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Software support engineer vs contract software engineer

The differences between software support engineers and contract 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 a contract software engineer. Additionally, a contract software engineer has an average salary of $102,925, which is higher than the $87,968 average annual salary of a software support engineer.

The top three skills for a software support engineer include java, software support and customer service. The most important skills for a contract software engineer are java, software development, and database.

Software support engineer vs contract software engineer overview

Software Support EngineerContract Software Engineer
Yearly salary$87,968$102,925
Hourly rate$42.29$49.48
Growth rate21%21%
Number of jobs364,072322,978
Job satisfaction4-
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Average age3939
Years of experience44

Software support engineer vs contract software engineer salary

Software support engineers and contract software engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Software Support EngineerContract Software Engineer
Average salary$87,968$102,925
Salary rangeBetween $67,000 And $114,000Between $76,000 And $138,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CA-
Highest paying stateCalifornia-
Best paying companyApple-
Best paying industryTechnology-

Differences between software support engineer and contract software engineer education

There are a few differences between a software support engineer and a contract software engineer in terms of educational background:

Software Support EngineerContract Software Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Most common majorComputer ScienceComputer Science
Most common collegeMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Software support engineer vs contract software engineer demographics

Here are the differences between software support engineers' and contract software engineers' demographics:

Software Support EngineerContract Software Engineer
Average age3939
Gender ratioMale, 80.5% Female, 19.5%Male, 89.8% Female, 10.2%
Race ratioBlack 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, 4.5% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 29.9% White, 52.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage8%8%

Differences between software support engineer and contract software engineer duties and responsibilities

Software support engineer example responsibilities.

  • Build, manage and maintain physical server hardware and perform upgrades and OS patching as needed.
  • Manage multiple Salesforce projects with tight deadlines effectively.
  • Manage multiple sandbox environments for Salesforce application testing.
  • Manage and troubleshoot new release/patch deployments and provide support for application relate problems.
  • Conduct several interviews with management and end-users which lead to finish the database application.
  • Design and maintain consumer portals in ASP.NET using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
  • Show more

Contract software engineer example responsibilities.

  • Implement a centralize configuration system for managing application settings, consisting of a desktop application with a WCF backend.
  • Develop API to allow diagnostic modules to be invoke from different languages and browsers.
  • Complete rewrite of network interfaces (TCP/IP/UDP) and API's to kernel level functions.
  • Work on development of XML reports from older technology for distribution to branches and managers.
  • Develop various reports in PDF format using various XML technologies to reflect contact and quote data.
  • Integrate outsourced UI into existing application.
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Software support engineer vs contract software engineer skills

Common software support engineer skills
  • Java, 11%
  • Software Support, 7%
  • Customer Service, 6%
  • Technical Support, 6%
  • C #, 5%
  • Troubleshoot, 5%
Common contract software engineer skills
  • Java, 8%
  • Software Development, 7%
  • Database, 6%
  • JavaScript, 6%
  • Http, 5%
  • API, 4%

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