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The differences between operations support specialists 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 specialist and a technical support specialist. Additionally, a technical support specialist has an average salary of $48,667, which is higher than the $44,233 average annual salary of an operations support specialist.
The top three skills for an operations support specialist include operations support, customer service and data entry. The most important skills for a technical support specialist are customer service, technical support, and troubleshoot.
| Operations Support Specialist | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $44,233 | $48,667 |
| Hourly rate | $21.27 | $23.40 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 176,034 | 157,425 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.6 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 57% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
The duties of an operations support specialist depend on one's line of work or industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around addressing issues and concerns, troubleshooting, and conducting corrective measures, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations. They may also evaluate the processes in a company, identifying vulnerabilities, and recommending improvements. Furthermore, an operations support specialist must also perform clerical tasks such as producing progress reports and presentations, arranging schedules, assessing workforce performance, and maintaining accurate records.
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 specialists and technical support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Operations Support Specialist | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $44,233 | $48,667 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $71,000 | Between $30,000 And $76,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | KLA | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Finance |
There are a few differences between an operations support specialist and a technical support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Operations Support Specialist | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 57% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between operations support specialists' and technical support specialists' demographics:
| Operations Support Specialist | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 44.0% Female, 56.0% | Male, 75.4% Female, 24.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 12.0% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 10.5% White, 55.5% 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% |