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The differences between field technicians and junior technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a field technician, becoming a junior technician takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a junior technician has an average salary of $39,417, which is higher than the $37,520 average annual salary of a field technician.
The top three skills for a field technician include customer service, ladders and test equipment. The most important skills for a junior technician are customer service, HVAC, and fall protection.
| Field Technician | Junior Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $37,520 | $39,417 |
| Hourly rate | $18.04 | $18.95 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 123,149 | 103,780 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 34% |
| Average age | 44 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 2 |
A field technician is responsible for providing technical and maintenance support for the customers by area visits. Field technicians' duties include diagnosing technical problems, replacing malfunction components, upgrading systems for efficiency, running equipment tests to ensure stability, creating draft reports of performed processes, utilizing vehicles and other tools safely, following client's specifications on operating equipment, and adhering to the safety standards. A field technician must have excellent communication and decision-making skills, as well as extensive knowledge of the technological industry.
A junior technician is responsible for supporting senior technicians on maintaining the efficiency and optimal performance of various hardware and software systems and applications. Junior technicians assist the end-users and employees on troubleshooting inconsistent programs, identifying its complexities, and reporting findings to the management for resolution. They also update the systems' features to increase its operational productivity and maintain system recoveries. A junior technician must have excellent knowledge of the technology industry, as well as a strong command on programming language and system codes, especially on conducting system analysis and installing applications.
Field technicians and junior technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Field Technician | Junior Technician | |
| Average salary | $37,520 | $39,417 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $48,000 | Between $26,000 And $57,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Alexandria, VA |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | New York |
| Best paying company | DCP Midstream | Citi |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Technology |
There are a few differences between a field technician and a junior technician in terms of educational background:
| Field Technician | Junior Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 34% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between field technicians' and junior technicians' demographics:
| Field Technician | Junior Technician | |
| Average age | 44 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 88.5% Female, 11.5% | Male, 82.9% Female, 17.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.5% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.8% Asian, 1.7% White, 71.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.0% Asian, 10.6% White, 56.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 1% | 11% |