Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between program support technicians and program technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a program support technician, becoming a program technician takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a program technician has an average salary of $42,891, which is higher than the $36,653 average annual salary of a program support technician.
The top three skills for a program support technician include program support, data entry and DMV. The most important skills for a program technician are customer service, math, and technical support.
| Program Support Technician | Program Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $36,653 | $42,891 |
| Hourly rate | $17.62 | $20.62 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 12% |
| Number of jobs | 160,368 | 83,881 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 42 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 12 |
Program support technicians require administrative experience and skills in communication, organization, and proficiency with office software to do their best. This career choice demands showcasing support for users by answering their questions, resolving technical issues, and maintaining the network, software, and computer equipment of the respective company.
A program technician is responsible for resolving computer software and application issues and performing administrative duties for customer support. Program technicians keep a record of resolution reports and customer files, process payments for program installations and updates, and offer new services to the customers according to their needs and account eligibility. A program technician must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in navigating computer systems, to guide the clients with troubleshooting and improving the optimization of applications.
Program support technicians and program technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Program Support Technician | Program Technician | |
| Average salary | $36,653 | $42,891 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $52,000 | Between $25,000 And $71,000 |
| Highest paying City | Long Beach, CA | Bellingham, WA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Oregon |
| Best paying company | Mandiant | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Government |
There are a few differences between a program support technician and a program technician in terms of educational background:
| Program Support Technician | Program Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | California State University - Bakersfield | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between program support technicians' and program technicians' demographics:
| Program Support Technician | Program Technician | |
| Average age | 42 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 32.2% Female, 67.8% | Male, 34.4% Female, 65.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 14.2% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 13.2% Asian, 9.6% White, 57.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 19.9% Asian, 6.3% White, 55.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |