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The differences between trainees 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 trainee and a support specialist. Additionally, a support specialist has an average salary of $40,782, 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 a support specialist are customer service, patients, and mental health.
| Trainee | Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $39,185 | $40,782 |
| Hourly rate | $18.84 | $19.61 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 51,490 | 125,740 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 3 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 56% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 43 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
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.
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.
Trainees and support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Trainee | Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $39,185 | $40,782 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $55,000 | Between $25,000 And $64,000 |
| Highest paying City | Richmond, CA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | New York |
| Best paying company | Clifford Chance | Microsoft |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Technology |
There are a few differences between a trainee and a support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Trainee | Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 56% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between trainees' and support specialists' demographics:
| Trainee | Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 43 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 56.4% Female, 43.6% | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% |
| Race ratio | Black 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, 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 | 9% | 11% |