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The differences between hardware support technicians and services desk 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 services desk technician. Additionally, a services desk technician has an average salary of $42,123, 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 services desk technician are service desk, customer service, and troubleshoot.
| Hardware Support Technician | Services Desk Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $41,832 | $42,123 |
| Hourly rate | $20.11 | $20.25 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 111,104 | 145,853 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| 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.
Service Desk Technicians are technicians who specialize in providing support to clients. They are usually in fields related to information technology, and they provide technical support to the employees of the organization. They usually help clients in installing, updating, repairing, or maintaining technical components. They are technology-savvy and should be able to communicate well. Most of the time, Service Desk Technicians are contacted through phone calls and thus should be able to guide callers over the phone. They are also expected to be patient and to be customer service-oriented.
Hardware support technicians and services desk technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Hardware Support Technician | Services Desk Technician | |
| Average salary | $41,832 | $42,123 |
| Salary range | Between $31,000 And $54,000 | Between $31,000 And $55,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | - | New York |
| Best paying company | - | Forum Energy Technologies |
| Best paying industry | - | Government |
There are a few differences between a hardware support technician and a services desk technician in terms of educational background:
| Hardware Support Technician | Services Desk Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Information Technology |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between hardware support technicians' and services desk technicians' demographics:
| Hardware Support Technician | Services Desk Technician | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 88.6% Female, 11.4% | Male, 79.0% Female, 21.0% |
| 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, 11.1% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 10.9% White, 55.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |