Hire a Technical Support Engineer

Technical support engineers assist people using technology products like software, hardware, and other devices. They diagnose and troubleshoot technical problems, provide training, handle customer questions, and document technical support encounters.

A technical support engineer will help you ensure your internal teams and customers get high-quality technical assistance. They can help improve customer satisfaction while reducing negative reviews and churn by resolving or preventing technical issues. They can also help your internal departments run more smoothly by handling network, configuration, and other technological problems.

You may have difficulty hiring technical support engineers due to a competitive hiring market and a shortage of candidates with adequate technical skills. Additionally, you may not feel qualified to properly vet an applicant’s qualifications and abilities.

In this article, we’ll discuss the role of technical support engineers, including how much they earn, how to write a compelling job description, and how Revelo can help you easily hire remote technical support engineers.

What Is Technical Support Engineering?

Technical support engineering provides technical support to internal and external clients for various hardware and software issues. You can hire technical support engineers to support your customers using software solutions you’ve provided, or you can hire them to help your internal teams.

They’ll need specialized training if you hire them to support your software. If you hire them to support your internal teams, they’ll be qualified to resolve basic information technology issues and problems with hard and virtual drives.

What Does a Technical Support Engineer Do?

Technical support engineers help customers and clients by troubleshooting issues related to hardware and software. Their typical job duties include:

• Responding to requests for help by phone, in person, by email, or through chat
• Identifying and diagnosing technical problems and providing solutions to fix them
• Collaborating with other teams to solve complex problems
• Providing training and guidance to clients or customers on how to use technology
• Documenting their customer encounters, including what solutions they provided

Technical Support Engineer Salary

Technical support engineers are highly trained and provide value to businesses. They’re well-paid professionals, although they don’t earn as much as software developers. According to Glassdoor, the average salary for a mid-level technical support engineer with four to six years of experience in the U.S. is $70,479.

While technical support engineers in Latin American countries are equally skilled, the lower cost of living means they’re usually paid 30%-50% less than their US counterparts, with salaries varying based on location and experience. Revelo provides a cost-effective solution while offering highly qualified, pre-vetted Latin American developers.

How to Write a Job Description for a Technical Support Engineer

When hiring a technical support engineer, you’ll need a compelling job description to attract candidates. Start by determining what level of technical support engineer you need. A senior-level engineer can lead your tech support department, establish procedures, and mentor junior engineers. A mid-level engineer can contribute to an existing team, while a junior-level engineer will need a lot of supervision and guidance.

When you're ready to write your job description, include the following sections:

• Required qualifications/experience/education: This should be a succinct list of the skills, qualifications, and education you’re not willing to compromise on. Use a bulleted list for easy reading.
• Desired skills and traits: You can also include a bulleted list of the preferred but not mandatory skills you’d like for your ideal candidate to have. You can also include soft skills here, like problem-solving, communication, and time management skills.
• Job responsibilities: List everything the technical support engineer will be responsible for handling. Include information about whether this is an internal or external-facing role or both.
• Benefits: This section should include information about salary, insurance, retirement, and other perks of working for your company.
• Company info: Write a short blurb about your company, including your history, mission, vision, and culture.

Interview Questions for Technical Support Engineers

While technical support engineers need strong tech skills, they need equally strong people skills. They’re often dealing with non-tech people who are stressed out and aggravated. They need to be able to diffuse difficult situations and convey complex information. Here are some questions to help you evaluate a candidate’s technical expertise and soft skills.

What’s your process for handling a technical support issue?

With this question, you can get a good idea of a candidate’s work process. This also gives you a chance to evaluate their communication and troubleshooting skills. Look for an answer that includes a systematic approach and some version of the following steps:

• Ask the user about the problem, including any error messages or other issues
• Identify potential causes
• Develop a working theory about the cause of the problem
• Walk the user through a solution to see if the problem is resolved
• Keep iterating until the problem is solved

Describe a particularly challenging problem and how you solved it.

This will allow the candidate to demonstrate their problem-solving skills and ability to work with others. The details will vary, but look for an answer that illustrates a critical approach to finding and solving a problem, including collaborating with other experts if necessary.

How do you prioritize and manage your workload with multiple support tickets?

Tech support jobs can be demanding and high-stress. Engineers often have to deal with multiple problems simultaneously, so knowing how to prioritize work is essential. An ideal candidate should also be able to stay calm under pressure. A good answer will include a method for ranking support tickets based on urgency and impact, as well as the ability to work with other team members to resolve tickets in a timely manner.

Why Hire Technical Support Engineers With Revelo?

Technical support engineers are a vital part of a fully functioning team, but finding qualified tech support can be as challenging as finding talented engineers. They’re always in high demand, so hiring can take a while. At Revelo, we source highly-skilled tech talent from Latin America, putting each candidate through a rigorous vetting process. We’ll find appropriate candidates that meet your requirements and match you with them within days. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help.

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