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The differences between supports 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 support and a technical support engineer. Additionally, a technical support engineer has an average salary of $85,716, 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 technical support engineer are technical support, customer service, and troubleshoot.
| Support | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $36,227 | $85,716 |
| Hourly rate | $17.42 | $41.21 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 136,788 | 184,542 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 44% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| 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 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.
Supports and technical support engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Support | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Average salary | $36,227 | $85,716 |
| Salary range | Between $24,000 And $54,000 | Between $61,000 And $119,000 |
| Highest paying City | Urban Honolulu, HI | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Washington |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Technology |
There are a few differences between a support and a technical support engineer in terms of educational background:
| Support | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 44% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Business | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between supports' and technical support engineers' demographics:
| Support | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 51.4% Female, 48.6% | Male, 83.3% Female, 16.7% |
| 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, 9.8% 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% |