System administrator consultant vs help desk administrator

The differences between system administrator consultants and help desk 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 system administrator consultant and a help desk administrator. Additionally, a system administrator consultant has an average salary of $103,544, which is higher than the $49,798 average annual salary of a help desk administrator.

The top three skills for a system administrator consultant include troubleshoot, sharepoint and windows server. The most important skills for a help desk administrator are customer service, desk support, and troubleshoot.

System administrator consultant vs help desk administrator overview

	System Administrator Consultant	Help Desk Administrator
Yearly salary	$103,544	$49,798
Hourly rate	$49.78	$23.94
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	117,847	130,180
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 52%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	2	2

System administrator consultant vs help desk administrator salary

System administrator consultants and help desk administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	System Administrator Consultant	Help Desk Administrator
Average salary	$103,544	$49,798
Salary range	Between $80,000 And $133,000	Between $34,000 And $71,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	California	New Jersey
Best paying company	Adobe	Houlihan Lokey
Best paying industry	Professional	Finance

Differences between system administrator consultant and help desk administrator education

There are a few differences between a system administrator consultant and a help desk administrator in terms of educational background:

	System Administrator Consultant	Help Desk Administrator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 52%
Most common major	Computer Science	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	Stanford University

System administrator consultant vs help desk administrator demographics

Here are the differences between system administrator consultants' and help desk administrators' demographics:

	System Administrator Consultant	Help Desk Administrator
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 84.2% Female, 15.8%	Male, 74.3% Female, 25.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 11.6% White, 61.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.8% Asian, 8.8% White, 63.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between system administrator consultant and help desk administrator duties and responsibilities

System administrator consultant example responsibilities.

Manage and consult clients on mail, backup and DNS hosting services.
Manage all new install projects for servers, switches, and other network resources.
Manage local Linux firewall configurations to harden server access.
Manage firewall access and policies including VPN configuration and deployment.
Establish data security policy and manage all firewalls in the enterprise.
Lead enterprise-wide virtualization effort, overseeing and personally completing vendor/hardware qualifications, architecture/design, installation, configuration, migration and documentation.

Help desk administrator example responsibilities.

Create, deploy and manage VMWare virtual desktops as well as configured customize pools for specific operational needs.
Manage the PC refresh program transferring all user data remotely and installing require software applications.
Configure, establish and manage local area network (LAN) connectivity and remote access per customer configuration requirements.
Administer DNS / DHCP servers, work with network administer to make sure the tables are updating correctly.
Administer IP address allocation through DHCP management.
Assist in the deployment of new POS applications and hardware.

System administrator consultant vs help desk administrator skills

Common system administrator consultant skills

Troubleshoot, 10%
SharePoint, 8%
Windows Server, 8%
SAN, 7%
Cloud, 7%
Server Administration, 5%

Common help desk administrator skills

Customer Service, 11%
Desk Support, 7%
Troubleshoot, 6%
Technical Support, 5%
Phone Calls, 4%
Remote Desktop, 4%

System Administrator Consultant vs. similar jobs

System Administrator Consultant related careers

System Administrator Consultant related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Computer and Mathematical Industry
System Administrator Consultant
System Administrator Consultant vs Help Desk Administrator

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse computer and mathematical jobs