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The differences between operations support representatives and technical support specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an operations support representative and a technical support specialist. Additionally, a technical support specialist has an average salary of $48,667, which is higher than the $39,977 average annual salary of an operations support representative.
The top three skills for an operations support representative include operations support, data entry and customer service. The most important skills for a technical support specialist are customer service, technical support, and troubleshoot.
| Operations Support Representative | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $39,977 | $48,667 |
| Hourly rate | $19.22 | $23.40 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 132,697 | 157,425 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.6 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
An operations support specialist is an administrative support role within operations and may cover roles like customer representatives or operations research analysts. You will be responsible for ensuring effective and efficient operations by reviewing and tracking processes and identifying problems. Within the larger operations team, operations support specialist assist in finding ways to improve processes. Operations support specialists work to optimize operations to better meet the needs of customers by assisting in information gathering and analysis.
A technical support specialist is responsible for assisting customer's and businesses' concerns and system issues by performing troubleshooting and remote solutions. These specialists must have extensive knowledge of system applications, including software and hardware database to handle complex processes that might affect the end user's experience or the business' daily operations. Technical support specialists should maintain excellent communication skills to guide the client and business on solving network problems. They must also document concerns and progress promptly for reference and quality checks.
Operations support representatives and technical support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Operations Support Representative | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $39,977 | $48,667 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $69,000 | Between $30,000 And $76,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | - | Meta |
| Best paying industry | - | Finance |
There are a few differences between an operations support representative and a technical support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Operations Support Representative | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between operations support representatives' and technical support specialists' demographics:
| Operations Support Representative | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 37.2% Female, 62.8% | Male, 75.4% Female, 24.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 10.6% White, 57.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 11.3% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |