Systems Support Specialist

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Systems Support Specialist provides technical support for the computer and communications systems at a business or organization. Installs and configures computer software, hardware and equipment, and provides troubleshooting for network issues. Manages documentation, maintenance and repairs. May provide help desk support or manage user accounts.

Job Outlook

There were 220 Systems Support Specialist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 7288 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Computer Support Specialist industry, which includes the Systems Support Specialist career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:

Salary

Many new Systems Support Specialist jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.

National

The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $71,512.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $76,019.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Systems Support Specialist postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $55,370.

Education and Experience

Posted Systems Support Specialist jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.

Education Level	Percentage
Associate's Degree	0%
Bachelor's Degree	34.08%
Master's Degree	2.95%
Doctoral Degree	0.51%
Other	21.03%

Posted Systems Support Specialist jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Years of Experience	Percentage
0 to 2 years	40.53%
3 to 5 years	46.14%
6 to 8 years	8.98%
9+ years	4.35%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Systems Support Specialist positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.

Baseline Skills

A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.

Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (67.47%)
Communication (43.85%)
Operations (34.93%)
Management (28.92%)
Problem Solving (26.47%)
Customer Service (24.59%)
Microsoft Office (16.49%)
Information Technology (16.23%)
Detail Oriented (13.87%)
Writing (12.03%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

Technical Support (27.47%)
Control Systems (21.16%)
Operating Systems (29.75%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

End-User Training And Support (8.4%)
Continuous Improvement Process (5.13%)
Active Directory (13.22%)
Building Management System (7.25%)
Automation (10.56%)
Backup Devices (5.94%)
HVAC (8.64%)
Auditing (5.91%)
Business Systems (2.57%)
Business Process (3.15%)
Computer Science (21.34%)
Help Desk Support (16.25%)
Computer Networks (6.87%)
System Administration (11.42%)
Distributed Control Systems (4.05%)
Computer Hardware (11.44%)
Information Systems (11.81%)
Linux (7.81%)
Desktop Support (5.04%)
Windows Servers (3.95%)
Cyber Security (5.54%)
Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) (11.58%)
Issue Tracking (10.05%)
SQL (Programming Language) (6.2%)
Local Area Networks (7.19%)
System Support (8.01%)
Project Management (12.08%)
Process Control (3.51%)
Network Switches (4.92%)
Network Routing (4.56%)
Peripheral Devices (11.68%)
Programmable Logic Controllers (11.14%)
Commissioning (6.09%)
Human Machine Interfaces (7.92%)
Microsoft Office 365 (6.21%)
ServiceNow (5.1%)

Distinguishing Skills

A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.

LonWorks (2.44%)

Salary Boosting Skills

A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.

LonWorks (5.01%)
Technical Support (56.41%)
Operating Systems (61.09%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Systems Support Specialist skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

Technology Support Specialist
Control Systems Technician
Support Specialist
Systems Support Technician
Controls Engineer
Systems Support Representative
Litigation Support Analyst
Access Control Technician
Application Support Specialist

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Systems Support Specialist jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

Insight Global (99)
Contact Government Services (88)
Deloitte (77)
Aerotek (67)
Johnson Controls (64)
Cushman & Wakefield (61)
M.C. Dean (57)
TEKsystems (55)
Amazon (52)
Actalent (49)

North Carolina

University of North Carolina (8)
Go-Forth Pest Control (7)
Genesis10 (6)
Actalent (4)
Insight Enterprises (4)
ManpowerGroup (4)
Johnson Controls (3)
Biogen (3)
Anistar Technologies (3)
Doosan Fuel Cell America (3)

All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.

Information Technology