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The differences between support specialists and peer counselors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a support specialist has an average salary of $40,782, which is higher than the $37,464 average annual salary of a peer counselor.
The top three skills for a support specialist include customer service, patients and mental health. The most important skills for a peer counselor are peer support, substance abuse, and wic program.
| Support Specialist | Peer Counselor | |
| Yearly salary | $40,782 | $37,464 |
| Hourly rate | $19.61 | $18.01 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 125,740 | 76,608 |
| Job satisfaction | 3 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 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.
Typically working at schools, communities, or medical facilities, a peer counselor specializes in providing counseling to an individual or group of people, aiming to help them deal with and overcome crises. Their duties often include conducting initial assessments through interviews and appointments, listening to clients and offering advice, recommending opportunities, referring them to other support agencies, and coordinating treatment services as needed. Above all, a peer counselor must provide emotional support and guidance to clients, giving them comfort and a shoulder to lean on.
Support specialists and peer counselors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Support Specialist | Peer Counselor | |
| Average salary | $40,782 | $37,464 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $64,000 | Between $24,000 And $57,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Hayward, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | California |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | The Brooklyn Hospital Center |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Education |
There are a few differences between a support specialist and a peer counselor in terms of educational background:
| Support Specialist | Peer Counselor | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Business | Psychology |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between support specialists' and peer counselors' demographics:
| Support Specialist | Peer Counselor | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% | Male, 33.0% Female, 67.0% |
| 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, 10.6% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 3.7% White, 67.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |