What does a professional technician do?
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.
Professional technician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real professional technician resumes:
- Limit scripting (Linux) to automate data-gathering processes on multiple vendor hardware types.
- Manage and maintain the engineering lab; debugged/repair production servers and desktop computers
- Develop a few windows services.
- Perform EPC project design for relate to power, e.g.
- Create GUI for web-base CRM application using DHTML and JavaScript.
- Maintain ISO documentation for waste disposal and pollution control systems.
- Test and evaluate POS software programs while building need databases.
- Support power terminals, desktops and laptops in a citrix environment.
- Assist supervisor with documentation for network technicians and optimize Client32 and TCP/IP.
- Ensure windows servers are secure and anti-virus programs are patched to latest versions.
- Work on simple sql queries and hibernate name queries to query the database.
- Develop spreadsheet for temperature distribution in cargo containment tank for FLNG (LNG FPSO )
- Develop procedures and guidelines for the implementation of new upgrade system and LAN resources.
- Create webpages for small businesses and individuals using HTML, DHTML, CSS and JavaScript.
- Provide desk side support of clients using the new OS and applications following their deployment.
Professional technician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 18% of Professional Technicians are proficient in Customer Service, Cloud, and Project Management. They’re also known for soft skills such as Listening skills, Problem-solving skills, and Speaking skills.
We break down the percentage of Professional Technicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 18%
Interfaced with outside vendors and technical in-house customer service personnel to determine exact nature of problems, and implemented remedial procedures.
- Cloud, 15%
Delivered multiple successful Private Cloud POCs for the major NY financial institutions.
- Project Management, 9%
Provided project management, change management, operations management and financial analysis for assigned projects.
- Technical Support, 9%
Completed training for inbound technical support of professional accounting equipment.
- Windows, 5%
Work with Windows 7 workstation NYROC (modem data program), CRM(billing system) and other internet programs.
- Technical Expertise, 5%
Delivered technical expertise/support on site to facilitate various well completions, where job designs were modified as needed on-the-fly.
"customer service," "cloud," and "project management" are among the most common skills that professional technicians use at work. You can find even more professional technician responsibilities below, including:
Listening skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a professional technician to have is listening skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "support workers must be able to understand the problems that their customers are describing and know when to ask questions to clarify the situation." Professional technicians often use listening skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "configure listeners to consume messages using spring jms integration api. "
Problem-solving skills. Many professional technician duties rely on problem-solving skills. "support workers must identify both simple and complex computer problems, analyze them, and solve them.," so a professional technician will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways professional technician responsibilities rely on problem-solving skills: "deployed enterprise content management solution adobe experience manager using mongodb/tarmk in linux for hosting services. "
Speaking skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of professional technicians is speaking skills. This skill is critical to many everyday professional technician duties, as "support workers must describe the solutions to computer problems in a way that a nontechnical person can understand." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "researched and presented on common hydraulic fracturing chemicals and fluid systems used for treatments in the northeast region. "
Writing skills. For certain professional technician responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "writing skills." The day-to-day duties of a professional technician rely on this skill, as "strong writing skills are useful for preparing instructions and email responses for employees and customers, as well as for real-time web chat interactions." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what professional technicians do: "report writing helping engineers put together geotechnical reports. "
Customer-service skills. Another crucial skill for a professional technician to carry out their responsibilities is "customer-service skills." A big part of what professional technicians relies on this skill, since "computer support specialists must be patient and sympathetic." How this skill relates to professional technician duties can be seen in an example from a professional technician resume snippet: "managed fluid system and equipment changes to deliver the customers desired treatment to formation. "
The three companies that hire the most professional technicians are:
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Compare different professional technicians
Professional technician vs. Technical specialist
The role of technical specialists is to provide technical support for applications and programs to staff members and customers within an organization. They train staff and customers on products and apps and offer advice on the best practices for utilizing technical programs and applications. They also design training materials to teach other staff members the most effective methods of using its technology. It is also their job to reduce company costs by looking for ways to improve productivity and lessen expenses.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, professional technician responsibilities require skills like "cloud," "windows," "patient care," and "sql." Meanwhile a typical technical specialist has skills in areas such as "patients," "c++," "c #," and "excellent interpersonal." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Technical specialists really shine in the technology industry with an average salary of $92,419. Comparatively, professional technicians tend to make the most money in the energy industry with an average salary of $90,654.technical specialists tend to reach similar levels of education than professional technicians. In fact, technical specialists are 2.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Professional technician vs. Technician support tier
A technician support tier focuses on providing technical support to clients or employees within a company. Typically working in a team setting, a technician support tier addresses technical problems and troubleshoots to identify the root of the issues and perform necessary corrective measures or repairs. Their responsibilities also revolve around responding to inquiries, answering calls and correspondence, conducting regular maintenance of systems and networks, maintaining records of all transactions, and supporting software and networks. Furthermore, it is essential to coordinate with all team members while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real professional technician resumes. While professional technician responsibilities can utilize skills like "cloud," "azure," "project management," and "windows," technician support tiers use skills like "lan wan," "phone calls," "cisco ios," and "tier ii."
Technician support tiers may earn a lower salary than professional technicians, but technician support tiers earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $62,098. On the other hand, professional technicians receive higher pay in the energy industry, where they earn an average salary of $90,654.In general, technician support tiers achieve lower levels of education than professional technicians. They're 9.8% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for professional technicians in the next 3-5 years?
Babak Beheshti Ph.D.
Dean, Professor, New York Institute of Technology
-We will be witnessing a more widespread commercial deployment of 5G in 2020. With the implementation of the Standalone 5G devices based on the 3gpp release 16, we should be seeing the more robust mobile broadband deployment of 5G, wider availability of 5G smartphones, and a push towards an all 5G Network in select urban areas around the world.
-Significant growth in AI-based technologies, from face recognition and voice recognition to business intelligence and market predictions. As machines and deep learning algorithms get integrated into many applications, many industries will undergo substantial changes. AI systems will continue to interact with our phones; cars will interpret and analyze their surroundings and intelligently drive themselves. Online vendors will monitor our browsing habits, and Google decides what kind of search results to give us, based on who it thinks we are.
Professional technician vs. Information technology/support technician
An information technology (IT) support technician is an individual who is responsible for providing support and troubleshoots software and hardware problems faced by customers. As for larger organizations that have their own IT department, technicians must work together internally with their IT staff members. IT support technicians are involved in inspecting and resolving minor local area network and wireless network issues, which include TCP/IP, DHCP, and VPN. They are also required to obtain an associate's degree in computer science or related field.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from professional technician resumes include skills like "cloud," "azure," "project management," and "technical support," whereas an information technology/support technician is more likely to list skills in "computer system," "desk support," "phone calls," and "remote desktop. "
Information technology/support technicians earn the highest salary when working in the technology industry, where they receive an average salary of $53,210. Comparatively, professional technicians have the highest earning potential in the energy industry, with an average salary of $90,654.When it comes to education, information technology/support technicians tend to earn lower degree levels compared to professional technicians. In fact, they're 7.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Professional technician vs. Customer support technician
A customer support technician is responsible for resolving customer complaints with their network issues through remote communication, providing the customers with a step-by-step procedure to fix their systems. Customer support technicians assist the customers in setting up their programs and applications, guiding them with the instructional manuals, and responding to the inquiries and concerns they have. They also escalate high-level complaints to the immediate supervisor as needed while monitoring system solutions and creating technical tickets.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between professional technicians and customer support technicians, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a professional technician might have more use for skills like "cloud," "azure," "project management," and "windows." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of customer support technicians require skills like "customer support," "customer inquiries," "customer issues," and "post sales. "
The technology industry tends to pay the highest salaries for customer support technicians, with average annual pay of $50,042. Comparatively, the highest professional technician annual salary comes from the energy industry.customer support technicians reach lower levels of education compared to professional technicians, in general. The difference is that they're 7.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of professional technician
Updated January 8, 2025
