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The differences between maintenance technicians and technical services engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a maintenance technician, becoming a technical services engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a technical services engineer has an average salary of $81,204, which is higher than the $43,293 average annual salary of a maintenance technician.
The top three skills for a maintenance technician include plumbing, HVAC and hand tools. The most important skills for a technical services engineer are customer service, technical support, and technical service.
| Maintenance Technician | Technical Services Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $43,293 | $81,204 |
| Hourly rate | $20.81 | $39.04 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 178,450 | 217,103 |
| Job satisfaction | 4.25 | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 34% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 47 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
Maintenance technicians are technicians who specialize in the preservation of office facilities. They have in-depth knowledge of how various office equipment or fixtures work so that they can immediately identify how to repair them in case of breakdowns. Maintenance technicians perform diagnostics and routine maintenance activities to ensure that everything in the office is running well. They immediately repair problems in fixtures or equipment to avoid any further damages or safety concerns. They should be familiar with occupational safety and health standards to ensure that the office is a safe place to work.
A technical services engineer is responsible for assisting customers on their systems and network issues, providing them the best technical solutions, and guiding them on step-by-step procedures for troubleshooting. Technical services engineers must have excellent communication and technical skills, especially on identifying customers' system failures by asking them a few questions. They also escalate high-level complaints to internal teams, ensuring that they present the client's issues for reference. A technical services engineer also handles systems configuration and recommending process improvement techniques to optimize network infrastructure.
Maintenance technicians and technical services engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Maintenance Technician | Technical Services Engineer | |
| Average salary | $43,293 | $81,204 |
| Salary range | Between $31,000 And $59,000 | Between $57,000 And $115,000 |
| Highest paying City | Richmond, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | Washington |
| Best paying company | Anheuser-Busch | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Technology |
There are a few differences between a maintenance technician and a technical services engineer in terms of educational background:
| Maintenance Technician | Technical Services Engineer | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 34% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering Technology | Chemical Engineering |
| Most common college | - | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between maintenance technicians' and technical services engineers' demographics:
| Maintenance Technician | Technical Services Engineer | |
| Average age | 47 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 95.7% Female, 4.3% | Male, 88.0% Female, 12.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 4.6% White, 60.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% | Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.3% Asian, 11.4% White, 71.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 2% | 5% |