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The differences between support specialists 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 specialist and a computer support specialist. Additionally, a computer support specialist has an average salary of $63,926, which is higher than the $40,782 average annual salary of a support specialist.
The top three skills for a support specialist include customer service, patients and mental health. The most important skills for a computer support specialist are computer support, troubleshoot, and technical support.
| Support Specialist | Computer Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $40,782 | $63,926 |
| Hourly rate | $19.61 | $30.73 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 125,740 | 114,029 |
| Job satisfaction | 3 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A support specialist is responsible for assisting technical and administrative support, depending on the business need. Support specialists must have extensive knowledge of the services of the organization they work for to assist customers with their inquiries and resolve complaints efficiently. A support specialist maintains documents of issue resolution, providing recommendations to improve business strategies and procedures. Support specialists must be well-versed on technology systems, perform basic troubleshooting, and secure databases. They should also have impeccable customer service and communication skills to attend with customers' needs and requests.
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.
Support specialists and computer support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Support Specialist | Computer Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $40,782 | $63,926 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $64,000 | Between $44,000 And $91,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | Washington |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a support specialist and a computer support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Support Specialist | Computer Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between support specialists' and computer support specialists' demographics:
| Support Specialist | Computer Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% | Male, 80.1% Female, 19.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 10.4% White, 56.4% 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% |