Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between junior technical specialists and junior 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 junior technical specialist and a junior technician. Additionally, a junior technical specialist has an average salary of $52,938, which is higher than the $39,417 average annual salary of a junior technician.
The top three skills for a junior technical specialist include troubleshoot, technical support and PC. The most important skills for a junior technician are customer service, HVAC, and fall protection.
A junior technical specialist is responsible for providing the highest customer service by assisting the end-users in resolving their computer issues and network failures timely and efficiently. Junior technical specialists handle the installments and upgrades of software applications and programs and run multiple diagnostic tests to ensure that the systems meet the quality standards and requirements. A junior technical specialist must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in navigating multiple computer tools to help customers with remote troubleshooting and escalations.
A junior technician is responsible for supporting senior technicians on maintaining the efficiency and optimal performance of various hardware and software systems and applications. Junior technicians assist the end-users and employees on troubleshooting inconsistent programs, identifying its complexities, and reporting findings to the management for resolution. They also update the systems' features to increase its operational productivity and maintain system recoveries. A junior technician must have excellent knowledge of the technology industry, as well as a strong command on programming language and system codes, especially on conducting system analysis and installing applications.
Junior technical specialists and junior technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Junior Technical Specialist | Junior Technician | |
| Average salary | $52,938 | $39,417 |
| Salary range | Between $32,000 And $87,000 | Between $26,000 And $57,000 |
| Highest paying City | Urban Honolulu, HI | Alexandria, VA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | New York |
| Best paying company | McKinsey & Company Inc | Citi |
| Best paying industry | - | Technology |
There are a few differences between a junior technical specialist and a junior technician in terms of educational background:
| Junior Technical Specialist | Junior Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 34% |
| Most common major | Biochemistry, Biophysics, Molecular Biology | Business |
| Most common college | - | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between junior technical specialists' and junior technicians' demographics:
| Junior Technical Specialist | Junior Technician | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 57.5% Female, 42.5% | Male, 82.9% Female, 17.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.2% Asian, 15.2% White, 54.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.0% Asian, 10.6% White, 56.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |