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The differences between supports and computer 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 support and a computer support specialist. Additionally, a computer support specialist has an average salary of $63,926, which is higher than the $36,227 average annual salary of a support.
The top three skills for a support include customer service, cash management and customer satisfaction. The most important skills for a computer support specialist are computer support, troubleshoot, and technical support.
| Support | Computer Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $36,227 | $63,926 |
| Hourly rate | $17.42 | $30.73 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 136,788 | 114,029 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 44% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A support employee is responsible for assisting the business operations and responding to customers' inquiries and concerns regarding its goods and services. Support logs all customers' interaction and escalates potential complaints to the appropriate department. They also help with implementing strategic procedures to improve operations and reach maximum productivity. A support employee must have excellent communication and customer service skills, ensuring clients' satisfaction with the services and maintain good feedback to boost the company's brand, attract more clients, and increase revenues.
A Computer Support Specialist is responsible for providing the highest customer service for clients with technical and system issues, resolving network failures, and creating support tickets for IT personnel. Computer Support Specialists utilize various system tools and applications to diagnose end-users network issues and conduct immediate troubleshooting. They also help the IT staff design and improve system features and infrastructures and create instructional manuals for deliverables. A Computer Support Specialist must have excellent technical and communication skills to document customers' requests and identify system solutions.
Supports and computer support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Support | Computer Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $36,227 | $63,926 |
| Salary range | Between $24,000 And $54,000 | Between $44,000 And $91,000 |
| Highest paying City | Urban Honolulu, HI | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Washington |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Technology |
There are a few differences between a support and a computer support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Support | Computer Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 44% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between supports' and computer support specialists' demographics:
| Support | Computer Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 51.4% Female, 48.6% | Male, 80.1% Female, 19.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 10.6% White, 56.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.5% Asian, 11.2% White, 55.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |