Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between support specialists and systems 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 systems support specialist. Additionally, a systems support specialist has an average salary of $61,744, 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 systems support specialist are customer service, troubleshoot, and technical support.
| Support Specialist | Systems Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $40,782 | $61,744 |
| Hourly rate | $19.61 | $29.68 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 125,740 | 159,364 |
| Job satisfaction | 3 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 54% |
| 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 systems support specialist is responsible for assisting end-users on system issues, including network configuration and improving network infrastructure. System support specialists implement network strategies alongside the whole technology team to boost the system's efficiency and optimal performance. They create resolution reports for reference and write recommendations to prevent system defects and inconsistencies. A systems support specialist also handles network installations and upgrades, requiring them to have excellent technical skills and knowledge of programming languages.
Support specialists and systems support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Support Specialist | Systems Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $40,782 | $61,744 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $64,000 | Between $41,000 And $91,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Centreville, VA |
| Highest paying state | New York | Virginia |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | Koch Industries |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a support specialist and a systems support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Support Specialist | Systems Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 54% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between support specialists' and systems support specialists' demographics:
| Support Specialist | Systems Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% | Male, 73.4% Female, 26.6% |
| 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, 11.9% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.7% Asian, 10.6% White, 56.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |