Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between escalation specialists and help desk specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an escalation specialist and a help desk specialist. Additionally, a help desk specialist has an average salary of $51,065, which is higher than the $36,240 average annual salary of an escalation specialist.
The top three skills for an escalation specialist include process improvement, customer complaints and inbound calls. The most important skills for a help desk specialist are customer service, troubleshoot, and technical support.
| Escalation Specialist | Help Desk Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $36,240 | $51,065 |
| Hourly rate | $17.42 | $24.55 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 67,740 | 75,004 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | Bachelor's Degree, 48% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
An escalation specialist is responsible for supporting and managing escalations while maintaining the relationships between departments and servicing client needs. Your day-to-day duties will include handling all ticket escalations, providing technicians direct feedback following the ticket resolution, and reviewing small projects based on technician and client requests. In addition, you will look for ways to improve client profitability and analyze client issues using root-cause analysis. You are also expected to attend meetings on process improvement and promote cooperative effort and teamwork.
The primary role of help desk specialists is to maintain relationships between the company and its customers. Their duties and responsibilities include responding to guests' queries, providing technical computer support, and maintaining computer systems' performance. Help desk specialists are also responsible for following up with customers to resolve issues and train computer users. There are several requirements to be qualified for this position, which include having relevant customer service experience, problem-solving and analytical skills, and the ability to prioritize vital tasks.
Escalation specialists and help desk specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Escalation Specialist | Help Desk Specialist | |
| Average salary | $36,240 | $51,065 |
| Salary range | Between $20,000 And $64,000 | Between $35,000 And $73,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | New York | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Meta | Schulte Roth & Zabel |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between an escalation specialist and a help desk specialist in terms of educational background:
| Escalation Specialist | Help Desk Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | Bachelor's Degree, 48% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between escalation specialists' and help desk specialists' demographics:
| Escalation Specialist | Help Desk Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 40.0% Female, 60.0% | Male, 79.4% Female, 20.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.2% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 10.6% White, 56.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 12.3% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.3% Asian, 11.6% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |