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The differences between help desk managers and help desk administrators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a help desk manager and a help desk administrator. Additionally, a help desk manager has an average salary of $96,278, which is higher than the $49,798 average annual salary of a help desk administrator.
The top three skills for a help desk manager include customer service, technical support and help desk. The most important skills for a help desk administrator are customer service, desk support, and troubleshoot.
| Help Desk Manager | Help Desk Administrator | |
| Yearly salary | $96,278 | $49,798 |
| Hourly rate | $46.29 | $23.94 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 75,971 | 130,180 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 42 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A help desk manager oversees and coordinates the daily performance of help desk teams, ensuring clients get to receive optimal support and services. They are in charge of setting goals and guidelines, establishing budgets and timelines, performing assessments and inspections, and monitoring the progress of operations, resolving issues or conflicts should any arise. There are also instances when a help desk manager must facilitate the communication between internal and external parties, recruit and train new members of the workforce, and implement policies and procedures to optimize operations.
Help desk administrator is responsible for handling activities related to system support for their company or organization. They are in charge of providing superb client experiences and working in resolving support issues in a professional and timely manner. One of their primary tasks includes providing login resets and passwords for end-users. In addition, they will also perform innovative systems and network repairs, as well as assist computer information responses as required. Moreover, they support complete equipment set-up, renewal, or termination of a user account, handle server, and domain account changes.
Help desk managers and help desk administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Help Desk Manager | Help Desk Administrator | |
| Average salary | $96,278 | $49,798 |
| Salary range | Between $74,000 And $125,000 | Between $34,000 And $71,000 |
| Highest paying City | Berkeley, CA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Meta | Houlihan Lokey |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Finance |
There are a few differences between a help desk manager and a help desk administrator in terms of educational background:
| Help Desk Manager | Help Desk Administrator | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between help desk managers' and help desk administrators' demographics:
| Help Desk Manager | Help Desk Administrator | |
| Average age | 42 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 70.3% Female, 29.7% | Male, 74.3% Female, 25.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 12.5% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 10.5% White, 55.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.8% Asian, 8.8% White, 63.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 9% |