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The differences between technical support trainers 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 trainer and a support specialist. Additionally, a technical support trainer has an average salary of $45,722, which is higher than the $40,782 average annual salary of a support specialist.
The top three skills for a technical support trainer include customer service, product support and technical support. The most important skills for a support specialist are customer service, patients, and mental health.
| Technical Support Trainer | Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $45,722 | $40,782 |
| Hourly rate | $21.98 | $19.61 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 168,898 | 125,740 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 3 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
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.
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 trainers and support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Technical Support Trainer | Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $45,722 | $40,782 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $82,000 | Between $25,000 And $64,000 |
| Highest paying City | Mountain View, CA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | California | New York |
| Best paying company | T.D. Williamson | Microsoft |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a technical support trainer and a support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Technical Support Trainer | Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between technical support trainers' and support specialists' demographics:
| Technical Support Trainer | Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 64.3% Female, 35.7% | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% |
| Race ratio | 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% | 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% |