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The differences between customer support technicians and computer 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 customer support technician and a computer support specialist. Additionally, a computer support specialist has an average salary of $63,926, which is higher than the $36,361 average annual salary of a customer support technician.
The top three skills for a customer support technician include customer service, customer support and SQL. The most important skills for a computer support specialist are computer support, troubleshoot, and technical support.
| Customer Support Technician | Computer Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $36,361 | $63,926 |
| Hourly rate | $17.48 | $30.73 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 117,102 | 114,029 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
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.
A Computer Support Specialist is responsible for providing the highest customer service for clients with technical and system issues, resolving network failures, and creating support tickets for IT personnel. Computer Support Specialists utilize various system tools and applications to diagnose end-users network issues and conduct immediate troubleshooting. They also help the IT staff design and improve system features and infrastructures and create instructional manuals for deliverables. A Computer Support Specialist must have excellent technical and communication skills to document customers' requests and identify system solutions.
Customer support technicians and computer support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Support Technician | Computer Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $36,361 | $63,926 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $56,000 | Between $44,000 And $91,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Washington |
| Best paying company | Adobe | |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a customer support technician and a computer support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Customer Support Technician | Computer Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between customer support technicians' and computer support specialists' demographics:
| Customer Support Technician | Computer Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 66.1% Female, 33.9% | Male, 80.1% Female, 19.9% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.5% Asian, 11.2% White, 55.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |