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Trainee vs information technology specialist

The differences between trainees and information technology 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 trainee and an information technology specialist. Additionally, an information technology specialist has an average salary of $81,241, which is higher than the $39,185 average annual salary of a trainee.

The top three skills for a trainee include customer service, CDL and training programs. The most important skills for an information technology specialist are customer service, troubleshoot, and computer system.

Trainee vs information technology specialist overview

TraineeInformation Technology Specialist
Yearly salary$39,185$81,241
Hourly rate$18.84$39.06
Growth rate5%10%
Number of jobs51,490122,519
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 56%Bachelor's Degree, 57%
Average age4342
Years of experience22

What does a trainee do?

Trainees' general responsibility is to familiarize themselves with the best practices and processes of their chosen careers. Some of the trainee's duties include shadowing with a tenured employee to understand various tasks, taking practical examinations to test knowledge extent, maintaining the eagerness to learn and a positive working attitude, assisting with customer inquiries, escalating concerns, and maintaining record progress. A trainee should be a team player, a fast learner, and the ability to handle constructive criticisms for improvement.

What does an information technology specialist do?

An Information Technology Specialist, also known as a Computer Professional or IT Specialist, is responsible for the computer support of an establishment or individual. Most of the duties require extensive and proactive knowledge of Information Technology, such as in the aspects of network and systems administration, security and information, hardware and software management, troubleshooting, and more. The tasks of an IT Specialist are diverse. It is not limited to installation or activation, as it also involves monitoring, management, and analyzation.

Trainee vs information technology specialist salary

Trainees and information technology specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

TraineeInformation Technology Specialist
Average salary$39,185$81,241
Salary rangeBetween $27,000 And $55,000Between $58,000 And $113,000
Highest paying CityRichmond, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateHawaiiCalifornia
Best paying companyClifford ChanceGoogle
Best paying industryFinanceTechnology

Differences between trainee and information technology specialist education

There are a few differences between a trainee and an information technology specialist in terms of educational background:

TraineeInformation Technology Specialist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 56%Bachelor's Degree, 57%
Most common majorBusinessComputer Science
Most common collegeStanford UniversityStanford University

Trainee vs information technology specialist demographics

Here are the differences between trainees' and information technology specialists' demographics:

TraineeInformation Technology Specialist
Average age4342
Gender ratioMale, 56.4% Female, 43.6%Male, 77.8% Female, 22.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.6% Asian, 13.8% White, 61.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%Black or African American, 12.2% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.7% Asian, 11.9% White, 54.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage9%11%

Differences between trainee and information technology specialist duties and responsibilities

Trainee example responsibilities.

  • Establish and manage Microsoft SharePoint services to servers to achieve higher productivity for each project.
  • Design scripts to automate the build of developer, QA, and production servers.
  • Accomplish the experiments on PCB layout, core circuit board of hardware via PCB manufacturing.
  • Maintain BOM (bill of materials) and manage the team in maintaining coordination between the customer requirements.
  • Involve using HTML, CSS, PHP, bootstrap, and Jquery throughout the work.
  • Assist in the creation of a python base ArcGIS profile elevation script tool.
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Information technology specialist example responsibilities.

  • Manage VmWare servers across the network to include patches, upgrades, move and cloning.
  • Manage devices by configuring network topology and making DNS records updates/creation.
  • Manage the configuration and performance management of all PC systems and telecommunications.
  • Perform second tier help desk support for U.S. Treasury web-base financial management system.
  • Learned Linux troubleshooting as well as basic HTML, CSS as well as learning the very base of SQL and PHP.
  • Assist with data cabling, setting up router, switches, WAP systems on LAN.
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Trainee vs information technology specialist skills

Common trainee skills
  • Customer Service, 22%
  • CDL, 9%
  • Training Programs, 9%
  • Work Ethic, 7%
  • Basic Math, 6%
  • Math, 5%
Common information technology specialist skills
  • Customer Service, 24%
  • Troubleshoot, 10%
  • Computer System, 7%
  • Database, 5%
  • DOD, 5%
  • System Software, 4%

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