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The differences between technical assistants 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 technical assistant and a technical specialist. Additionally, a technical specialist has an average salary of $88,773, which is higher than the $34,159 average annual salary of a technical assistant.
The top three skills for a technical assistant include patients, customer service and patient care. The most important skills for a technical specialist are customer service, technical support, and patients.
| Technical Assistant | Technical Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $34,159 | $88,773 |
| Hourly rate | $16.42 | $42.68 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 73,750 | 121,151 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A technical assistant is responsible for supporting business operations by doing administrative and technical tasks under a direct supervisor or tenured staff. Duties of a technical assistant include creating meeting reports, scheduling events, responding to clients' inquiries through email and phone calls, monitoring office inventories, basic troubleshooting on defective equipment, providing recommendations on product development, and analyzing operations processes. Technical assistants require strong time-management and multi-tasking skills to perform tasks in a fast-paced environment and high-level operations.
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.
Technical assistants and technical specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Technical Assistant | Technical Specialist | |
| Average salary | $34,159 | $88,773 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $51,000 | Between $62,000 And $126,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Delaware |
| Best paying company | The American Musical and Dramatic Academy | Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner |
| Best paying industry | Insurance | Technology |
There are a few differences between a technical assistant and a technical specialist in terms of educational background:
| Technical Assistant | Technical Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between technical assistants' and technical specialists' demographics:
| Technical Assistant | Technical Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 54.8% Female, 45.2% | Male, 71.2% Female, 28.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 15.8% Asian, 11.9% White, 55.4% 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% |