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The differences between technical support technicians and computer 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 technician and a computer support technician. Additionally, a computer support technician has an average salary of $41,852, which is higher than the $40,210 average annual salary of a technical support technician.
The top three skills for a technical support technician include customer service, technical support and patients. The most important skills for a computer support technician are customer service, technical support, and computer support.
| Technical Support Technician | Computer Support Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $40,210 | $41,852 |
| Hourly rate | $19.33 | $20.12 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 165,677 | 121,180 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
Technical support technicians are skilled professionals who resolve computer or information technology-related concerns. They may do installations, repairs, or maintenance activities of various applications or computer hardware. They are sometimes assigned specific issues or concerns to resolve so that they will not be bombarded with various issues. This means that they can now specialize in a specific family of concerns. Technical support technicians may provide on-site support, going directly to the person who needs help and doing what needs to be done or troubleshoot the problem in person. They may also be offsite and would usually be manning helpdesk hotlines. Offsite technical support technicians walk the caller through the steps they should do to fix the issues. As such, when a technical support technician is offsite, they are expected to be good communicators and will be able to provide clear instructions.
A computer support technician is responsible for diagnosing and resolving computer and network issues, identifying the source of malfunctions, and improving infrastructure to avoid downtimes and operational delays. Computer support technicians manage the efficiency of all equipment and peripherals for the computers, assist in installing components, and keeping adequate resources or alternatives for defective items. They also recommend minimal costs technology materials and create troubleshooting manuals for reference, ensuring that the network processes adhere to internal guidelines and regulations.
Technical support technicians and computer support technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Technical Support Technician | Computer Support Technician | |
| Average salary | $40,210 | $41,852 |
| Salary range | Between $24,000 And $64,000 | Between $34,000 And $51,000 |
| Highest paying City | Philadelphia, PA | Lompoc, CA |
| Highest paying state | Pennsylvania | California |
| Best paying company | Ropes & Gray | Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a technical support technician and a computer support technician in terms of educational background:
| Technical Support Technician | Computer Support Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between technical support technicians' and computer support technicians' demographics:
| Technical Support Technician | Computer Support Technician | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 66.7% Female, 33.3% | Male, 83.2% Female, 16.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 10.6% White, 56.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 10.7% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% Asian, 11.7% White, 55.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |