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The differences between trainees and technical 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 technical support specialist. Additionally, a technical support specialist has an average salary of $48,667, 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 technical support specialist are customer service, technical support, and troubleshoot.
| Trainee | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $39,185 | $48,667 |
| Hourly rate | $18.84 | $23.40 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 51,490 | 157,425 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.6 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 56% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| 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 technical support specialist is responsible for assisting customer's and businesses' concerns and system issues by performing troubleshooting and remote solutions. These specialists must have extensive knowledge of system applications, including software and hardware database to handle complex processes that might affect the end user's experience or the business' daily operations. Technical support specialists should maintain excellent communication skills to guide the client and business on solving network problems. They must also document concerns and progress promptly for reference and quality checks.
Trainees and technical support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Trainee | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $39,185 | $48,667 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $55,000 | Between $30,000 And $76,000 |
| Highest paying City | Richmond, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Clifford Chance | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a trainee and a technical support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Trainee | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 56% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between trainees' and technical support specialists' demographics:
| Trainee | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 43 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 56.4% Female, 43.6% | Male, 75.4% Female, 24.6% |
| 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, 11.7% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 11.3% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 11% |