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The differences between professional 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 professional technician and a junior technician. Additionally, a professional technician has an average salary of $81,726, which is higher than the $39,417 average annual salary of a junior technician.
The top three skills for a professional technician include customer service, cloud and project management. The most important skills for a junior technician are customer service, HVAC, and fall protection.
| Professional Technician | Junior Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $81,726 | $39,417 |
| Hourly rate | $39.29 | $18.95 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 123,659 | 103,780 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 34% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A professional technician is responsible for handling the complexities of technical and mechanical systems, repair defective components, and recommend technical solutions to enhance the company's productivity and efficiency in delivering high-quality deliverables. Professional technicians must be highly skilled in analyzing schematics and blueprints to assemble components and perform troubleshooting. They also manage the adequacy of inventories, create purchase requests, and identify costs and expenses for repairs and installations. A professional technician must be highly communicative and organization, especially in handling tasks with utmost adherence to safety protocols and regulations.
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.
Professional technicians and junior technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Professional Technician | Junior Technician | |
| Average salary | $81,726 | $39,417 |
| Salary range | Between $64,000 And $104,000 | Between $26,000 And $57,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Alexandria, VA |
| Highest paying state | California | New York |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | Citi |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Technology |
There are a few differences between a professional technician and a junior technician in terms of educational background:
| Professional Technician | Junior Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 34% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Business |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between professional technicians' and junior technicians' demographics:
| Professional Technician | Junior Technician | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 72.1% Female, 27.9% | Male, 82.9% Female, 17.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.0% Asian, 12.8% White, 54.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | 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 | 11% | 11% |