Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between field technician engineers 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 technician engineer and a technical support engineer. Additionally, a technical support engineer has an average salary of $85,716, which is higher than the $50,370 average annual salary of a field technician engineer.
The top three skills for a field technician engineer include preventive maintenance, technical support and RF. The most important skills for a technical support engineer are technical support, customer service, and troubleshoot.
| Field Technician Engineer | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $50,370 | $85,716 |
| Hourly rate | $24.22 | $41.21 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 73,704 | 184,542 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 38 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
Field service technicians or engineers are engineering professionals who are dispatched to specific locations to perform several tasks such as maintenance, service repairs, and installing electrical and engineering equipment products. These engineers are required to effectively communicate with their customers about their concerns related to equipment maintenance and repair so that they address them immediately. They must travel to customer sites to conduct survey and document existing field conditions and installation accuracy. Field service engineers must also conduct training for service technicians and operators at dealer and customer locations.
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 technician engineers and technical support engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Field Technician Engineer | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Average salary | $50,370 | $85,716 |
| Salary range | Between $33,000 And $76,000 | Between $61,000 And $119,000 |
| Highest paying City | Los Angeles, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | Medtronic | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Technology |
There are a few differences between a field technician engineer and a technical support engineer in terms of educational background:
| Field Technician Engineer | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northeastern University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between field technician engineers' and technical support engineers' demographics:
| Field Technician Engineer | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Average age | 38 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 92.3% Female, 7.7% | Male, 83.3% Female, 16.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.7% Unknown, 6.0% Hispanic or Latino, 17.1% Asian, 10.4% White, 55.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% | 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 | 8% | 11% |