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Field systems technician vs lead technician

The differences between field systems technicians and lead 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 systems technician and a lead technician. Additionally, a lead technician has an average salary of $90,615, which is higher than the $42,822 average annual salary of a field systems technician.

The top three skills for a field systems technician include troubleshoot, POS and support issues. The most important skills for a lead technician are java, architecture, and digital transformation.

Field systems technician vs lead technician overview

Field Systems TechnicianLead Technician
Yearly salary$42,822$90,615
Hourly rate$20.59$43.56
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs175,599250,590
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 44%Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Average age4242
Years of experience22

What does a field systems technician do?

A Field system technician is the one responsible for the on-site installation, repairs, programming, and maintenance of the telecommunication wiring systems in various locations. They frequently travel to the sites where the telephone tower is positioned to provide their services. They possess good communication skills to work with and know the clients' complaints and solve them quickly as they can as well as the strength and agility to lift their equipment used. They can install various electrical accessories such as headphones to improve the clientele's experience.

What does a lead technician do?

Lead technicians are technicians who oversee the technical needs of a specific project or department. They are usually tenured employees, and their familiarity with the company's technical and technological processes, software, and hardware would be a great advantage in succeeding in their role. Lead technicians are responsible for installing, updating, and maintaining various software and hardware components in the office. They often manage a group of technicians, and they ensure that the group they manage is properly trained and well-versed on the processes of the company. Lead technicians are expected to have strong analytical skills and decision-making skills.

Field systems technician vs lead technician salary

Field systems technicians and lead technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

Field Systems TechnicianLead Technician
Average salary$42,822$90,615
Salary rangeBetween $29,000 And $61,000Between $67,000 And $121,000
Highest paying City-San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state-California
Best paying company-Meta
Best paying industry-Retail

Differences between field systems technician and lead technician education

There are a few differences between a field systems technician and a lead technician in terms of educational background:

Field Systems TechnicianLead Technician
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 44%Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Most common majorElectrical EngineeringComputer Science
Most common collegeCalifornia State University - Long BeachMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Field systems technician vs lead technician demographics

Here are the differences between field systems technicians' and lead technicians' demographics:

Field Systems TechnicianLead Technician
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 93.1% Female, 6.9%Male, 83.4% Female, 16.6%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 10.6% White, 56.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 15.1% White, 53.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between field systems technician and lead technician duties and responsibilities

Field systems technician example responsibilities.

  • Develop Java base IAM system components to manage security and authorizations.
  • Provide field and remote support for data and VoIP solutions.
  • Install and configure new hardware including PCs, routers, switches, printers and POS equipment.
  • Configure all workstations for TCP/IP.
  • Install & configure Cisco VPN client.
  • Install and administer dial-up and persistent connections with VPN client.
  • Show more

Lead technician example responsibilities.

  • Manage and support the Cisco base corporate remote access VPN solution.
  • Manage the third party IP provider relationship and implement all the bridges between AXI4 and internal buses.
  • Used JIRA to manage the product backlog, tasks assignments, project burn-down rate and for velocity tracking purposes.
  • Manage product test support of new designs used for testing, write technical documentation in HTML improving department processes and procedures.
  • Manage customer functional areas of desktop support, field service, office services and network support to coordinate timely issue resolution.
  • Configure and manage JGroup multicasting communication for apache tomcat web servers.
  • Show more

Field systems technician vs lead technician skills

Common field systems technician skills
  • Troubleshoot, 17%
  • POS, 15%
  • Support Issues, 12%
  • PC, 11%
  • Computer Equipment, 9%
  • Network Support, 8%
Common lead technician skills
  • Java, 10%
  • Architecture, 7%
  • Digital Transformation, 6%
  • Customer Service, 6%
  • Database, 4%
  • HTML, 3%

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