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On-site technician vs software support technician

The differences between on-site technicians and software support technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an on-site technician and a software support technician. Additionally, a software support technician has an average salary of $79,670, which is higher than the $40,074 average annual salary of an on-site technician.

The top three skills for an on-site technician include OSHA, onsite and customer satisfaction. The most important skills for a software support technician are customer service, troubleshoot, and java.

On-site technician vs software support technician overview

On-Site TechnicianSoftware Support Technician
Yearly salary$40,074$79,670
Hourly rate$19.27$38.30
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs83,416117,059
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 40%Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Average age4242
Years of experience22

What does an on-site technician do?

An On-Site Technician is one who handles the operating power of a station. Environmental, health, and safety records will need to be met. In this position, you will need to work in synergy with other teams to ensure technical assistance is provided in installing and repairing equipment. This position includes; calculating project cost, interacting and negotiating with suppliers, ensuring the project aligns with set industry standards, disseminating relevant information on time, and maintaining site records.

What does a software support technician do?

A software support technician is responsible for resolving software application issues, diagnosing related system failures, and writing resolution reports for reference. Software support technicians must be highly-familiarized with the system's infrastructure and interface to immediately diagnose malfunctions and identify maintenance techniques to prevent the reoccurrence of downtimes and delays. They also assist the system engineers in the configuration and optimization of networks, including the installment of upgrades and patch updates. A software support technician must have excellent organizational and communication skills, especially in navigating computer tools and applications to create support tickets and fix the customers' issues efficiently.

On-site technician vs software support technician salary

On-site technicians and software support technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

On-Site TechnicianSoftware Support Technician
Average salary$40,074$79,670
Salary rangeBetween $27,000 And $57,000Between $55,000 And $113,000
Highest paying CityNew York, NYSan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateDelawareCalifornia
Best paying companyXoriantRSM US
Best paying industryEnergyFinance

Differences between on-site technician and software support technician education

There are a few differences between an on-site technician and a software support technician in terms of educational background:

On-Site TechnicianSoftware Support Technician
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 40%Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Most common majorBusinessComputer Science
Most common college-Stanford University

On-site technician vs software support technician demographics

Here are the differences between on-site technicians' and software support technicians' demographics:

On-Site TechnicianSoftware Support Technician
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 85.7% Female, 14.3%Male, 73.8% Female, 26.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.9% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% Asian, 10.6% White, 56.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.5% Asian, 12.4% White, 54.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between on-site technician and software support technician duties and responsibilities

On-site technician example responsibilities.

  • Manage backups, replications and disaster recovery plans of company mission critical servers and database files to ensure redundancy.
  • Maintain security for a variety of Linux and UNIX point of sale systems.
  • Install new internet equipment for the site, work with fiber cords, switches and routers.
  • Install and configure server, printers, Cisco routers and cabling for routers, switches, and workstations.
  • Assist in maintaining a building-wide PBX phone system.
  • Provide installation and maintenance for PBX and voice mail systems.
  • Show more

Software support technician example responsibilities.

  • Manage desktop services team members to provide SLA agreements within network support services department.
  • Manage trouble ticket queues in order to keep tickets within SLA's and to expedite high level issues.
  • Install and configure multiple UNIX servers and databases using native utilities; configure internal network, configure and manage SSL certificates.
  • Develop web base MySQL database using HTML, PHP and Java for affiliate program.
  • Implement event handling using Java, Ajax and ExtJS.
  • Support medium networks of multiple OS computers with design, configuration and maintenance services.
  • Show more

On-site technician vs software support technician skills

Common on-site technician skills
  • OSHA, 17%
  • Onsite, 9%
  • Customer Satisfaction, 7%
  • Desktop Support, 6%
  • Switches, 5%
  • Network Printers, 5%
Common software support technician skills
  • Customer Service, 14%
  • Troubleshoot, 10%
  • Java, 7%
  • Database, 6%
  • Phone Calls, 5%
  • Software Support, 3%

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