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The differences between supervisors, technical support and technical support engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a supervisor, technical support and a technical support engineer. Additionally, a supervisor, technical support has an average salary of $87,039, which is higher than the $85,716 average annual salary of a technical support engineer.
The top three skills for a supervisor, technical support include customer service, customer satisfaction and direct reports. The most important skills for a technical support engineer are technical support, customer service, and troubleshoot.
| Supervisor, Technical Support | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $87,039 | $85,716 |
| Hourly rate | $41.85 | $41.21 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 147,833 | 184,542 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A supervisor of technical support oversees the technical support operations in a company, ensuring efficiency and client satisfaction. It is their duty to set guidelines and timelines, monitor the daily operations of staff, coordinate with managers and engineers, delegate tasks among teams, and liaise with potential business partners. There are also instances where they assist clients through calls and correspondence, assisting them with their concerns and inquiries. Moreover, a technical support supervisor must lead teams while enforcing the company's standards and policies.
A technical support engineer is responsible for responding to customer issues, providing immediate resolutions to their system issues through remote assistance. Technical support engineers must have strong knowledge of software and hardware applications to diagnose system defects and process troubleshooting. They also assist customers with the installation of programs and updates to improve system performance, escalating high-level concerns to appropriate internal technology teams. A technical support engineer must have strong command with technical systems, as well as excellent communication and time-management skills to understand clients' issues while documenting procedures.
Supervisors, technical support and technical support engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Supervisor, Technical Support | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Average salary | $87,039 | $85,716 |
| Salary range | Between $62,000 And $121,000 | Between $61,000 And $119,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | Washington |
| Best paying company | Applied Materials | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Technology |
There are a few differences between a supervisor, technical support and a technical support engineer in terms of educational background:
| Supervisor, Technical Support | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Business | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between supervisors, technical support' and technical support engineers' demographics:
| Supervisor, Technical Support | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 74.6% Female, 25.4% | Male, 83.3% Female, 16.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 10.6% White, 56.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 9.8% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 15.0% White, 54.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |