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The differences between senior desktop support technicians and technical 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 senior desktop support technician and a technical support specialist. Additionally, a senior desktop support technician has an average salary of $58,384, which is higher than the $48,667 average annual salary of a technical support specialist.
The top three skills for a senior desktop support technician include desktop support, troubleshoot and PC. The most important skills for a technical support specialist are customer service, technical support, and troubleshoot.
| Senior Desktop Support Technician | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $58,384 | $48,667 |
| Hourly rate | $28.07 | $23.40 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 107,160 | 157,425 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.6 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A senior desktop support technician must look after customer projects and guide desktop technicians on their team. Customers often come to companies for troubleshooting issues with their computers. A senior desktop support technician maintains customer relationships, maintains hardware and software standards, and manages computer activities. This position requires a bachelor's degree.
A technical support specialist is responsible for assisting customer's and businesses' concerns and system issues by performing troubleshooting and remote solutions. These specialists must have extensive knowledge of system applications, including software and hardware database to handle complex processes that might affect the end user's experience or the business' daily operations. Technical support specialists should maintain excellent communication skills to guide the client and business on solving network problems. They must also document concerns and progress promptly for reference and quality checks.
Senior desktop support technicians and technical support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Desktop Support Technician | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $58,384 | $48,667 |
| Salary range | Between $39,000 And $85,000 | Between $30,000 And $76,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | - | Meta |
| Best paying industry | - | Finance |
There are a few differences between a senior desktop support technician and a technical support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Senior Desktop Support Technician | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between senior desktop support technicians' and technical support specialists' demographics:
| Senior Desktop Support Technician | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 92.5% Female, 7.5% | Male, 75.4% Female, 24.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.2% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% Asian, 11.4% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 11.3% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |