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Junior technical support specialist vs help desk specialist

The differences between junior technical support specialists and help desk specialists 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 support specialist and a help desk specialist. Additionally, a help desk specialist has an average salary of $51,065, which is higher than the $41,238 average annual salary of a junior technical support specialist.

The top three skills for a junior technical support specialist include password resets, mac and help-desk support. The most important skills for a help desk specialist are customer service, troubleshoot, and technical support.

Junior technical support specialist vs help desk specialist overview

Junior Technical Support SpecialistHelp Desk Specialist
Yearly salary$41,238$51,065
Hourly rate$19.83$24.55
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs166,64675,004
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 51%Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age4242
Years of experience22

Junior technical support specialist vs help desk specialist salary

Junior technical support specialists and help desk specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

Junior Technical Support SpecialistHelp Desk Specialist
Average salary$41,238$51,065
Salary rangeBetween $34,000 And $49,000Between $35,000 And $73,000
Highest paying City-New York, NY
Highest paying state-Alaska
Best paying company-Schulte Roth & Zabel
Best paying industry-Technology

Differences between junior technical support specialist and help desk specialist education

There are a few differences between a junior technical support specialist and a help desk specialist in terms of educational background:

Junior Technical Support SpecialistHelp Desk Specialist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 51%Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common majorComputer ScienceComputer Science
Most common collegeStanford UniversityUniversity of Pennsylvania

Junior technical support specialist vs help desk specialist demographics

Here are the differences between junior technical support specialists' and help desk specialists' demographics:

Junior Technical Support SpecialistHelp Desk Specialist
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 62.6% Female, 37.4%Male, 79.4% Female, 20.6%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 11.9% White, 55.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 12.3% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.3% Asian, 11.6% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between junior technical support specialist and help desk specialist duties and responsibilities

Junior technical support specialist example responsibilities.

  • Manage customer complaints and internal GMP audits for product manufacturing, coordinate FDA audits and recommend corrective actions.
  • Field thousands of technical support calls from customers with crash PCs and software issues relaying information to the softwaredevelopers.
  • Configure individual PCs, routers, and printers.
  • Help remote customers configure hardware and connect to VPN.
  • Assist customers with technical difficulties with network devices and VoIP telephone settings.
  • Implement new software and upgrade existing software on the servers and workstations.
  • Show more

Help desk specialist example responsibilities.

  • Manage network software deployment, imaging/backup and unattend OS installations
  • Develop, implement, and support customized manage VPN solutions for customers.
  • Work as tier II/III technical support representative helping customers troubleshoot hardware/software problems in high volume call center.
  • Support CITRIX by resolving connectivity issues when problems are reported.
  • Assist clients with Cisco VoIP, or Cisco AnyConnect troubleshooting, and escalation to higher tiers, as necessary.
  • Repair PCs and printers install software supervise interns
  • Show more

Junior technical support specialist vs help desk specialist skills

Common junior technical support specialist skills
  • Password Resets, 14%
  • Mac, 7%
  • Help-Desk Support, 6%
  • Switches, 6%
  • Network Troubleshooting, 5%
  • Troubleshoot, 5%
Common help desk specialist skills
  • Customer Service, 13%
  • Troubleshoot, 8%
  • Technical Support, 6%
  • Desk Support, 6%
  • Phone Calls, 5%
  • Client Facing, 4%

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