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The differences between software support engineers and associate software engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a software support engineer and an associate software engineer. Additionally, a software support engineer has an average salary of $87,968, which is higher than the $78,981 average annual salary of an associate software engineer.
The top three skills for a software support engineer include java, software support and customer service. The most important skills for an associate software engineer are java, python, and C++.
| Software Support Engineer | Associate Software Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $87,968 | $78,981 |
| Hourly rate | $42.29 | $37.97 |
| Growth rate | 21% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 364,072 | 298,481 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 80% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Working closely with a company's software development team, a software support engineer specializes in handling complex software issues and providing technical assistance to customers. Among their responsibilities include answering calls and correspondence, addressing problems and concerns, troubleshooting, providing step by step solutions, and referring clients to other services when necessary. Moreover, a software support engineer may also take part in software development procedures by creating test structures, identifying and eliminating bugs to ensure the quality and efficiency of software and applications.
An associate software engineer is an individual who is responsible for improving existing software or designing new application software. Working under the supervision of a senior software engineer and together with a team of engineering professionals, associate software engineers must be able to code software and ensure that it can run with different types of technology. They must have the technical knowledge and expertise of commanding programming languages such as JAVA, HTML, and CSS. Associate software engineers are also required to assist the QA team in testing the software before it is released to the customers.
Software support engineers and associate software engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Software Support Engineer | Associate Software Engineer | |
| Average salary | $87,968 | $78,981 |
| Salary range | Between $67,000 And $114,000 | Between $60,000 And $102,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Apple | JPMorgan Chase & Co. |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Finance |
There are a few differences between a software support engineer and an associate software engineer in terms of educational background:
| Software Support Engineer | Associate Software Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 80% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between software support engineers' and associate software engineers' demographics:
| Software Support Engineer | Associate Software Engineer | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 80.5% Female, 19.5% | Male, 67.3% Female, 32.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.1% Asian, 30.0% White, 52.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 7.7% Asian, 39.6% White, 43.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 8% |