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The differences between technical support specialists and customer service specialists 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 customer service specialist takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a technical support specialist has an average salary of $48,667, which is higher than the $33,238 average annual salary of a customer service specialist.
The top three skills for a technical support specialist include customer service, technical support and troubleshoot. The most important skills for a customer service specialist are customer service, strong customer service, and cleanliness.
| Technical Support Specialist | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $48,667 | $33,238 |
| Hourly rate | $23.40 | $15.98 |
| Growth rate | 10% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 157,425 | 223,323 |
| Job satisfaction | 4.6 | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Average age | 42 | 40 |
| 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.
Customer service specialists are employees who are responsible for providing the best customer experience to customers, usually for after-sales transactions. They attend to customers' inquiries and provide answers to their questions on products or services that the company offers. They also address customer complaints and help mitigate the concerns by offering solutions such as instructions on how to fix defects, or processing replacements or refunds. Customer service specialists also listen to customer feedback and ensure that these are logged properly so that proper departments will be able to receive them.
Technical support specialists and customer service specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Technical Support Specialist | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Average salary | $48,667 | $33,238 |
| Salary range | Between $30,000 And $76,000 | Between $26,000 And $42,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Meta | Dell |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a technical support specialist and a customer service specialist in terms of educational background:
| Technical Support Specialist | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | - |
Here are the differences between technical support specialists' and customer service specialists' demographics:
| Technical Support Specialist | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 75.4% Female, 24.6% | Male, 32.0% Female, 68.0% |
| 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, 11.6% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 20.0% Asian, 6.8% White, 55.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 7% |