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The differences between support specialists and information technology administrators 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 an information technology administrator. Additionally, an information technology administrator has an average salary of $73,195, 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 an information technology administrator are customer service, troubleshoot, and linux.
| Support Specialist | Information Technology Administrator | |
| Yearly salary | $40,782 | $73,195 |
| Hourly rate | $19.61 | $35.19 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 125,740 | 159,499 |
| Job satisfaction | 3 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 56% |
| Average age | 42 | 43 |
| 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.
An Information Technology (IT) administrator is an individual responsible for managing the day-to-day operation of an organization's IT systems and ensuring that the systems are running effectively. IT administrators must conduct consistent analyses of the computer system and install updates when needed. They are required to assess the organization's security programs and run the system for viruses and spyware. IT administrators also extend support to the organization's end-users and train them on desktop applications.
Support specialists and information technology administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Support Specialist | Information Technology Administrator | |
| Average salary | $40,782 | $73,195 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $64,000 | Between $50,000 And $105,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | California |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | Databricks |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Finance |
There are a few differences between a support specialist and an information technology administrator in terms of educational background:
| Support Specialist | Information Technology Administrator | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 56% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between support specialists' and information technology administrators' demographics:
| Support Specialist | Information Technology Administrator | |
| Average age | 42 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% | Male, 81.6% Female, 18.4% |
| 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, 9.1% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 9.8% White, 63.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 9% |