Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between computer system technicians and customer support technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a computer system technician and a customer support technician. Additionally, a computer system technician has an average salary of $68,788, which is higher than the $36,361 average annual salary of a customer support technician.
The top three skills for a computer system technician include technical support, electronic equipment and trouble tickets. The most important skills for a customer support technician are customer service, customer support, and SQL.
| Computer System Technician | Customer Support Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $68,788 | $36,361 |
| Hourly rate | $33.07 | $17.48 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 99,879 | 117,102 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 41% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
Computer system technicians provide support for a company's operating systems. They monitor the system's overall performance and catch errors to resolve as soon as possible. These technicians use software that ensures a network's functional performance, maintains hardware that can affect the system's performance, and relays computer reports to clients in layman's terms. Their jobs include training employees on using the company's hardware and software resources, thus the importance of quickly familiarizing with the system.
A customer support technician is responsible for resolving customer complaints with their network issues through remote communication, providing the customers with a step-by-step procedure to fix their systems. Customer support technicians assist the customers in setting up their programs and applications, guiding them with the instructional manuals, and responding to the inquiries and concerns they have. They also escalate high-level complaints to the immediate supervisor as needed while monitoring system solutions and creating technical tickets.
Computer system technicians and customer support technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Computer System Technician | Customer Support Technician | |
| Average salary | $68,788 | $36,361 |
| Salary range | Between $51,000 And $91,000 | Between $23,000 And $56,000 |
| Highest paying City | Pawtucket, RI | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Berkshire Hathaway | Adobe |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a computer system technician and a customer support technician in terms of educational background:
| Computer System Technician | Customer Support Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 41% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between computer system technicians' and customer support technicians' demographics:
| Computer System Technician | Customer Support Technician | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 87.1% Female, 12.9% | Male, 66.1% Female, 33.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 12.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.6% Asian, 10.6% White, 56.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 10.7% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 10.6% White, 56.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |