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The differences between technical support agents and technical support representatives 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 technical support representative. Additionally, a technical support representative has an average salary of $34,758, 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 technical support representative are customer calls, smartphones, and technical support calls.
| Technical Support Agent | Technical Support Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $30,389 | $34,758 |
| Hourly rate | $14.61 | $16.71 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 177,918 | 212,082 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 33% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| 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.
Technical Support Representatives specialize in customer support through calls or correspondence. Among the primary responsibilities of a Technical Support Representative involves receiving and making calls, address and troubleshoot issues raised by the client, assist when navigating through complicated applications, provide suggestions or recommendations, or elevate the problem to personnel with higher expertise when necessary. Furthermore, a Technical Support Representative must coordinate with supervisors at all times, remain patient and proactive, and as well as maintain and organize records of each handled calls.
Technical support agents and technical support representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Technical Support Agent | Technical Support Representative | |
| Average salary | $30,389 | $34,758 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $40,000 | Between $27,000 And $44,000 |
| Highest paying City | El Cajon, CA | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | New York | Maryland |
| Best paying company | HP | HP |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a technical support agent and a technical support representative in terms of educational background:
| Technical Support Agent | Technical Support Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 33% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between technical support agents' and technical support representatives' demographics:
| Technical Support Agent | Technical Support Representative | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 57.7% Female, 42.3% | Male, 61.5% Female, 38.5% |
| 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, 11.4% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.8% Asian, 10.6% White, 56.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |