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The differences between customer support technicians and software 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 customer support technician and a software support technician. Additionally, a software support technician has an average salary of $79,670, 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 software support technician are customer service, troubleshoot, and java.
| Customer Support Technician | Software Support Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $36,361 | $79,670 |
| Hourly rate | $17.48 | $38.30 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 117,102 | 117,059 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 59% |
| 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 software support technician is responsible for resolving software application issues, diagnosing related system failures, and writing resolution reports for reference. Software support technicians must be highly-familiarized with the system's infrastructure and interface to immediately diagnose malfunctions and identify maintenance techniques to prevent the reoccurrence of downtimes and delays. They also assist the system engineers in the configuration and optimization of networks, including the installment of upgrades and patch updates. A software support technician must have excellent organizational and communication skills, especially in navigating computer tools and applications to create support tickets and fix the customers' issues efficiently.
Customer support technicians and software support technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Support Technician | Software Support Technician | |
| Average salary | $36,361 | $79,670 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $56,000 | Between $55,000 And $113,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | California |
| Best paying company | Adobe | RSM US |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Finance |
There are a few differences between a customer support technician and a software support technician in terms of educational background:
| Customer Support Technician | Software Support Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 59% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between customer support technicians' and software support technicians' demographics:
| Customer Support Technician | Software Support Technician | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 66.1% Female, 33.9% | Male, 73.8% Female, 26.2% |
| 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, 10.6% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.5% Asian, 12.4% White, 54.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |