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The differences between service desk associates and customer service advisors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a service desk associate and a customer service advisor. Additionally, a service desk associate has an average salary of $40,699, which is higher than the $32,029 average annual salary of a customer service advisor.
The top three skills for a service desk associate include service desk, customer service and sales floor. The most important skills for a customer service advisor are taking care, strong customer service, and standard operating procedure.
| Service Desk Associate | Customer Service Advisor | |
| Yearly salary | $40,699 | $32,029 |
| Hourly rate | $19.57 | $15.40 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 99,676 | 235,256 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 33% | Bachelor's Degree, 33% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A service desk associate will answer and respond to the inquiries and requests from both employees and customers, either through telephone calls, emails, or in person. Your duties as a service desk associate will vary depending on the sector you work in. These duties may include capturing and validating queries and issues for processing, communicating with users via different channels, and advising users on the appropriate action to address their concerns. You will also be responsible for escalating unresolved issues to a much higher support level and providing security support and advice.
A customer service advisor is responsible for providing the best customer service by responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns regarding the goods and services offered by the organization. Customer service advisors assist customers with their needs by recommending product selection, offering new products and services, and informing the customers of promotional offers to generate revenues and increase profitability. They also resolve customers' issues, escalating high-level complaints to a customer service lead or supervisor for immediate resolution.
Service desk associates and customer service advisors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Service Desk Associate | Customer Service Advisor | |
| Average salary | $40,699 | $32,029 |
| Salary range | Between $15,000 And $105,000 | Between $26,000 And $39,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | - | Alaska |
| Best paying company | - | Teledyne Technologies Incorporated |
| Best paying industry | - | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a service desk associate and a customer service advisor in terms of educational background:
| Service Desk Associate | Customer Service Advisor | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 33% | Bachelor's Degree, 33% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between service desk associates' and customer service advisors' demographics:
| Service Desk Associate | Customer Service Advisor | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 23.6% Female, 76.4% | Male, 51.5% Female, 48.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.7% Asian, 6.2% White, 59.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 12.1% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 20.6% Asian, 6.7% White, 54.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |