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The differences between production support engineers and customer support engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a production support engineer and a customer support engineer. Additionally, a customer support engineer has an average salary of $82,674, which is higher than the $78,599 average annual salary of a production support engineer.
The top three skills for a production support engineer include java, infrastructure and linux. The most important skills for a customer support engineer are customer support, technical support, and customer service.
| Production Support Engineer | Customer Support Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $78,599 | $82,674 |
| Hourly rate | $37.79 | $39.75 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 194,203 | 138,641 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 43 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
Product support engineers are in charge of managing the technical requests ordered by the customer. Their primary role is to repair and resolve errors, constantly register details for later reports, and update customers with the improvements. They help other engineers by enhancing processes and assisting in product development. Also, they provide recommendations for feature improvements and efficiency enhancement based on the customers' preference. These specialists are critical and analytical thinkers as well as technical experts. They are able to communicate well to customers while doing multiple tasks and pay attention to detail to track errors and record them.
A customer support engineer is responsible for providing the highest customer service by responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns and resolving their complaints regarding the technical products of the company. Customer support engineers handle escalated requests, determine technical solutions, and write resolution reports for reference. They also manage the installation and upgrades of network systems based on clients' specifications to ensure that their systems work with maximum performance. A customer support engineer must have excellent communication and technical skills, especially in recommending improvements to prevent system failures and minimize customers' complaints.
Production support engineers and customer support engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Production Support Engineer | Customer Support Engineer | |
| Average salary | $78,599 | $82,674 |
| Salary range | Between $57,000 And $107,000 | Between $59,000 And $114,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Washington |
| Best paying company | Salesforce | Nokia |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a production support engineer and a customer support engineer in terms of educational background:
| Production Support Engineer | Customer Support Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between production support engineers' and customer support engineers' demographics:
| Production Support Engineer | Customer Support Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 85.1% Female, 14.9% | Male, 85.8% Female, 14.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 13.8% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 9.7% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 15.0% White, 54.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 11% |