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The differences between technical support engineers and associate software 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 technical support engineer, becoming an associate software engineer takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a technical support engineer has an average salary of $85,716, which is higher than the $78,981 average annual salary of an associate software engineer.
The top three skills for a technical support engineer include technical support, customer service and troubleshoot. The most important skills for an associate software engineer are java, python, and C++.
| Technical Support Engineer | Associate Software Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $85,716 | $78,981 |
| Hourly rate | $41.21 | $37.97 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 184,542 | 298,481 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 80% |
| Average age | 42 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 4 |
A technical support engineer is responsible for responding to customer issues, providing immediate resolutions to their system issues through remote assistance. Technical support engineers must have strong knowledge of software and hardware applications to diagnose system defects and process troubleshooting. They also assist customers with the installation of programs and updates to improve system performance, escalating high-level concerns to appropriate internal technology teams. A technical support engineer must have strong command with technical systems, as well as excellent communication and time-management skills to understand clients' issues while documenting procedures.
An associate software engineer is an individual who is responsible for improving existing software or designing new application software. Working under the supervision of a senior software engineer and together with a team of engineering professionals, associate software engineers must be able to code software and ensure that it can run with different types of technology. They must have the technical knowledge and expertise of commanding programming languages such as JAVA, HTML, and CSS. Associate software engineers are also required to assist the QA team in testing the software before it is released to the customers.
Technical support engineers and associate software engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Technical Support Engineer | Associate Software Engineer | |
| Average salary | $85,716 | $78,981 |
| Salary range | Between $61,000 And $119,000 | Between $60,000 And $102,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Meta | JPMorgan Chase & Co. |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Finance |
There are a few differences between a technical support engineer and an associate software engineer in terms of educational background:
| Technical Support Engineer | Associate Software Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 80% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between technical support engineers' and associate software engineers' demographics:
| Technical Support Engineer | Associate Software Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 83.3% Female, 16.7% | Male, 67.3% Female, 32.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.8% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 15.0% White, 54.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 4.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 7.7% Asian, 39.6% White, 43.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 8% |