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The differences between support leads and technical 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 lead and a technical support specialist. Additionally, a support lead has an average salary of $86,816, which is higher than the $48,667 average annual salary of a technical support specialist.
The top three skills for a support lead include customer service, cash management and POS. The most important skills for a technical support specialist are customer service, technical support, and troubleshoot.
| Support Lead | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $86,816 | $48,667 |
| Hourly rate | $41.74 | $23.40 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 98,872 | 157,425 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.6 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A support lead is typically in charge of overseeing the performance of a technical support team, ensuring efficiency and customer satisfaction. Their responsibilities revolve around assessing the performance of the workforce, resolving complex issues, identifying customer needs and sales opportunities, and training new team members. They may also perform calls and correspondence, respond to inquiries, and resolve issues promptly. Furthermore, as a support lead, it is essential to perform clerical tasks such as preparing progress reports, managing schedules, and maintaining records of transactions.
A technical support specialist is responsible for assisting customer's and businesses' concerns and system issues by performing troubleshooting and remote solutions. These specialists must have extensive knowledge of system applications, including software and hardware database to handle complex processes that might affect the end user's experience or the business' daily operations. Technical support specialists should maintain excellent communication skills to guide the client and business on solving network problems. They must also document concerns and progress promptly for reference and quality checks.
Support leads and technical support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Support Lead | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $86,816 | $48,667 |
| Salary range | Between $63,000 And $118,000 | Between $30,000 And $76,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Apple | Meta |
| Best paying industry | - | Finance |
There are a few differences between a support lead and a technical support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Support Lead | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between support leads' and technical support specialists' demographics:
| Support Lead | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 52.3% Female, 47.7% | Male, 75.4% Female, 24.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 14.6% White, 54.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 11.3% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |