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Technical systems engineer vs technical consultant

The differences between technical systems engineers and technical consultants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a technical systems engineer, becoming a technical consultant takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a technical systems engineer has an average salary of $101,163, which is higher than the $89,290 average annual salary of a technical consultant.

The top three skills for a technical systems engineer include cloud, troubleshoot and linux. The most important skills for a technical consultant are java, database, and customer service.

Technical systems engineer vs technical consultant overview

Technical Systems EngineerTechnical Consultant
Yearly salary$101,163$89,290
Hourly rate$48.64$42.93
Growth rate5%9%
Number of jobs192,058173,374
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 58%Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age4343
Years of experience26

What does a technical systems engineer do?

Technical Systems Engineers are responsible for maintaining the integrity of the infrastructure or systems network. They build, maintain, and repair all the systems and network infrastructure of the organization. They troubleshoot problems and find the best possible solution to address such problems. They also ensure that those problems will be resolved and would never be encountered again. Technical Systems Engineers also help out in information technology or network infrastructure projects of other departments. They provide expertise on the systems-related aspects of the project. They help guide project teams on the feasibility and the success factors of the project.

What does a technical consultant do?

A technical consultant is an individual who provides technical support and performs troubleshooting functions for the company's product or application. A consultant should be highly knowledgeable about the product or application so that he/she can assist users and clients with whatever issues they may be facing. A bachelor's degree is required to work as a technical consultant, particularly a degree in Computer Science or Engineering. Also, a consultant should conduct training sessions and therefore, must possess excellent communication skills.

Technical systems engineer vs technical consultant salary

Technical systems engineers and technical consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.

Technical Systems EngineerTechnical Consultant
Average salary$101,163$89,290
Salary rangeBetween $73,000 And $138,000Between $67,000 And $118,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASeattle, WA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaWashington
Best paying companyTwitterPillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
Best paying industryFinanceProfessional

Differences between technical systems engineer and technical consultant education

There are a few differences between a technical systems engineer and a technical consultant in terms of educational background:

Technical Systems EngineerTechnical Consultant
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 58%Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common majorComputer ScienceComputer Science
Most common collegeStanford UniversityStanford University

Technical systems engineer vs technical consultant demographics

Here are the differences between technical systems engineers' and technical consultants' demographics:

Technical Systems EngineerTechnical Consultant
Average age4343
Gender ratioMale, 88.6% Female, 11.4%Male, 79.1% Female, 20.9%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.7% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.4% Asian, 10.7% White, 62.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 15.3% White, 58.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage9%8%

Differences between technical systems engineer and technical consultant duties and responsibilities

Technical systems engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage PGP encryption for secure data transmissions.
  • Provide in-house DNS hosting services for corporate and customers zones and manage SSL certificates.
  • Manage the LAN infrastructure, partitioning of data, and administration of software security.
  • Manage all virtualization efforts across the company.
  • Develop Perl scripts to automate object model and functional mapping into the application metadata and database.
  • Install & configure SQL server & SAN server for new applications supporting company, customer & business database.
  • Show more

Technical consultant example responsibilities.

  • Develop several Unix scripts to automate routine operating system and application maintenance tasks.
  • Lead design, development and implementation of business intelligence and ETL solutions for client organizations.
  • Collaborate with developers, technical leads and management to develop technical standards for PL/SQL coding and documentation.
  • Create and manage several SharePoint team sites to host, communicate and collaborate about project information and documentation.
  • Provide emergency support to internal/external customers requiring the ability to effectively manage multiple tasks and rapidly troubleshoot complex applications.
  • Extract, clean and validate from XML file into database using SSIS task (XML source).
  • Show more

Technical systems engineer vs technical consultant skills

Common technical systems engineer skills
  • Cloud, 7%
  • Troubleshoot, 5%
  • Linux, 5%
  • Windows Server, 4%
  • Technical Support, 4%
  • PowerShell, 4%
Common technical consultant skills
  • Java, 9%
  • Database, 5%
  • Customer Service, 5%
  • Project Management, 5%
  • C #, 4%
  • Technical Support, 4%

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