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The differences between professional technicians and set up 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 set up technician. Additionally, a professional technician has an average salary of $81,726, which is higher than the $36,486 average annual salary of a set up technician.
The top three skills for a professional technician include customer service, cloud and project management. The most important skills for a set up technician are hand tools, CNC, and safety procedures.
| Professional Technician | Set Up Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $81,726 | $36,486 |
| Hourly rate | $39.29 | $17.54 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 123,659 | 53,072 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | High School Diploma, 39% |
| 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.
Set up technicians are skilled employees who assemble and disassemble manufacturing machines as well as perform preventative maintenance to ensure that the manufacturing firm can produce high-quality products. These technicians must inspect products so that they can locate malfunctions in machine operations and then inform their supervisor about the repairs needed. They must observe production equipment to ensure its correct operation and collaborate with the engineering team to adjust the equipment when needed. Set up technicians must also assist in teaching new operators about the firm's standard operating procedures of production equipment.
Professional technicians and set up technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Professional Technician | Set Up Technician | |
| Average salary | $81,726 | $36,486 |
| Salary range | Between $64,000 And $104,000 | Between $28,000 And $46,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Manchester, NH |
| Highest paying state | California | New York |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | Zoetis |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Professional |
There are a few differences between a professional technician and a set up technician in terms of educational background:
| Professional Technician | Set Up Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | High School Diploma, 39% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Business |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | - |
Here are the differences between professional technicians' and set up technicians' demographics:
| Professional Technician | Set Up Technician | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 72.1% Female, 27.9% | Male, 90.1% Female, 9.9% |
| 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, 10.8% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 15.3% Asian, 8.9% White, 59.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |