Tier vs help desk specialist

The differences between tiers and help desk 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 tier and a help desk specialist. Additionally, a help desk specialist has an average salary of $51,065, which is higher than the $34,679 average annual salary of a tier.

The top three skills for a tier include technical support, linux and voip. The most important skills for a help desk specialist are customer service, troubleshoot, and technical support.

Tier vs help desk specialist overview

	Tier	Help Desk Specialist
Yearly salary	$34,679	$51,065
Hourly rate	$16.67	$24.55
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	19,864	75,004
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 35%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	2	2

Tier vs help desk specialist salary

Tiers and help desk specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Tier	Help Desk Specialist
Average salary	$34,679	$51,065
Salary range	Between $24,000 And $49,000	Between $35,000 And $73,000
Highest paying City	-	New York, NY
Highest paying state	-	Alaska
Best paying company	-	Schulte Roth & Zabel
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between tier and help desk specialist education

There are a few differences between a tier and a help desk specialist in terms of educational background:

	Tier	Help Desk Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 35%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common major	Computer Science	Computer Science
Most common college	Stanford University	University of Pennsylvania

Tier vs help desk specialist demographics

Here are the differences between tiers' and help desk specialists' demographics:

	Tier	Help Desk Specialist
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 65.1% Female, 34.9%	Male, 79.4% Female, 20.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.0% Asian, 11.2% White, 55.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 12.3% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.3% Asian, 11.6% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between tier and help desk specialist duties and responsibilities

Tier example responsibilities.

Manage incoming call queue handling basic NOC tasks and more advance VOIP such as provisioning sites and performing disconnects.
Manage paperwork associate with HVAC procedures.
Support a wide range proprietary Unix and SQL base applications.
Require to maintain basic knowledge of Linux commands to properly access certain network equipment.
Maintain, install and operate network communication devices such as routers and switches with provide configurations.
Have knowledge of SQL query skills and awareness of corporate data security policies relate to privacy and personal identifying information.

Help desk specialist example responsibilities.

Manage network software deployment, imaging/backup and unattend OS installations
Develop, implement, and support customized manage VPN solutions for customers.
Work as tier II/III technical support representative helping customers troubleshoot hardware/software problems in high volume call center.
Support CITRIX by resolving connectivity issues when problems are reported.
Assist clients with Cisco VoIP, or Cisco AnyConnect troubleshooting, and escalation to higher tiers, as necessary.
Repair PCs and printers install software supervise interns

Tier vs help desk specialist skills

Common tier skills

Technical Support, 11%
Linux, 10%
VoIP, 9%
Switches, 7%
Inbound Calls, 5%
Remedy, 4%

Common help desk specialist skills

Customer Service, 13%
Troubleshoot, 8%
Technical Support, 6%
Desk Support, 6%
Phone Calls, 5%
Client Facing, 4%