How To Become a Customer Support Technician

To become a customer support technician, you usually need a bachelor's degree and 1-2 years of experience. The most common jobs before becoming a customer support technician are customer service representative, cashier, and technical support specialist. Hiring managers expect a customer support technician to have soft skills such as customer-service skills, listening skills, and problem-solving skills. Once you have all the required skills and experience, it takes an average of 3-6 months of job training to become a customer support technician.

The national average salary for customer support technicians is $36,361, but with the right certifications and experience, they can make up to $56,000. Getting a certification as a Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP) will help you to earn more as a customer support technician.

Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 83,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

How to become a Customer Support Technician in 6 steps:

  • Step 1: Explore customer support technician education
  • Step 2: Develop customer support technician skills
  • Step 3: Complete relevent training/internship
  • Step 4: Get customer support technician certifications
  • Step 5: Research customer support technician duties
  • Step 6: Prepare your resume

Key Steps To Become a Customer Support Technician

  1. Explore Customer Support Technician Education

    If you're interested in becoming a customer support technician, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 45.7% of customer support technicians have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 4.8% of customer support technicians have master's degrees. Even though most customer support technicians have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

    Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a customer support technician. When we researched the most common majors for a customer support technician, we found that they most commonly have business, computer science and computer information systems.

    Customer Support Technician Degrees

    Bachelors

    45.7 %

    Associate

    29.3 %

    High School Diploma

    11.9 %

    Customer Support Technician MajorPercentages
    Business20.10%
    Computer Science11.90%
    Computer Information Systems9.90%
    Electrical Engineering8.10%
    Other Degrees50.00%

  2. Develop Customer Support Technician Skills

    It'll be a good idea to develop customer support technician skills before applying for a job. Here are some skills commonly requested in customer support technician job descriptions:

    SkillsPercentages
    Customer Service12.41%
    Customer Support11.80%
    SQL8.90%
    Customer Inquiries7.65%
    Java7.25%
    Show More

  3. Complete Relevent Training/Internship

    Customer support technicians spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. During this time, new customer support technicians learn the skills and techniques required for their specific job and employer. The chart below shows how much time it takes to gain competency as a customer support technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real customer support technician resumes.

    Average Amount Of Time At Training

    None

    Less than 1 month

    1-3 months

    3-6 months

    6-12 months

    1-2 years

    2-4 years

  4. Get Customer Support Technician Certifications

    Certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for this position. They can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a certification, having one may help you stand out in an application. Plus, the process of getting a certification can teach you new skills that you can bring to your work. We determined the most common certifications for customer support technicians. The most common certification is Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP), but IT Information Library Foundations Certification (ITIL) is also frequently seen in customer support technicians resumes.

    1. Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP)
    2. IT Information Library Foundations Certification (ITIL)
    3. Certified Phlebotomy Technician (CPT)
    4. Certified Network Computer Technician (CNCT)
    5. Master Certified Electronics Technician (CETma)
    6. Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT)
    7. Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)

    More About Certifications

  5. Research Customer Support Technician Duties

    When you decide to become a customer support technician, It's important to know what duties and responsibilities are required for this position. Some common responsibilities are a part of most customer support technician jobs. Here is a list of the main duties that define the role:

    • Manage and maintain TCP/IP database and inventory control on hospital peripherals (printers and scanners).
    • Manage backups, replications and disaster recovery plans of company mission critical servers and database files to ensure redundancy.
    • Install new IBM UNIX servers on site.
    • Maintain the performance of the SQL server for optical use and scanning.
    • Work with Microsoft servers and applications as well as company's proprietary Linux base web-hosting solutions.
    • Used SCCM to move user's profiles and get the customer operational as quickly as possible.

  6. Prepare Your Resume

    Finally, when you already have checked the skills and responsibilities for this role, you can start creating your resume. Everything that goes into creating a perfect resume can take hours, days, or even weeks. No worries, we created a resume builder to make this process as easy as possible with tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and a summary.

    Choose From 10+ Customizable Customer Support Technician Resume templates

    Build a professional Customer Support Technician resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Customer Support Technician resume.

    Customer Support Technician Resume
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    Customer Support Technician Resume

  7. Apply For a Customer Support Technician Job

    With your ready resume, it's time to start searching for a new job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

    Customer Support Technician Jobs

    8. How To Become a Customer Support Technician
    How To Become a Customer Support Technician Career Overview
Top Customer Support Technician Jobs Near You

Average Salary for a Customer Support Technician

Customer Support Technicians in America make an average salary of $36,361 per year or $17 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $56,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $23,000 per year.
Average Customer Support Technician Salary
$36,361 Yearly
$17.48 hourly
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Updated November 18, 2022