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The differences between supports and software support technicians 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 software support technician. Additionally, a software support technician has an average salary of $79,670, 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 software support technician are customer service, troubleshoot, and java.
| Support | Software Support Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $36,227 | $79,670 |
| Hourly rate | $17.42 | $38.30 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 136,788 | 117,059 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 44% | Bachelor's Degree, 59% |
| 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 software support technician is responsible for resolving software application issues, diagnosing related system failures, and writing resolution reports for reference. Software support technicians must be highly-familiarized with the system's infrastructure and interface to immediately diagnose malfunctions and identify maintenance techniques to prevent the reoccurrence of downtimes and delays. They also assist the system engineers in the configuration and optimization of networks, including the installment of upgrades and patch updates. A software support technician must have excellent organizational and communication skills, especially in navigating computer tools and applications to create support tickets and fix the customers' issues efficiently.
Supports and software support technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Support | Software Support Technician | |
| Average salary | $36,227 | $79,670 |
| Salary range | Between $24,000 And $54,000 | Between $55,000 And $113,000 |
| Highest paying City | Urban Honolulu, HI | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | California |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | RSM US |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Finance |
There are a few differences between a support and a software support technician in terms of educational background:
| Support | Software Support Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 44% | Bachelor's Degree, 59% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between supports' and software support technicians' demographics:
| Support | Software Support Technician | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 51.4% Female, 48.6% | Male, 73.8% Female, 26.2% |
| 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, 10.6% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.5% Asian, 12.4% White, 54.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |