Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between field support technicians and information technology/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 field support technician and an information technology/support technician. Additionally, an information technology/support technician has an average salary of $45,591, which is higher than the $42,440 average annual salary of a field support technician.
The top three skills for a field support technician include customer service, user support and troubleshoot. The most important skills for an information technology/support technician are customer service, troubleshoot, and computer system.
| Field Support Technician | Information Technology/Support Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $42,440 | $45,591 |
| Hourly rate | $20.40 | $21.92 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 161,037 | 161,748 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 41% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A field service technician is working on-call to provide emergency services and test equipment devices for safety purposes and quality control. They are responsible for working with clients to prevent, troubleshoot, and repair issues. They help clients on how to install, maintain, and diagnose equipment for repair. They also present to clients how to properly use their equipment. It is also part of their job to provide training to clients in line with safety standards and regulations.
An information technology (IT) support technician is an individual who is responsible for providing support and troubleshoots software and hardware problems faced by customers. As for larger organizations that have their own IT department, technicians must work together internally with their IT staff members. IT support technicians are involved in inspecting and resolving minor local area network and wireless network issues, which include TCP/IP, DHCP, and VPN. They are also required to obtain an associate's degree in computer science or related field.
Field support technicians and information technology/support technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Field Support Technician | Information Technology/Support Technician | |
| Average salary | $42,440 | $45,591 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $62,000 | Between $31,000 And $66,000 |
| Highest paying City | Bridgewater, NJ | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Delaware | Pennsylvania |
| Best paying company | HP | Microsoft |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | Technology |
There are a few differences between a field support technician and an information technology/support technician in terms of educational background:
| Field Support Technician | Information Technology/Support Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 41% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| Most common major | Computer Information Systems | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between field support technicians' and information technology/support technicians' demographics:
| Field Support Technician | Information Technology/Support Technician | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 89.5% Female, 10.5% | Male, 85.4% Female, 14.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 10.5% White, 55.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 10.7% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.7% Asian, 13.2% White, 54.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |