Technical Support Manager / Supervisor
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 Manager / Supervisor earns the following wages (national and state):
State
The average salary in North Carolina for those pursuing this career is $78,871
National
The average salary in the United States for those pursuing this career is $77,059
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
Manages the work of technical support staff for a company or retail electronics store. Coordinates and supervises technical support operations or technical support services to customers. May train technical staff and help to resolve customer issues.
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 | 109 | +11.9% |
| Nationwide | 3539 | +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 Manager / Supervisor 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.
- Planning: Working experience with the process of thinking about and organizing the activities required to achieve desired goals.
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.
- Scheduling: Working experience making schedules, which are basic time-management tools, consisting of a list of times at which possible tasks, events, or actions are intended to take place withing an organization.
- Budgeting: Experience planning how the financial resources of a business or department are to be allocated during the next business period.
- Customer Service: Working experience with the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase.
- Application Support: Experience providing technical support for software applications and technologies to a specific target audience, according to the needs of a business.
Distinguishing Skills
Any Technical Support Manager / Supervisor that possesses the following skills will stand out against the competition:
- Software Installation: Installation (or setup) of a computer program (including device drivers and plugins), is the act of making the program ready for execution.
- Computer Installation and Setup: Working experience installing software, device drivers, plugins and making a computer operational for use by setting up the hardware and software parts of the machine.
- Wide Area Network (WAN): A wide area network (WAN) is a telecommunications network or computer network that extends over a large geographical distance.
- IT Management: IT management is the discipline whereby all of the information technology resources of a firm are managed in accordance with its needs and priorities.
- System Administration: A system administrator, or sysadmin, is a person who is responsible for the upkeep, configuration, and reliable operation of computer systems; especially multi-user computers, such as servers.
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 | 24% |
| 3 to 5 years | 47% |
| 6 to 8 years | 16% |
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:
- Geek Squad Manager
- Help Desk Supervisor
- Application Support Manager
- Technical Support Supervisor
- Desktop Support Manager
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring similar occupations, you may want to research the following job titles: