Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between services desk 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 services desk technician and a technical support specialist. Additionally, a technical support specialist has an average salary of $48,667, which is higher than the $42,123 average annual salary of a services desk technician.
The top three skills for a services desk technician include service desk, customer service and troubleshoot. The most important skills for a technical support specialist are customer service, technical support, and troubleshoot.
| Services Desk Technician | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $42,123 | $48,667 |
| Hourly rate | $20.25 | $23.40 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 145,853 | 157,425 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.6 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
Service Desk Technicians are technicians who specialize in providing support to clients. They are usually in fields related to information technology, and they provide technical support to the employees of the organization. They usually help clients in installing, updating, repairing, or maintaining technical components. They are technology-savvy and should be able to communicate well. Most of the time, Service Desk Technicians are contacted through phone calls and thus should be able to guide callers over the phone. They are also expected to be patient and to be customer service-oriented.
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.
Services desk technicians and technical support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Services Desk Technician | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $42,123 | $48,667 |
| Salary range | Between $31,000 And $55,000 | Between $30,000 And $76,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Forum Energy Technologies | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Government | Finance |
There are a few differences between a services desk technician and a technical support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Services Desk Technician | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Most common major | Information Technology | Computer Science |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between services desk technicians' and technical support specialists' demographics:
| Services Desk Technician | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 79.0% Female, 21.0% | Male, 75.4% Female, 24.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 10.9% White, 55.8% 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% |