Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between service desk specialists and 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 service desk specialist and a support specialist. Additionally, a service desk specialist has an average salary of $48,332, which is higher than the $40,782 average annual salary of a support specialist.
The top three skills for a service desk specialist include service desk, customer service and troubleshoot. The most important skills for a support specialist are customer service, patients, and mental health.
| Service Desk Specialist | Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $48,332 | $40,782 |
| Hourly rate | $23.24 | $19.61 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 100,806 | 125,740 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 3 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A service desk specialist is responsible for assisting the end-users' technical issues, resolving concerns usually through remote communication. Service desk specialists should have excellent knowledge of the technology industry, including system and server navigation, to identify the problem source and write resolutions for reference to avoid reoccurrence. They assist in developing strategic techniques to improve the system's performance by upgrading and updating its features. A service desk specialist records the observations of the database and develops other alternative resources to assess troubleshooting processes.
A support specialist is responsible for assisting technical and administrative support, depending on the business need. Support specialists must have extensive knowledge of the services of the organization they work for to assist customers with their inquiries and resolve complaints efficiently. A support specialist maintains documents of issue resolution, providing recommendations to improve business strategies and procedures. Support specialists must be well-versed on technology systems, perform basic troubleshooting, and secure databases. They should also have impeccable customer service and communication skills to attend with customers' needs and requests.
Service desk specialists and support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Service Desk Specialist | Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $48,332 | $40,782 |
| Salary range | Between $35,000 And $65,000 | Between $25,000 And $64,000 |
| Highest paying City | Sacramento, CA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | Pennsylvania | New York |
| Best paying company | Capgemini | Microsoft |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Technology |
There are a few differences between a service desk specialist and a support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Service Desk Specialist | Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between service desk specialists' and support specialists' demographics:
| Service Desk Specialist | Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 62.4% Female, 37.6% | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.2% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 11.4% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 10.4% White, 56.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |