Becoming a Technical Support Specialist via Online Education?

At the very least, online education can help you lay a foundation and/or open up alternate career paths. Kaplan University, one of the highest ranking online schools, is a US school (accredited) offering computer networking courses to train individuals to become top-notch computer networking developers, network engineers, network specialists, network managers, network administrators, etc. Currently, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics there are 540,560 people employed as computer support specialists alone in America, and their average annual salary is $47,360. Colleges and universities like Kaplan University that provide online education are successfully launching workers into this field.

Typical Work Locations for a Technical Support Specialist
  • Computer and Information Systems Managing Firms
  • Computer Science Companies
  • Computer SoftwareEngineering Companies
  • Computer Support Firms
  • Computer Systems Analysis Companies
  • Technical Support Companies
  • System administration Companies
  • Business Intelligence Firms
  • Computer Security Companies
  • Data Warehousing Companies
Potential Advantages and Benefits of Working as a Technical Support Specialist
  • Able to solve networking solution
  • Specialist administrator in client solution
  • Expert in storage and managing application
  • Resolving every problem immediately
  • Solving database management solution
  • Provide technical needs
  • Ability to build good community
  • Assists the technology product
  • Head of technical support system
  • Ability to work flexible hours
Potential Drawbacks
  • Use of multiple user support tools
  • Troubleshoot and drive customer dealing
  • Requests a timely satisfactory resolution
  • Relate and empathize with customers needs especially if they are frustrated
  • Complex technical problems in "customer friendly" language
  • Work ethic leads to high output
  • Quickly find creative ways to solve customer problems
  • Reach the most highly qualified pool
  • Part of the enterprise application support organization
  • Emergency services
Related Professions to Consider
  • Chemistry Technical Support Specialist
  • Technical Support Specialist
  • Bilingual Spanish Network Engineer
  • Technical Support Administrator
  • ICAN Technical Support Specialist
  • AIX Technical Support Specialist
  • Technical Support Specialist: CLAS Support
  • Senior Technical Support Specialist: File Transfer
  • Senior Technical Support Specialist
  • Senior Technical Support Specialist: Network Mana
Possible Interview Questions When Applying to be a Technical Support Specialist
  • What are your long-term career aspirations?
  • Provide an example of a complex technical problem you recently had to deal with and the steps you took.?
  • Describe a situation where you had a difficult task to perform or problem to solve?
  • What is the difference between analog and digital?
  • What is a VPN?
  • What sized hard drive is typically found in a laptop?
  • What sized hard drive is typically found in a desktop?
  • Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
  • What do you know about our company?
  • How do you reset an IP address?
Common Collaborating Professions
  • Peripheral Computer Support Agent
  • Fiducial Support Systems
  • Mapping Analyst
  • Additional Technical Support Analyst
  • Computer Technical Support Employee
  • Stat Soft Technician
  • Computer System Specialist
  • Qwest Services Agent
  • Citi Mortgage Service Technician
  • Support Technicians
Technical Support Specialist Training books Technical Support Specialist (More) Popular books Potential Companies to Work For Common College Majors
  • PC Configuring
  • Networking and Troubleshooting
  • Installation and Configuration
  • Application Support
  • Diagnostics and Repair
  • Technical Support
  • Introduction to Windows
  • Intro to Programming
  • Network Basics
  • Computer Maintenance

Technical Support Specialist Salary Information

Category: Computer support specialists

Total # Employed in the US 540,560
Average Hourly Wage: $22.77/hr
Hourly Wage Range
PERCENTILE
10%25%50%75%90%
$13.08 $16.5 $21.3 $27.54 $34.95
Average Yearly Salary $47,360
Yearly Salary Range
PERCENTILE
10%25%50%75%90%
$27,200 $34,320 $44,300 $57,290 $72,690
Employment Demographics
% OF WORKERS WITH
< High School Diploma High School Diploma Some College Associate Degree Bachelor Degree Master Degree Doctoral Degree
1.0% 12.5% 29.4% 16.0% 33.1% 7.2% 0.9%
Computer support specialists — WAGES BY STATE, SORTED BY SALARY
STATEAverage Hourly WageAverage Annual Salary
Missouri $28.96/hr $60,230
Florida $27.85/hr $57,920
Delaware $26.89/hr $55,920
District of Columbia $26.27/hr $54,630
Colorado $25.52/hr $53,080
Oklahoma $25.27/hr $52,570
Mississippi $24.98/hr $51,950
Connecticut $24.9/hr $51,790
North Dakota $24.62/hr $51,210
Kansas $24.53/hr $51,010
Arkansas $23.27/hr $48,400
North Carolina $23.01/hr $47,860
Nebraska $22.93/hr $47,700
Wyoming $22.76/hr $47,330
Indiana $22.71/hr $47,240
Idaho $22.64/hr $47,100
Alaska $22.63/hr $47,070
New York $22.42/hr $46,630
Puerto Rico $22.3/hr $46,380
Oregon $22.1/hr $45,960
Ohio $21.73/hr $45,190
Tennessee $21.47/hr $44,650
Montana $21.32/hr $44,350
Virginia $21.25/hr $44,210
New Hampshire $20.79/hr $43,250
Utah $20.79/hr $43,250
Wisconsin $20.78/hr $43,220
Massachusetts $20.74/hr $43,150
Guam $20.59/hr $42,830
Michigan $20.31/hr $42,250
Alabama $20.16/hr $41,940
Louisiana $20.12/hr $41,850
South Carolina $20.07/hr $41,750
Washington $20.02/hr $41,640
Maine $19.75/hr $41,090
Kentucky $19.54/hr $40,630
Hawaii $19.39/hr $40,320
New Mexico $19.33/hr $40,200
Iowa $19.31/hr $40,160
Maryland $19.13/hr $39,780
Nevada $18.59/hr $38,670
New Jersey $18.2/hr $37,850
South Dakota $18.03/hr $37,500
California $18.02/hr $37,480
Pennsylvania $17.95/hr $37,350
West Virginia $16.89/hr $35,140


Computer Networking Programs by State & City