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The differences between help desk supervisors and systems support engineers 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 supervisor and a systems support engineer. Additionally, a systems support engineer has an average salary of $82,561, which is higher than the $64,297 average annual salary of a help desk supervisor.
The top three skills for a help desk supervisor include customer service, technical support and operational procedures. The most important skills for a systems support engineer are linux, troubleshoot, and technical support.
| Help Desk Supervisor | Systems Support Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $64,297 | $82,561 |
| Hourly rate | $30.91 | $39.69 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 72,240 | 182,434 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 42 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A Help Desk Supervisor oversees and evaluates the daily operations of help desk teams to ensure that customers receive optimal services. They have the authority to set short and long-term goals, establish guidelines and employee schedules, liaise with external business partners, delegate tasks among staff, and monitor operations' progress, resolving complicated issues and concerns. They also review documents and reports that employees regularly submit to ensure that all operations run smoothly and efficiently. Moreover, a Help Desk Supervisor leads and encourages teams to reach goals while implementing its policies and regulations.
Systems support engineers are information technology professionals who are responsible for building and maintaining the IT infrastructure of an organization. They are required to provide network administration and technical support to identify complex problem issues and come up with solutions to solve them. They must assist the system support engineers in accomplishing any projects they are working with. They must troubleshoot servers, personal computers, and peripheral equipment while liaising with their customers. They must also create and maintain user accounts and implement group policy management through an active directory.
Help desk supervisors and systems support engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Help Desk Supervisor | Systems Support Engineer | |
| Average salary | $64,297 | $82,561 |
| Salary range | Between $43,000 And $94,000 | Between $62,000 And $109,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Novato, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | California |
| Best paying company | - | Apple |
| Best paying industry | - | Finance |
There are a few differences between a help desk supervisor and a systems support engineer in terms of educational background:
| Help Desk Supervisor | Systems Support Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between help desk supervisors' and systems support engineers' demographics:
| Help Desk Supervisor | Systems Support Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 66.4% Female, 33.6% | Male, 89.5% Female, 10.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 12.0% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 10.5% White, 55.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 11.5% White, 62.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 9% |