What does a technical support technician do?
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.
Technical support technician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real technical support technician resumes:
- Manage paperwork associate with HVAC procedures.
- Manage backups, replications and disaster recovery plans of company mission critical servers and database files to ensure redundancy.
- Configure firewalls, setup ant-ivirus and other software to ensure proper network connectivity for windows xp, vista and mac os.
- Assist in database software applications and implementing SQL server solutions.
- Provide routine and advance technical support to customers for a major VOIP telecommunications company.
- Provide daily in-person and telephonic customer support services and information to resolve and troubleshoot work-relate.
- Assist clients with technical support by phone and e-mail using Mozilla Thunderbird, assist with troubleshooting on-site cameras sometimes using Linux
- Assist managers with coaching on QA and efficiency.
- Perform QA inspector for incoming material and sampling/ testing.
- Support mac users with user login issue, software install and printer setup.
- Learn about new devices and android operating system updates to stay current with technology.
- Assist with issues on the android platform or with any of the contractor's other products.
- Assist customers, dealers and technicians to process parts and service warranty orders using CRM computer system.
- Document steps taken to resolve end user issues maintaining case resolution in historical records (CRM database).
- Embed organization's Facebook page into the YPF's website using Java script, HTML, and Facebook API.
Technical support technician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 19% of Technical Support Technicians are proficient in Customer Service, Technical Support, and Patients. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Listening skills, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Technical Support Technicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 19%
Provide excellent customer service and full technical support including troubleshooting and repairs all Samsung's products in North Connecticut and South Massachusetts
- Technical Support, 16%
Assigned additional responsibility as technical support for 240+ wireless PCs, training of PC users and resident network configuration maintenance
- Patients, 8%
Contacted appropriate agencies for patients who presented with potential domestic issues, while upholding company privacy policies and patient confidentiality.
- Customer Support, 2%
Provided customer support for a better understanding and resolution of their systems, including procedural documentation and relevant reports.
- Mac, 2%
Gathered and researched information to provide expert advice on Windows and Mac operating systems including image testing and program stability.
- OS, 2%
Install OS software and application software, verifying correct utilization and implementation.
Most technical support technicians use their skills in "customer service," "technical support," and "patients" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential technical support technician responsibilities here:
Customer-service skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a technical support technician to have is customer-service skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "computer support specialists must be patient and sympathetic." Technical support technicians often use customer-service skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "fine-tuned my performance in technical customer support by reviewing learning resources and familiarizing myself with pertinent information in my down time. "
Listening skills. Another essential skill to perform technical support technician duties is listening skills. Technical support technicians responsibilities require that "support workers must be able to understand the problems that their customers are describing and know when to ask questions to clarify the situation." Technical support technicians also use listening skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "provided customer support by asking questions and listening to customers in order to understand their needs, requests, or problems. "
Problem-solving skills. This is an important skill for technical support technicians to perform their duties. For an example of how technical support technician responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "support workers must identify both simple and complex computer problems, analyze them, and solve them." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a technical support technician: "provided on-demand, customized customer support solutions in call center environment for advanced and second-tier hardware/software for servers and workstations. ".
Speaking skills. For certain technical support technician responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "speaking skills." The day-to-day duties of a technical support technician rely on this skill, as "support workers must describe the solutions to computer problems in a way that a nontechnical person can understand." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what technical support technicians do: "presented a service above and beyond the required matrix allowing for an increase of customer support. "
Writing skills. Another common skill required for technical support technician responsibilities is "writing skills." This skill comes up in the duties of technical support technicians all the time, as "strong writing skills are useful for preparing instructions and email responses for employees and customers, as well as for real-time web chat interactions." An excerpt from a real technical support technician resume shows how this skill is central to what a technical support technician does: "produced technical writing for client software support, training and reporting needs. "
The three companies that hire the most technical support technicians are:
- Dave & Buster's283 technical support technicians jobs
- Cerner
31 technical support technicians jobs
- Averitt Express27 technical support technicians jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable technical support technician resume templates
Build a professional technical support technician resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your technical support technician resume.
