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The differences between systems support engineers and service engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a systems support engineer, becoming a service engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a service engineer has an average salary of $87,151, which is higher than the $82,561 average annual salary of a systems support engineer.
The top three skills for a systems support engineer include linux, troubleshoot and technical support. The most important skills for a service engineer are customer service, infrastructure, and cloud.
| Systems Support Engineer | Service Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $82,561 | $87,151 |
| Hourly rate | $39.69 | $41.90 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 182,434 | 143,806 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Average age | 43 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 6 |
Systems support engineers are information technology professionals who are responsible for building and maintaining the IT infrastructure of an organization. They are required to provide network administration and technical support to identify complex problem issues and come up with solutions to solve them. They must assist the system support engineers in accomplishing any projects they are working with. They must troubleshoot servers, personal computers, and peripheral equipment while liaising with their customers. They must also create and maintain user accounts and implement group policy management through an active directory.
A service engineer is responsible for assisting the customers' concerns regarding the products and services offered by the company through technical support solutions. Service engineers conduct preventive maintenance, upgrade systems to boost optimal performance, create product manuals, record the occurring issues, perform adjustments on the systems infrastructure, identify business opportunities to generate more revenues, and analyze current market trends to meet client demands. A service engineer must have excellent communication skills, including extensive knowledge of the technology industry and network systems.
Systems support engineers and service engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Systems Support Engineer | Service Engineer | |
| Average salary | $82,561 | $87,151 |
| Salary range | Between $62,000 And $109,000 | Between $62,000 And $122,000 |
| Highest paying City | Novato, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Apple | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Technology |
There are a few differences between a systems support engineer and a service engineer in terms of educational background:
| Systems Support Engineer | Service Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between systems support engineers' and service engineers' demographics:
| Systems Support Engineer | Service Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 89.5% Female, 10.5% | Male, 91.8% Female, 8.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 11.5% White, 62.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 3.3% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 13.2% White, 69.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 5% |