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The differences between technical support specialists and 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 specialist and a support specialist. Additionally, a technical support specialist has an average salary of $48,667, which is higher than the $40,782 average annual salary of a support specialist.
The top three skills for a technical support specialist include customer service, technical support and troubleshoot. The most important skills for a support specialist are customer service, patients, and mental health.
| Technical Support Specialist | Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $48,667 | $40,782 |
| Hourly rate | $23.40 | $19.61 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 157,425 | 125,740 |
| Job satisfaction | 4.6 | 3 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| 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 support specialist is responsible for assisting technical and administrative support, depending on the business need. Support specialists must have extensive knowledge of the services of the organization they work for to assist customers with their inquiries and resolve complaints efficiently. A support specialist maintains documents of issue resolution, providing recommendations to improve business strategies and procedures. Support specialists must be well-versed on technology systems, perform basic troubleshooting, and secure databases. They should also have impeccable customer service and communication skills to attend with customers' needs and requests.
Technical support specialists and support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Technical Support Specialist | Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $48,667 | $40,782 |
| Salary range | Between $30,000 And $76,000 | Between $25,000 And $64,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | New York |
| Best paying company | Meta | Microsoft |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Technology |
There are a few differences between a technical support specialist and a support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Technical Support Specialist | Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between technical support specialists' and support specialists' demographics:
| Technical Support Specialist | Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 75.4% Female, 24.6% | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% |
| 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, 11.5% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 10.4% White, 56.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |