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The differences between product technicians and junior technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a product technician and a junior technician. Additionally, a product technician has an average salary of $67,026, which is higher than the $39,417 average annual salary of a junior technician.
The top three skills for a product technician include customer service, troubleshoot and product support. The most important skills for a junior technician are customer service, HVAC, and fall protection.
| Product Technician | Junior Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $67,026 | $39,417 |
| Hourly rate | $32.22 | $18.95 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 99,755 | 103,780 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 33% | Bachelor's Degree, 34% |
| Average age | 45 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
Product technicians are skilled professionals who are responsible for evaluating manufactured goods to ensure quality and functionality before they are marketed to the general public. These technicians are required to perform equipment setup and adjustments while conducting minor preventative maintenance tasks to test for safety and productivity before they are put into production. By using their technical knowledge, they must identify problems such as mechanical issues and safety issues while providing potential solutions to the issues. Product technicians must also ensure that finished products conform to specifications and codes.
A junior technician is responsible for supporting senior technicians on maintaining the efficiency and optimal performance of various hardware and software systems and applications. Junior technicians assist the end-users and employees on troubleshooting inconsistent programs, identifying its complexities, and reporting findings to the management for resolution. They also update the systems' features to increase its operational productivity and maintain system recoveries. A junior technician must have excellent knowledge of the technology industry, as well as a strong command on programming language and system codes, especially on conducting system analysis and installing applications.
Product technicians and junior technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Product Technician | Junior Technician | |
| Average salary | $67,026 | $39,417 |
| Salary range | Between $36,000 And $123,000 | Between $26,000 And $57,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Alexandria, VA |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | New York |
| Best paying company | PayPal | Citi |
| Best paying industry | - | Technology |
There are a few differences between a product technician and a junior technician in terms of educational background:
| Product Technician | Junior Technician | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 33% | Bachelor's Degree, 34% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between product technicians' and junior technicians' demographics:
| Product Technician | Junior Technician | |
| Average age | 45 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 85.8% Female, 14.2% | Male, 82.9% Female, 17.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% Asian, 7.5% White, 60.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.0% Asian, 10.6% White, 56.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 11% |