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The differences between technical support agents and desktop 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 technical support agent and a desktop support specialist. Additionally, a desktop support specialist has an average salary of $44,962, which is higher than the $30,389 average annual salary of a technical support agent.
The top three skills for a technical support agent include customer service, email clients and technical support issues. The most important skills for a desktop support specialist are customer service, desktop support, and troubleshoot.
| Technical Support Agent | Desktop Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $30,389 | $44,962 |
| Hourly rate | $14.61 | $21.62 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 177,918 | 102,191 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 33% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A technical support agent specializes in providing computer and system support through calls and correspondence, ensuring optimal customer satisfaction. They are primarily responsible for assisting customers in troubleshooting and evaluating systems to figure out the cause of technical issues and talk them through its corresponding solution. Moreover, an agent must make follow-up calls to ensure that the problem no longer persists or forward them to higher authority personnel when necessary.
A Desktop Support Specialist is focused on troubleshooting different software packages, hardware devices, and other peripherals. They monitor the performance of the company's desktop infrastructure.
Technical support agents and desktop support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Technical Support Agent | Desktop Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $30,389 | $44,962 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $40,000 | Between $33,000 And $59,000 |
| Highest paying City | El Cajon, CA | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | New York | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | HP | Cornerstone Research |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Finance |
There are a few differences between a technical support agent and a desktop support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Technical Support Agent | Desktop Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 33% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between technical support agents' and desktop support specialists' demographics:
| Technical Support Agent | Desktop Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 57.7% Female, 42.3% | Male, 87.6% Female, 12.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 10.6% White, 56.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 11.2% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 12.3% White, 54.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |