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The differences between technical support agents and technical 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 technical support specialist. Additionally, a technical support specialist has an average salary of $48,667, 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 specialist are customer service, technical support, and troubleshoot.
| Technical Support Agent | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $30,389 | $48,667 |
| Hourly rate | $14.61 | $23.40 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 177,918 | 157,425 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.6 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 33% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| 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 technical support specialist is responsible for assisting customer's and businesses' concerns and system issues by performing troubleshooting and remote solutions. These specialists must have extensive knowledge of system applications, including software and hardware database to handle complex processes that might affect the end user's experience or the business' daily operations. Technical support specialists should maintain excellent communication skills to guide the client and business on solving network problems. They must also document concerns and progress promptly for reference and quality checks.
Technical support agents and technical support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Technical Support Agent | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $30,389 | $48,667 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $40,000 | Between $30,000 And $76,000 |
| Highest paying City | El Cajon, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | HP | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Finance |
There are a few differences between a technical support agent and a technical support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Technical Support Agent | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 33% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between technical support agents' and technical support specialists' demographics:
| Technical Support Agent | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 57.7% Female, 42.3% | Male, 75.4% Female, 24.6% |
| 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, 11.7% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 11.3% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |