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The differences between senior support engineers and customer support engineers 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 support engineer and a customer support engineer. Additionally, a senior support engineer has an average salary of $107,037, which is higher than the $82,674 average annual salary of a customer support engineer.
The top three skills for a senior support engineer include java, customer service and troubleshoot. The most important skills for a customer support engineer are customer support, technical support, and customer service.
| Senior Support Engineer | Customer Support Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $107,037 | $82,674 |
| Hourly rate | $51.46 | $39.75 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 215,312 | 138,641 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A senior support engineer specializes in providing technical support to clients. They are typically in charge of working on complicated technical issues, resolving them promptly and efficiently. Their responsibilities include communicating with clients, addressing their needs, troubleshooting, and providing step by step solutions. They may also arrange repair appointments or refer clients to other services. Furthermore, as a senior support engineer, it is essential to lead and serve as a mentor to junior engineers, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
A customer support engineer is responsible for providing the highest customer service by responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns and resolving their complaints regarding the technical products of the company. Customer support engineers handle escalated requests, determine technical solutions, and write resolution reports for reference. They also manage the installation and upgrades of network systems based on clients' specifications to ensure that their systems work with maximum performance. A customer support engineer must have excellent communication and technical skills, especially in recommending improvements to prevent system failures and minimize customers' complaints.
Senior support engineers and customer support engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Support Engineer | Customer Support Engineer | |
| Average salary | $107,037 | $82,674 |
| Salary range | Between $83,000 And $137,000 | Between $59,000 And $114,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Washington |
| Best paying company | Amazon | Nokia |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior support engineer and a customer support engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Support Engineer | Customer Support Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between senior support engineers' and customer support engineers' demographics:
| Senior Support Engineer | Customer Support Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 88.1% Female, 11.9% | Male, 85.8% Female, 14.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.2% Asian, 15.2% White, 53.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 9.7% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 15.0% White, 54.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |