What does a desk support technician do?
A desktop support technician is responsible for assisting end-users with their network issues, grant authorization requests, and create user accounts. Desktop support technicians maintain the safety and security of networks, preventing unauthorized access and illegal dissemination of database information. They also handle the software configurations and upgrading the network infrastructure to avoid system downtimes and operational delays. A desktop support technician must have excellent communication and technical skills to monitor systems performance and enhance network navigation.
Desk support technician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real desk support technician resumes:
- Manage backups, replications and disaster recovery plans of company mission critical servers and database files to ensure redundancy.
- Use multiple monitor setup display and remote desktop applications via VPN to access associate computers.
- Utilize desktop deployment tools in order to deploy and maintain inventory for PCs, monitors, and printers.
- Assist with network connectivity with PCs, laptops, and mobile phones including TCP/IP settings and internet connections.
- Provide administrative support and troubleshooting for VPN users.
- Maintain company networks security systems and infrastructure hardware including firewalls and switches and install software security and firmware patches or upgrades.
- Have experience with government data security requirements using commercial data encryption software and security certificate management for email and data access.
Desk support technician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 11% of Desk Support Technicians are proficient in Customer Service, Technical Support, and Troubleshoot. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Listening skills, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Desk Support Technicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 11%
Established effective working relationships with internal customers/users enabling efficient delivery of services and ensuring a high level of customer service.
- Technical Support, 8%
Provide technical support and problem-solving and administer equipment maintenance contracts and equipment inventory.
- Troubleshoot, 7%
Support and troubleshoot Animal Nutrition, Horizon Milling and Corporate Function internal customers with infrastructure and application technology issues.
- Phone Calls, 5%
Managed high volume of inbound phone calls, providing remote technical assistance and maintaining an accurate synopsis of unique situations.
- Desk Side Support, 5%
Provide Level II Desk Side Support To 3000 + End-Users at (GSA) National Capital Region.
- Remote Troubleshooting, 4%
Documented detailed reports on remote troubleshooting and followed standards of procedures for escalation if issue could not be resolved remotely.
Common skills that a desk support technician uses to do their job include "customer service," "technical support," and "troubleshoot." You can find details on the most important desk support technician responsibilities below.
Customer-service skills. One of the key soft skills for a desk support technician to have is customer-service skills. You can see how this relates to what desk support technicians do because "computer support specialists must be patient and sympathetic." Additionally, a desk support technician resume shows how desk support technicians use customer-service skills: "experience in evaluating customer support requirements and providing incident management support to include incident detection, recording, classification and assignment. "
Listening skills. Another essential skill to perform desk support technician duties is listening skills. Desk support technicians responsibilities require that "support workers must be able to understand the problems that their customers are describing and know when to ask questions to clarify the situation." Desk support technicians also use listening skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "coordinated and communicated between sales agents and project managers to assist with existing merchants on technical issues. "
Problem-solving skills. This is an important skill for desk support technicians to perform their duties. For an example of how desk support technician responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "support workers must identify both simple and complex computer problems, analyze them, and solve them." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a desk support technician: "troubleshooted and resolved web application issues escalated from customer support and other departments with a 100% success rate. ".
Speaking skills. For certain desk support technician responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "speaking skills." The day-to-day duties of a desk support technician rely on this skill, as "support workers must describe the solutions to computer problems in a way that a nontechnical person can understand." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what desk support technicians do: "addressed citrix services issues to the server team. "
Writing skills. A commonly-found skill in desk support technician job descriptions, "writing skills" is essential to what desk support technicians do. Desk support technician responsibilities rely on this skill because "strong writing skills are useful for preparing instructions and email responses for employees and customers, as well as for real-time web chat interactions." You can also see how desk support technician duties rely on writing skills in this resume example: "provided references for users by writing and maintaining user documentation; providing help desk support; training users. "
The three companies that hire the most desk support technicians are:
- Sanford Health4 desk support technicians jobs
- Peraton4 desk support technicians jobs
- Morgan Stanley3 desk support technicians jobs
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Compare different desk support technicians
Desk support technician vs. Administrative technical support
Administrative technical support maintains every technical set-up used in a company. Their primary responsibility is to inspect a company's systems, evaluate for issues, and repair any problems immediately. Administrative technical support is typically on call at the start of the day and, when they are not responding to calls, they conduct regular check-ups on all company systems. They are also responsible for creating technical reports and offering recommendations for improvements.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, desk support technician responsibilities require skills like "provides technical support," "desk side support," "tcp ip," and "phone support." Meanwhile a typical administrative technical support has skills in areas such as "data entry," "desk support," "sharepoint," and "email accounts." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
On average, administrative technical supports reach similar levels of education than desk support technicians. Administrative technical supports are 3.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Desk support technician vs. Technical support engineer
A technical support engineer is responsible for responding to customer issues, providing immediate resolutions to their system issues through remote assistance. Technical support engineers must have strong knowledge of software and hardware applications to diagnose system defects and process troubleshooting. They also assist customers with the installation of programs and updates to improve system performance, escalating high-level concerns to appropriate internal technology teams. A technical support engineer must have strong command with technical systems, as well as excellent communication and time-management skills to understand clients' issues while documenting procedures.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that desk support technician responsibilities requires skills like "phone calls," "desk side support," "network printers," and "laptop computers." But a technical support engineer might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "java," "database," "customer satisfaction," and "crm."
Technical support engineers earn a higher average salary than desk support technicians. But technical support engineers earn the highest pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $82,316. Additionally, desk support technicians earn the highest salaries in the technology with average pay of $50,316 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Technical support engineers tend to reach higher levels of education than desk support technicians. In fact, they're 5.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for desk support technicians in the next 3-5 years?
Ming Chow
Associate Teaching Professor, Tufts University
References:
1. cybersecurity
2. cybersecurity
Desk support technician vs. Information technology technician
An information technology technician, also known as an IT technician, is responsible for ensuring that all computer systems in a company or organization are running smoothly and efficiently. Their duties primarily revolve around installing and maintaining systems, including software and hardware, and resolving any issues. They also provide technical support such as troubleshooting, navigation, and even system upgrades. Furthermore, an information technology technician can choose whether to work for a company or independently.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from desk support technician resumes include skills like "provides technical support," "phone calls," "desk side support," and "phone support," whereas an information technology technician is more likely to list skills in "desk support," "switches," "java," and "windows server. "
Information technology technicians earn the highest salary when working in the finance industry, where they receive an average salary of $66,881. Comparatively, desk support technicians have the highest earning potential in the technology industry, with an average salary of $50,316.When it comes to education, information technology technicians tend to earn similar degree levels compared to desk support technicians. In fact, they're 0.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Desk support technician vs. Technical support trainer
A technical support trainer specializes in creating training programs meant to mold workers into becoming valuable members of a company workforce. Their responsibilities revolve around identifying the trainees' needs, providing written and verbal instructions, addressing and resolving inquiries and concerns, conducting skills assessments, managing schedules, monitoring attendance and performance, and providing consultations to trainees. Furthermore, as a trainer, it is essential to lead and encourage trainees to achieve their goals, all while implementing and emphasizing the company's policies and regulations.
Types of desk support technician
Updated January 8, 2025
