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Hardware support technician vs senior support technician

The differences between hardware support technicians and senior 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 senior support technician. Additionally, a senior support technician has an average salary of $74,459, 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 senior support technician are customer service, technical support, and troubleshoot.

Hardware support technician vs senior support technician overview

Hardware Support TechnicianSenior Support Technician
Yearly salary$41,832$74,459
Hourly rate$20.11$35.80
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs111,104113,499
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 46%Bachelor's Degree, 48%
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 senior support technician do?

A senior support technician is an individual specializing in diagnosing and resolving information technology (IT)-related problems in an organization, including virus issues, forgotten passwords, and software updates. The job requires knowledge about the installation, configuration, and testing of computer hardware and software. Possessing excellent customer service, listening, and problem-solving skills is also vital to qualify for the position. The job's education requirements include an associate or bachelor's degree in computer science, business, information technology, or a related field.

Hardware support technician vs senior support technician salary

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

Hardware Support TechnicianSenior Support Technician
Average salary$41,832$74,459
Salary rangeBetween $31,000 And $54,000Between $48,000 And $114,000
Highest paying City-Durham, NC
Highest paying state-Pennsylvania
Best paying company-Pacira BioSciences
Best paying industry-Technology

Differences between hardware support technician and senior support technician education

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

Hardware Support TechnicianSenior Support Technician
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 46%Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common majorComputer ScienceComputer Science
Most common collegeStanford UniversityStanford University

Hardware support technician vs senior support technician demographics

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

Hardware Support TechnicianSenior Support Technician
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 88.6% Female, 11.4%Male, 78.4% Female, 21.6%
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, 10.7% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 11.1% White, 56.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between hardware support technician and senior support 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

Senior support technician example responsibilities.

  • Manage the virtual platforms utilize in the office using VMWare.
  • Serve as a SME and the main point of contact when agents and other leads have questions.
  • Organize and maintain Linux labs.
  • Help resolve terminal server and citrix environment issues.
  • Research Linux server logs to find errors within applications.
  • Train customers in hardware and software on both the pc and mac.
  • Show more

Hardware support technician vs senior support technician skills

Common hardware support technician skills
  • Hardware Support, 20%
  • Technical Support, 9%
  • Customer Service, 6%
  • Linux, 5%
  • Network Printers, 5%
  • Troubleshoot, 4%
Common senior support technician skills
  • Customer Service, 13%
  • Technical Support, 11%
  • Troubleshoot, 9%
  • Desk Support, 4%
  • Phone Calls, 4%
  • Mac, 4%

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