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Hardware support technician vs hardware technician

The differences between hardware support technicians and hardware 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 hardware support technician and a hardware technician. Additionally, a hardware technician has an average salary of $47,851, which is higher than the $41,832 average annual salary of a hardware support technician.

The top three skills for a hardware support technician include hardware support, technical support and customer service. The most important skills for a hardware technician are customer service, technical support, and network printers.

Hardware support technician vs hardware technician overview

Hardware Support TechnicianHardware Technician
Yearly salary$41,832$47,851
Hourly rate$20.11$23.01
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs111,10485,174
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 46%Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Average age4242
Years of experience22

What does a hardware support technician do?

A hardware support technician is an individual who deals with hardware problems and tries to provide solutions to clients' problems. As a professional, you are tasked with providing IT support to organizations and may have to work with computer hardware, servers, and computer clusters. As someone who is a hardware support technician, your job description may require you to help with the installation and maintenance of computer systems. You may also be required to provide troubleshooting solutions and repair computer hardware.

What does a hardware technician do?

A hardware technician is typically in charge of providing technical support to clients or employees, ensuring efficiency and client satisfaction. In a company setting, a hardware technician is responsible for performing initial assessments on computer hardware, troubleshooting, diagnosing problems, and providing step by step solutions to solve the issues. They may also perform corrective repairs on problems and conduct regular maintenance checks to ensure the quality of equipment. Furthermore, as a hardware technician, it is essential to maintain an active communication line with staff for a smooth and efficient workflow.

Hardware support technician vs hardware technician salary

Hardware support technicians and hardware technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

Hardware Support TechnicianHardware Technician
Average salary$41,832$47,851
Salary rangeBetween $31,000 And $54,000Between $32,000 And $71,000
Highest paying City-San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state-Delaware
Best paying company-Apple
Best paying industry-Technology

Differences between hardware support technician and hardware technician education

There are a few differences between a hardware support technician and a hardware technician in terms of educational background:

Hardware Support TechnicianHardware Technician
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 46%Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Most common majorComputer ScienceComputer Science
Most common collegeStanford UniversityUniversity of Pennsylvania

Hardware support technician vs hardware technician demographics

Here are the differences between hardware support technicians' and hardware technicians' demographics:

Hardware Support TechnicianHardware Technician
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 88.6% Female, 11.4%Male, 90.0% Female, 10.0%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 12.1% White, 54.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.6% Asian, 12.0% White, 55.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between hardware support technician and hardware technician duties and responsibilities

Hardware support technician example responsibilities.

  • Manage backups, replications and disaster recovery plans of company mission critical servers and database files to ensure redundancy.
  • Resolve LAN, wireless, and TCP/IP issues on Cisco devices.
  • Configure user accounts and security through local group policy, installation and configuration of SQL for the POS environment.
  • Install and configure new PCs and printers.
  • Configure OS image installs on new thin clients and re-image as needed.
  • Replace or upgrade desktop PCs and monitors; setup network and local printers.
  • Show more

Hardware technician example responsibilities.

  • Manage resource allocation and work scheduling for UNIX restatement administrators across all the shifts.
  • Manage all customer network equipment including routers, switches, WLC's, AP's, and firewalls.
  • Manage trouble ticket queues in order to keep tickets within SLA's and to expedite high level issues.
  • Work to troubleshoot OS and hardware issue on many computers and peripherals.
  • Test and troubleshoot: reset bios and perform power-on-self-test on servers and PCs, perform power on tests on various electronics.
  • Update LAN spreadsheets with appropriate computer information.
  • Show more

Hardware support technician vs hardware technician skills

Common hardware support technician skills
  • Hardware Support, 20%
  • Technical Support, 9%
  • Customer Service, 6%
  • Linux, 5%
  • Network Printers, 5%
  • Troubleshoot, 4%
Common hardware technician skills
  • Customer Service, 6%
  • Technical Support, 5%
  • Network Printers, 5%
  • Desktop Support, 5%
  • Test Equipment, 4%
  • Switches, 4%

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