Mapped to BLS Customer Service Representatives, which covers all call-center work and pulls the median down to ~$45K; software/SaaS 'support specialist' titles sit higher, per Payscale.
Experience to get here
Entry level0-1 years
Typical title1-3 years
High school diploma is the BLS entry norm; SaaS postings prefer a bachelor's (sometimes CS) or equivalent experience but rarely require one.
Typical prior roles
Retail or call-center associateHelp desk / service desk agentCustomer service representativeTechnical support intern
Must have
1-3 years customer support, ideally SaaS
Ticketing tools: Zendesk or Salesforce Service Cloud
Clear written communication and troubleshooting
Knowledge-base writing
Willingness to work rotations (nights/weekends at 24x7 shops)
Milestones people hit first
Held CSAT and first-response targets for a full quarter
Wrote or overhauled help-center articles that cut repeat tickets
Became the escalation point for a product area or integration
Recognized in IT help desks; not mentioned in the SaaS support postings reviewed.
Training & learning
Zendesk Academy on-demand coursesFREEZendesk · learning path · free · 15 min - 2 hr per courseLearn the exact tool most postings name, for free.
Support Driven communityFREESupport Driven · community · free to join (no fee listed) · ongoing30,000+ support pros, a salary database, weekly job roundup and podcast.
Introduction to Operations ManagementFREEWharton / Coursera · course · free to enroll; certificate paid · ~16 hoursQueueing and capacity basics explain response-time and staffing metrics support teams track.
SQL Tutorial (formerly Mode)FREEThoughtSpot · course · free · 10-20 hoursTicket data analysis is the fastest route from support into support ops or analytics.
Neither current posting named any certification; both required Zendesk/Salesforce experience, so Zendesk certs are listed as 'sometimes' and HDI-CSR as 'rarely'. Glassdoor's Customer Support Specialist page and Robert Half's customer-service guide were not available. BLS 10th/90th are hourly only on the BLS page cited. No sourced senior-level figure.
Figures are US, from the sources listed, and change often; verify before deciding.