A 3rd Level support specialist is the most skilled person who can provide service support regarding a product or service. If you’re someone passionate about helping people with their technical issues, a career in IT support might be right for you. Today we discuss the role of a 3rd level support expert – what they do, the skills required, and the career path!
What is Third Level Support?
We’ve already introduced the role of the first level support and talked about the job of second-level support. These professionals make up the first two tiers within the technical support and today we take a closer look at the third level support.
Tier III or Level 3, is the uppermost level of support in a technical support model accountable for resolving the most difficult problems. They are also known as back-end support, level 3 support, high-end support, and many other titles. The title denotes expert-level support for troubleshooting.
3rd level support is the final stage of customer support that comes into play when customers are faced with issues that the 1st and 2nd level support is unable to help with.
While the first two levels of support focus more on general concerns and remote IT support, 3rd level support deal with more complex and technical issues, and then derive efficient solutions for the customers.
The 3rd level support has in-depth knowledge of IT products and is often made up of creators, engineers or IT architects that are able to provide such highly technical support.
Responsibilities
Level 3 support technicians are specialists in their areas and are accountable for assisting both 1st and 2nd level technicians. They are also responsible for research and development of resolutions to new and emerging issues. 3rd level also works to assess and prioritize customer needs in accordance with time spent coming up with solutions.
As soon as the 3rd level supporter has solved a customer problem, he archives and saves these solutions. He also passes them on to the entire support team so that they can be brought up to date.
Daily tasks of a 3rd level support technician:
- Troubleshooting and configuration of customer issues
- Database administration and development
- Performing server repairs
- Dealing with network and infrastructure
- Creating data center updates
- Developing and deploying solutions to new problems
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Skills
Someone looking to offer third level support should generally be interested in IT, and developing software and administration solutions. In terms of soft skills, having excellent communication skills is a must, given the close proximity of a 3rd level supporter with customers, as well as having to work in teams.
Required skills for a 3rd level support technician:
- Ability to analyze and problem solve
- Troubleshooting and configuration skills
- Knowledge of technical IT solutions
- Understanding of new systems and technologies
- Technical know how of IT products and services
- Excellent communication skills
- People person and team player
Background
If you want to work as a 3rd level supporter, you should at least have completed a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a relevant field. This is important because an analyst often has to deal with technical questions that cannot be answered satisfactorily without sound expert knowledge.
Therefore, the 3rd level supporter must be able to quickly familiarize himself with the respective problematic systems. Furthermore, he must succeed in putting himself in the position of his customers, even if he has not personally dealt with the issues they are facing.
Where can I work as Third Level Support?
In general, 3rd level technicians can work in all industries in which IT and software are used in daily activities. This opens up a host of small to big companies and industries.
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Salary
The salary depends on various conditions such as location, expertise, and your own technical skills. If you are just starting to work as a 3rd level supporter, you can expect an average of $80,000. Add on a few years of experience and you could increase that number to $90,000. Senior technicians generally earn around $105,000 annually.
How much does Third Level Support earn?
| Junior | $80,000 |
| Average | $90,000 |
| Senior | $105,000 |
| Average rate Third Level Supporters (2022) | $68/hr |
The average hourly rate amongst freelance Third Level Supporters is $68/hr.
Freelance rates in Third Level Support range between $61 and $75 for the majority of freelancers.
If we consider an 8-hour working day at $68/hour, the daily rate for freelance Third Level Supporters is around $544/day.
