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The differences between technical support specialists and certified medical technicians 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 specialist, becoming a certified medical technician takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a technical support specialist has an average salary of $48,667, which is higher than the $38,859 average annual salary of a certified medical technician.
The top three skills for a technical support specialist include customer service, technical support and troubleshoot. The most important skills for a certified medical technician are patients, vital signs, and CPR.
| Technical Support Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $48,667 | $38,859 |
| Hourly rate | $23.40 | $18.68 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 157,425 | 164,424 |
| Job satisfaction | 4.6 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Average age | 42 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 12 |
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.
Certified Medical Technicians are specialists in medical diagnoses by performing laboratory testing and analysis for hospitals and physicians. Their duties include lab sanitization to prepare for testing and collection, recording medical samples for testing, specimen preparation, blood drawing for donation and testing, and assisting physicians with sample collection as well as equipment handling in surgical rooms. They must also understand how to use complex and sensitive testing equipment such as cell counters, analyzers, microscopes, and centrifuges.
Technical support specialists and certified medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Technical Support Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average salary | $48,667 | $38,859 |
| Salary range | Between $30,000 And $76,000 | Between $28,000 And $53,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Denton, TX |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Meta | Favorite Healthcare Staffing |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a technical support specialist and a certified medical technician in terms of educational background:
| Technical Support Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Nursing |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Connecticut |
Here are the differences between technical support specialists' and certified medical technicians' demographics:
| Technical Support Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average age | 42 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 75.4% Female, 24.6% | Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 15.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 10.0% White, 53.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 8% |