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The differences between technical support technicians and technical support trainers 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 technical support trainer. Additionally, a technical support trainer has an average salary of $45,722, 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 technical support trainer are customer service, product support, and technical support.
| Technical Support Technician | Technical Support Trainer | |
| Yearly salary | $40,210 | $45,722 |
| Hourly rate | $19.33 | $21.98 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 165,677 | 168,898 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 59% |
| 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 technical support trainer specializes in creating training programs meant to mold workers into becoming valuable members of a company workforce. Their responsibilities revolve around identifying the trainees' needs, providing written and verbal instructions, addressing and resolving inquiries and concerns, conducting skills assessments, managing schedules, monitoring attendance and performance, and providing consultations to trainees. Furthermore, as a trainer, it is essential to lead and encourage trainees to achieve their goals, all while implementing and emphasizing the company's policies and regulations.
Technical support technicians and technical support trainers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Technical Support Technician | Technical Support Trainer | |
| Average salary | $40,210 | $45,722 |
| Salary range | Between $24,000 And $64,000 | Between $25,000 And $82,000 |
| Highest paying City | Philadelphia, PA | Mountain View, CA |
| Highest paying state | Pennsylvania | California |
| Best paying company | Ropes & Gray | T.D. Williamson |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Technology |
There are a few differences between a technical support technician and a technical support trainer in terms of educational background:
| Technical Support Technician | Technical Support Trainer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 59% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between technical support technicians' and technical support trainers' demographics:
| Technical Support Technician | Technical Support Trainer | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 66.7% Female, 33.3% | Male, 64.3% Female, 35.7% |
| 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, 16.2% Asian, 10.6% White, 56.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |