Technical Support Engineer / Analyst
Career Area: Information Technology
Occupation Group: Network and Systems Support
Salary
Percentile wages tell how much a certain percentage of an overall population in a geographic area or within a given industry or field makes. The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall.
An example would be the 25th percentile, 25 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 75 percent earn more than the estimated wage value. At the 75th percentile, 75 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 25 percent earn more than the estimated wage value.
A typical Technical Support Engineer / Analyst earns the following wages (national and state):
State
The average salary in North Carolina for those pursuing this career is $66,976
National
The average salary in the United States for those pursuing this career is $68,298
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
Provides technical support as a part of an organization's information technology department, or assists customers with technical issues related to computer or technology products. Helps to maintain company computer and phone networks and troubleshoot problems Helps clients diagnose and solve computer or technology system problems.
Employment Trends
The job demand and job growth statistics shown here were derived from job posts over the past year. Expected job growth projections are extrapolated from year-over-year job post listing history.
Job demand and job growth is expected at the following rates:
| Location | Growth | |
|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 1962 | +11.9% |
| Nationwide | 56533 | +10.6% |
Skills
A professional in this position typically utilizes the following skills in the course of everyday work in this exciting and challenging field:
Baseline Skills
The following are baseline skills every Technical Support Engineer / Analyst is expected to have in order to experience success in this field:
- Troubleshooting: Troubleshooting or dpanneuring is a form of problem solving, often applied to repair failed products or processes on a machine or a system.
- Communication Skills: The ability to convey information to another effectively and efficiently.
- Problem Solving: Problem solving consists of using generic or ad hoc methods, in an orderly manner, for finding solutions to problems.
- Teamwork / Collaboration: Experience working in collaborative efforts with a team to achieve a common goal or to complete a task in the most effective and efficient way.
- Microsoft Office: Microsoft Office is an office suite of applications, servers, and services developed by Microsoft.
Specialized Skills
These skills are specific to working in this career:
- Technical Support: Technical support (often shortened to tech support) refers to a plethora of services by which enterprises provide assistance to users of technology products such as mobile phones, televisions, computers, software products or other informatic, electronic or mechanical goods.
- Customer Service: Working experience with the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase.
- Linux: Linux (pronounced LIN-ks or, less frequently, LYN-ks) is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open-source software development and distribution.
- It Support: Working experience of monitoring and maintaining the computer systems as well as the networks within an organisation.
- Microsoft Active Directory: Working experience of Microsoft Active Directory, which is a directory service that Microsoft developed for Windows domain networks. It is included in most Windows Server operating systems as a set of processes and services and is an umbrella title for a broad range of directory-based identity-related services. Active Directory stores information about objects on the network and makes this information easy for administrators and users to find and use. Active Directory uses a structured data store as the basis for a logical, hierarchical organization of directory information. A set of rules, the schema, that defines the classes of objects and attributes contained in the directory, the constraints and limits on instances of these objects, and the format of their names.
Distinguishing Skills
Any Technical Support Engineer / Analyst that possesses the following skills will stand out against the competition:
- Windows Server: Windows Server is a brand name for a group of server operating systems released by Microsoft.
- System/Network Configuration: A system configuration (SC) in systems engineering defines the computers, processes, and devices that compose the system and its boundary. More generally, the system configuration is the specific definition of the elements that define and/or prescribe what a system is composed of.
- Voice over IP (VoIP): Voice over Internet Protocol (also voice over IP, VoIP or IP telephony) is a methodology and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet.
- Network Support: Working experience with the maintenance of corporate networks, either as part of an organization's internal IT support team or as technical support staff of a third-party network technology provider.
- Microsoft Exchange: Microsoft Exchange A popular e-mail messaging system from Microsoft that runs on Windows servers. The server side is Microsoft Exchange Server and the featured client program is Microsoft Outlook, which includes contacts and calendaring. Prior to Outlook, which was introduced with Office 97, the Windows client was Exchange Client.
Experience
This position typically requires the following level of experience. The numbers presented in the pie charts below were derived from actual job posts over the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Experience Required | % |
| 0 to 2 years | 40% |
| 3 to 5 years | 44% |
| 6 to 8 years | 10% |
Many of the programs offered through NC State are designed for working professionals who need additional credentials to enhance existing work experience.
Students who do not have the expected level of experience may wish to look into internship and employment opportunities.
Common Job Titles
It is possible to find work in this field in positions commonly listed as the following job titles:
- Technical Support Engineer
- Desktop Support Engineer
- It Support Engineer
- It Support Specialist
- It Support Associate II
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