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The differences between irrigation technicians and certification specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a certification specialist has an average salary of $45,265, which is higher than the $35,472 average annual salary of an irrigation technician.
The top three skills for an irrigation technician include golf courses, trenchers and sprinkler heads. The most important skills for a certification specialist are patients, medical terminology, and surgical procedures.
| Irrigation Technician | Certification Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $35,472 | $45,265 |
| Hourly rate | $17.05 | $21.76 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 11% |
| Number of jobs | 27,291 | 43,565 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 42% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| Average age | 41 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 2 | - |
An irrigation technician is responsible for installing, testing, and maintaining irrigation equipment such as sprinklers, suction valves, and pumps. Typical duties for this position include operating heavy machinery for trenching, installing wiring systems for irrigation timers, and inspecting equipment for a day's work. In addition, an irrigation technician may be required to travel to the client's location to install, test, or perform preventative maintenance of irrigation equipment. You are also expected to dig trenches and install lines and pipes and troubleshoot and replace faulty parts.
A certification specialist is primarily in charge of conducting inspections and assessments, ensuring operations and procedures comply with certification guidelines and requirements. Although their responsibilities may vary upon their industry or organization of employment, it usually entails reviewing certification applications and system plans, arranging schedules and tests, organizing orientations, providing advice or guidance to new members of the workforce, and implementing strategies. Moreover, they also perform administrative support tasks such as processing the necessary documents, facilitating activities, and coordinating with internal and external parties.
Irrigation technicians and certification specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Irrigation Technician | Certification Specialist | |
| Average salary | $35,472 | $45,265 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $45,000 | Between $25,000 And $81,000 |
| Highest paying City | Concord, CA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | New York |
| Best paying company | San Diego College of Continuing Education | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Construction | Insurance |
There are a few differences between an irrigation technician and a certification specialist in terms of educational background:
| Irrigation Technician | Certification Specialist | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 42% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between irrigation technicians' and certification specialists' demographics:
| Irrigation Technician | Certification Specialist | |
| Average age | 41 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 96.1% Female, 3.9% | Male, 26.3% Female, 73.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 26.0% Asian, 2.0% White, 57.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4% | Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 3% | 11% |