Compare different technical support technicians
Technical support technician vs. Systems support
A systems support agent is responsible for resolving system applications and network issues, performing technical configuration, and upgrading systems infrastructure. A systems support representative conducts regular maintenance and diagnostic tests on the computer applications to ensure its optimal performance and efficiency to support business operations and avoid delays in deliverables. They also assist the technology team in designing backup systems and improve existing networks according to business requirements and specifications. They write resolution reports for reference to prevent the reoccurrence of system malfunction and inconsistencies.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a technical support technician are more likely to require skills like "patients," "sql," "inbound calls," and "customer issues." On the other hand, a job as a systems support requires skills like "troubleshoot," "pc," "provides technical support," and "end user support." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Systems supports earn the highest salaries when working in the professional industry, with an average yearly salary of $72,760. On the other hand, technical support technicians are paid more in the finance industry with an average salary of $52,365.The education levels that systems supports earn slightly differ from technical support technicians. In particular, systems supports are 3.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a technical support technician. Additionally, they're 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Technical support technician vs. System technician
A system technician is an individual responsible for supporting users with issues related to the computer system. System technicians conduct appropriate diagnostics on computer issues and must be able to explain technical issues to clients or team members. They should carry out tests on the system so that they can generate error reports to identify and fix any computer system problems. System technicians also can write and maintain computer programs and work with computers and electronics, including circuit boards, computer hardware and software, and computer processors.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that technical support technician responsibilities requires skills like "patients," "customer support," "desktop support," and "inbound calls." But a system technician might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "hand tools," "preventative maintenance," "control systems," and "security systems."
On average, system technicians earn a higher salary than technical support technicians. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, system technicians earn the most pay in the government industry with an average salary of $58,665. Whereas technical support technicians have higher pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $52,365.In general, system technicians achieve similar levels of education than technical support technicians. They're 0.7% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for technical support technicians in the next 3-5 years?
Ming Chow
Associate Teaching Professor, Tufts University
References:
1. cybersecurity
2. cybersecurity
Technical support technician vs. Computer technician
Computer technicians are skilled information technology professionals who handle concerns related to computers. They are responsible for assisting clients in software installations, troubleshooting needs, and repair needs. Computer technicians handle the maintenance and repair of both software and hardware of computers. They should be able to quickly pinpoint the causes of computer problems that the client encounters. They should also be able to answer the clients' computer-related inquiries and provide advice on proper computer handling. Computer technicians should have good analytical skills and decision-making skills.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a technical support technician is likely to be skilled in "patients," "desktop support," "sql," and "inbound calls," while a typical computer technician is skilled in "desk support," "laptop computers," "computer equipment," and "microsoft windows."
Computer technicians earn the highest salary when working in the government industry, where they receive an average salary of $48,277. Comparatively, technical support technicians have the highest earning potential in the finance industry, with an average salary of $52,365.When it comes to education, computer technicians tend to earn similar degree levels compared to technical support technicians. In fact, they're 0.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Technical support technician vs. Administrative technical support
Administrative technical support maintains every technical set-up used in a company. Their primary responsibility is to inspect a company's systems, evaluate for issues, and repair any problems immediately. Administrative technical support is typically on call at the start of the day and, when they are not responding to calls, they conduct regular check-ups on all company systems. They are also responsible for creating technical reports and offering recommendations for improvements.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between technical support technicians and administrative technical supports, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a technical support technician might have more use for skills like "patients," "os," "desktop support," and "sql." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of administrative technical supports require skills like "troubleshoot," "phone calls," "data entry," and "desk support. "
Administrative technical supports reach similar levels of education compared to technical support technicians, in general. The difference is that they're 3.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of technical support technician
Updated January 8, 2025
