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The differences between hardware support technicians and lead support 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 lead support technician. Additionally, a lead support technician has an average salary of $95,420, 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 lead support technician are database, customer service, and customer satisfaction.
| Hardware Support Technician | Lead Support Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $41,832 | $95,420 |
| Hourly rate | $20.11 | $45.88 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 111,104 | 115,952 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 54% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
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.
Lead support technicians test and troubleshoot onboard systems by using various interface tools and proprietary software. Besides following instructions, lead support technicians also work hand-in-hand with managers to ensure all quality standards are implemented. Lead support technicians also oversee and support different technical tasks, including brackets, building weldments, fabricating, and modifying support structures. Moreover, lead support technicians troubleshoot and resolve hardware and software problems.
Hardware support technicians and lead support technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Hardware Support Technician | Lead Support Technician | |
| Average salary | $41,832 | $95,420 |
| Salary range | Between $31,000 And $54,000 | Between $64,000 And $140,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | - | |
| Best paying industry | - | Technology |
There are a few differences between a hardware support technician and a lead support technician in terms of educational background:
| Hardware Support Technician | Lead Support Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 54% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between hardware support technicians' and lead support technicians' demographics:
| Hardware Support Technician | Lead Support Technician | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 88.6% Female, 11.4% | Male, 81.1% Female, 18.9% |
| Race ratio | Black 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, 10.7% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 12.0% White, 55.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |