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The differences between support specialists and technical 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 technical specialist. Additionally, a technical specialist has an average salary of $88,773, 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 technical specialist are customer service, technical support, and patients.
| Support Specialist | Technical Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $40,782 | $88,773 |
| Hourly rate | $19.61 | $42.68 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 125,740 | 121,151 |
| Job satisfaction | 3 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| 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.
The role of technical specialists is to provide technical support for applications and programs to staff members and customers within an organization. They train staff and customers on products and apps and offer advice on the best practices for utilizing technical programs and applications. They also design training materials to teach other staff members the most effective methods of using its technology. It is also their job to reduce company costs by looking for ways to improve productivity and lessen expenses.
Support specialists and technical specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Support Specialist | Technical Specialist | |
| Average salary | $40,782 | $88,773 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $64,000 | Between $62,000 And $126,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | New York | Delaware |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a support specialist and a technical specialist in terms of educational background:
| Support Specialist | Technical Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between support specialists' and technical specialists' demographics:
| Support Specialist | Technical Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% | Male, 71.2% Female, 28.8% |
| 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, 10.8% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 12.5% White, 54.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |