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The differences between technical support specialists and software support technicians 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 specialist and a software support technician. Additionally, a software support technician has an average salary of $79,670, which is higher than the $48,667 average annual salary of a technical support specialist.
The top three skills for a technical support specialist include customer service, technical support and troubleshoot. The most important skills for a software support technician are customer service, troubleshoot, and java.
Technical Support Specialist | Software Support Technician | |
Yearly Salary | $48,667 | $79,670 |
Hourly rate | $23.40 | $38.30 |
Growth Rate | 10% | 10% |
Number Of Jobs | 157,425 | 117,059 |
Job Satisfaction | 4.6 | - |
Most Common Degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 59% |
Average Age | 42 | 42 |
Years Of Experience | 2 | 2 |
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.
A software support technician is responsible for resolving software application issues, diagnosing related system failures, and writing resolution reports for reference. Software support technicians must be highly-familiarized with the system's infrastructure and interface to immediately diagnose malfunctions and identify maintenance techniques to prevent the reoccurrence of downtimes and delays. They also assist the system engineers in the configuration and optimization of networks, including the installment of upgrades and patch updates. A software support technician must have excellent organizational and communication skills, especially in navigating computer tools and applications to create support tickets and fix the customers' issues efficiently.
Technical support specialists and software support technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
Technical Support Specialist | Software Support Technician | |
Average Salary | $48,667 | $79,670 |
Salary Range | Between $30,000 And $76,000 | Between $55,000 And $113,000 |
Highest Paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
Highest Paying State | New Jersey | California |
Best Paying Company | Meta | RSM US |
Best Paying Industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a technical support specialist and a software support technician in terms of educational background:
Technical Support Specialist | Software Support Technician | |
Most Common Degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 59% |
Most Common Major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
Most Common College | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between technical support specialists' and software support technicians' demographics:
Technical Support Specialist | Software Support Technician | |
Average Age | 42 | 42 |
Gender Ratio | Male, 75.4% Female, 24.6% | Male, 73.8% Female, 26.2% |
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, 10.6% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.5% Asian, 12.4% White, 54.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |