Desktop operator vs operations system administrator

The differences between desktop operators and operations system administrators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a desktop operator, becoming an operations system administrator takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, an operations system administrator has an average salary of $76,891, which is higher than the $51,191 average annual salary of a desktop operator.

The top three skills for a desktop operator include adobe photoshop, mac and adobe indesign. The most important skills for an operations system administrator are technical support, linux, and customer service.

Desktop operator vs operations system administrator overview

	Desktop Operator	Operations System Administrator
Yearly salary	$51,191	$76,891
Hourly rate	$24.61	$36.97
Growth rate	-14%	5%
Number of jobs	28,886	173,494
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	12	2

Desktop operator vs operations system administrator salary

Desktop operators and operations system administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Desktop Operator	Operations System Administrator
Average salary	$51,191	$76,891
Salary range	Between $36,000 And $71,000	Between $59,000 And $98,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	PayPal
Best paying industry	-	Utilities

Differences between desktop operator and operations system administrator education

There are a few differences between a desktop operator and an operations system administrator in terms of educational background:

	Desktop Operator	Operations System Administrator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common major	Graphic Design	Business
Most common college	University of Texas at Austin	Stanford University

Desktop operator vs operations system administrator demographics

Here are the differences between desktop operators' and operations system administrators' demographics:

	Desktop Operator	Operations System Administrator
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 61.2% Female, 38.8%	Male, 76.2% Female, 23.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 15.8% Asian, 7.4% White, 59.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 9.5% White, 63.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	7%	9%

Differences between desktop operator and operations system administrator duties and responsibilities

Desktop operator example responsibilities.

Lead a cross discipline team to develop a new SERB database for Westlaw.
Create cover reprints using QuarkXpress.
Install, configure and support PC hardware and software.
Assemble pages in QuarkXpress 3.1 and impose in INposition 1.5.
Create new mass produce documents from inception to production through digital typesetting, proofing and testing.
Operate Macintosh computer for typesetting, color separations and scanning photographs, negatives, slides, color and black/white artwork.

Operations system administrator example responsibilities.

Manage VOIP Digium phones for clients.
Manage and update share drive and SharePoint.
Manage DNS, SMTP for Webservers contacting customers.
Manage LDAP accounts on across the enterprise system.
Manage machines and accounts in active directory and dhcp.
Lead a team of 5 engineers providing PC support to 1,000 customers and implement PC disaster recovery efforts for 400 customers.

Desktop operator vs operations system administrator skills

Common desktop operator skills

Adobe Photoshop, 14%
Mac, 14%
Adobe Indesign, 9%
Quark, 8%
PC, 8%
Color Correction, 6%

Common operations system administrator skills

Technical Support, 9%
Linux, 8%
Customer Service, 5%
VMware, 4%
SQL, 4%
Windows Server, 4%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Desktop Operator
Desktop Operator vs Operations System Administrator

Updated January 8, 2025

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