support Specialist | Operations Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% | Male, 44.0% Female, 56.0% |
| 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, 12.0% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 10.5% White, 55.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |