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The differences between production support engineers and senior 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 a production support engineer and a senior support specialist. Additionally, a senior support specialist has an average salary of $106,515, 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 senior support specialist are customer service, technical support, and troubleshoot.
| Production Support Engineer | Senior Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $78,599 | $106,515 |
| Hourly rate | $37.79 | $51.21 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 194,203 | 103,203 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| 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 senior support specialist is in charge of providing technical support to clients, ensuring efficiency and client satisfaction. They typically communicate with clients through calls or correspondence where they address issues and concerns, resolving them promptly and efficiently. They may also assist clients in troubleshooting, provide step by step instructions, or recommend solutions. Furthermore, as a senior support specialist, it is essential to lead and serve as a role model for other support specialists while enforcing the company's policies and regulations.
Production support engineers and senior support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Production Support Engineer | Senior Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $78,599 | $106,515 |
| Salary range | Between $57,000 And $107,000 | Between $71,000 And $159,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | Piscataway, NJ |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Salesforce | Eclaro |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a production support engineer and a senior support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Production Support Engineer | Senior Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Business |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between production support engineers' and senior support specialists' demographics:
| Production Support Engineer | Senior Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 43 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 85.1% Female, 14.9% | Male, 61.2% Female, 38.8% |
| 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, 11.8% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.0% Asian, 10.8% White, 55.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 11% |