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The differences between field support technicians and technical support engineers 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 a technical support engineer. Additionally, a technical support engineer has an average salary of $85,716, 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 a technical support engineer are technical support, customer service, and troubleshoot.
| Field Support Technician | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $42,440 | $85,716 |
| Hourly rate | $20.40 | $41.21 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 161,037 | 184,542 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 41% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| 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.
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.
Field support technicians and technical support engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Field Support Technician | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Average salary | $42,440 | $85,716 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $62,000 | Between $61,000 And $119,000 |
| Highest paying City | Bridgewater, NJ | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Delaware | Washington |
| Best paying company | HP | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | Technology |
There are a few differences between a field support technician and a technical support engineer in terms of educational background:
| Field Support Technician | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 41% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Computer Information Systems | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between field support technicians' and technical support engineers' demographics:
| Field Support Technician | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 89.5% Female, 10.5% | Male, 83.3% Female, 16.7% |
| 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, 9.8% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 15.0% White, 54.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |