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Production support technician vs application support specialist

The differences between production support technicians and application 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 technician and an application support specialist. Additionally, an application support specialist has an average salary of $81,820, which is higher than the $57,726 average annual salary of a production support technician.

The top three skills for a production support technician include troubleshoot, POS and SQL. The most important skills for an application support specialist are application support, customer service, and troubleshoot.

Production support technician vs application support specialist overview

Production Support TechnicianApplication Support Specialist
Yearly salary$57,726$81,820
Hourly rate$27.75$39.34
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs162,450118,322
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 46%Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Average age4242
Years of experience22

What does a production support technician do?

Production Support Technicians ensure the availability of the materials needed for production. Besides putting preventative maintenance techniques into practice and ensuring that the factory remains safe for each worker, production support technicians also identify faults and troubleshoot where possible. They inspect machinery and update the workers and management about the faults. Also, production support technicians analyze products and performance and then make the right recommendations. Moreover, they ensure that the staff members remain updated about the safety and health regulations.

What does an application support specialist do?

An application support specialist's role is to utilize their technical expertise in responding to inquiries and addressing issues and concerns, resolving them promptly and effectively. They may communicate with clients through calls or correspondence, even arrange appointments when necessary. Moreover, one may work as a member of a company or independently. As an application support specialist in a company setting, it is essential to coordinate with different department personnel, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.

Production support technician vs application support specialist salary

Production support technicians and application support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

Production Support TechnicianApplication Support Specialist
Average salary$57,726$81,820
Salary rangeBetween $33,000 And $98,000Between $52,000 And $127,000
Highest paying CityJersey City, NJCupertino, CA
Highest paying stateNew JerseyNew Jersey
Best paying companyJefferiesMeta
Best paying industryManufacturingFinance

Differences between production support technician and application support specialist education

There are a few differences between a production support technician and an application support specialist in terms of educational background:

Production Support TechnicianApplication Support Specialist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 46%Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeStanford UniversityStanford University

Production support technician vs application support specialist demographics

Here are the differences between production support technicians' and application support specialists' demographics:

Production Support TechnicianApplication Support Specialist
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 79.2% Female, 20.8%Male, 61.6% Female, 38.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.6% Asian, 12.8% White, 53.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 11.5% White, 55.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between production support technician and application support specialist duties and responsibilities

Production support technician example responsibilities.

  • Used SQL to troubleshoot database problems and report the problems to the appropriate development team.
  • Convert company intranet site from .asp to SharePoint.
  • Audit for compliance and control of procedures/records per ISO safety standards.
  • Perform installations, modifications, repairs PC peripheral devices & Verari products.
  • Prepare test environment and test data for various testing purposes using DB2 utilities.
  • Perform yearly VPP audit evaluations and write the facility's OSHA VPP annual report.
  • Show more

Application support specialist example responsibilities.

  • Help manage the design, development, and deployment of HL7 interfaces.
  • Lead, and manage CRM (Peoplesoft and Siebel) implementation technical teams on multiple engagements.
  • Assist users of varying PC and application skills levels and manage through a wide variety of customer scenarios.
  • Develop and automate network and mainframe system diagnostics as necessary using a variety of 3rd party software tools and utilities.
  • Develop and maintain existing Perl scripts to automate business process.
  • Manage multiple imaging-relate projects across both radiology and cardiology service lines, both inpatient and outpatient, to completion.
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Production support technician vs application support specialist skills

Common production support technician skills
  • Troubleshoot, 12%
  • POS, 7%
  • SQL, 6%
  • Technical Support, 6%
  • Windows, 6%
  • PC, 5%
Common application support specialist skills
  • Application Support, 13%
  • Customer Service, 10%
  • Troubleshoot, 7%
  • Technical Support, 5%
  • Java, 4%
  • Application Issues, 3%

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