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The differences between supports and customer 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 support and a customer support engineer. Additionally, a customer support engineer has an average salary of $82,674, 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 customer support engineer are customer support, technical support, and customer service.
| Support | Customer Support Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $36,227 | $82,674 |
| Hourly rate | $17.42 | $39.75 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 136,788 | 138,641 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 44% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| 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 customer support engineer is responsible for providing the highest customer service by responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns and resolving their complaints regarding the technical products of the company. Customer support engineers handle escalated requests, determine technical solutions, and write resolution reports for reference. They also manage the installation and upgrades of network systems based on clients' specifications to ensure that their systems work with maximum performance. A customer support engineer must have excellent communication and technical skills, especially in recommending improvements to prevent system failures and minimize customers' complaints.
Supports and customer support engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Support | Customer Support Engineer | |
| Average salary | $36,227 | $82,674 |
| Salary range | Between $24,000 And $54,000 | Between $59,000 And $114,000 |
| Highest paying City | Urban Honolulu, HI | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Washington |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | Nokia |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Technology |
There are a few differences between a support and a customer support engineer in terms of educational background:
| Support | Customer Support Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 44% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Business | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Stanford University | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between supports' and customer support engineers' demographics:
| Support | Customer Support Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 51.4% Female, 48.6% | Male, 85.8% Female, 14.2% |
| 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, 9.7% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 15.0% White, 54.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |