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The differences between technician system specialists and technical 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 technician system specialist and a technical support technician. Additionally, a technician system specialist has an average salary of $80,694, which is higher than the $40,210 average annual salary of a technical support technician.
The top three skills for a technician system specialist include database, technical support and troubleshoot. The most important skills for a technical support technician are customer service, technical support, and patients.
| Technician System Specialist | Technical Support Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $80,694 | $40,210 |
| Hourly rate | $38.80 | $19.33 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 87,806 | 165,677 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
In the information technology industry, a technical system specialist is in charge of developing and maintaining computer systems. Their responsibilities typically include providing technical support to clients and employees, identifying the needs of projects and programs, drafting designs and schematics, and producing regular progress reports. They may also address issues and concerns, troubleshoot, perform routine maintenance checks, and conduct repairs. Furthermore, a technical system specialist may supervise and train new staff members, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
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.
Technician system specialists and technical support technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Technician System Specialist | Technical Support Technician | |
| Average salary | $80,694 | $40,210 |
| Salary range | Between $53,000 And $122,000 | Between $24,000 And $64,000 |
| Highest paying City | Jersey City, NJ | Philadelphia, PA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Pennsylvania |
| Best paying company | Emergent BioSolutions | Ropes & Gray |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a technician system specialist and a technical support technician in terms of educational background:
| Technician System Specialist | Technical Support Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between technician system specialists' and technical support technicians' demographics:
| Technician System Specialist | Technical Support Technician | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 81.8% Female, 18.2% | Male, 66.7% Female, 33.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 11.5% White, 54.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |