This post presents detailed information of the laboratory technician job description, including key duties, tasks, and responsibilities that they perform.
It also highlights the major requirements you may be expected to fulfill to be hired for the laboratory technician role.
What Does a Laboratory Technician Do?
The laboratory technician job description entails taking care of laboratory equipment, ensuring that they are working properly, well-maintained, and in safe condition.
Laboratory technicians provide and direct others in the care and use of equipment that they are responsible for.
It is their responsibility to ensure that others are aware of and follow procedures for maintenance, repair, and replacement of such items.
The laboratory technician conducts experiments and provides expert advice on analytical techniques for results of assays, quantification, purification, etc.
It is also their duty to maintain records of all data collected from the use and operation of laboratory equipment under their control.
This position assist with projects that involve development and design work in the production of quality solid and liquid or gas samples and products made in the laboratory.
Performing a variety of analytical, technical, administrative, and quality control functions as required is an important duty as well.
It is their duty to prepare reports on the results obtained from analysis, assays, data collection operations and other laboratory activities.
In addition, they work with other laboratory technicians, staff and technical support personnel providing services related to research projects in the areas of Chemistry, Biochemistry, Microbiology and Statistics.
Another duty of the laboratory technician is to provide follow-up technical assistance when required.
More on Laboratory Technician Job Description
They ensure that laboratory equipment is functioning properly and are able to assist others in the operation and maintenance of laboratory equipment serving management needs.
Laboratory technicians may be required to develop, modify or operate equipment, to perform clinical tests, or to assist in the development of products or procedures.
Providing technical assistance in the care, use, and maintenance of laboratory equipment is another task they carry out.
They provide immediate technical assistance when required by management regarding changes in the use and operation of laboratories equipment by staff and other laboratory personnel for quality assurance purposes.
Also, the laboratory technician may be involved in developing methods and techniques for assaying solid samples from reactions, microorganisms from liquid cultures, biochemical reactions from reaction mixtures, measurement procedures from physical characteristics of mixtures and/or biological compounds from biological samples.
Laboratory Technician Job Description Sample/Example/Template
The laboratory technician job description includes the following duties, tasks, and responsibilities:
- Conducts routine tests and special tests to ensure product quality and accuracy
- Performs routine inventory counts, generates reports
- Operates laboratory equipment and machinery
- Interprets test results and draws conclusions from them
- Uses computers, printers, quality checkers to generate reports and documents to keep records of work done, servers information for supervisors or other employees for appropriate use in the business
- Follows regulatory agency instructions on handling toxic materials properly (examples: OSHA regulations, EPA guidelines)
- Keeps lab records up to date or comprehensive while following the directions provided by supervisor or manager (example: record of daily stock levels of chemicals used in the lab.)
- Oversees the preparation of laboratory tests or operations to ensure proper execution of test procedures, chemicals used, equipment and storage areas in a manner designed to assure quality
- Provides health, safety and security as appropriate per applicable guidelines or regulatory agency instructions
- Performs other related duties as required by the supervisor or manager (examples: troubleshoot equipment problems, assist with inventory control on-site)
- Maintains a clean and safe work environment at all times in accordance with the policies of the company (example: when conducting inventory counts, check to make sure lab area is clean before proceeding)
- Must have current operating license to operate lab machinery and equipment.
Laboratory Technician Job Description for Resume
If you have worked before as a laboratory technician and are making a new resume/CV, you can apply the above sample job description in making the Professional Experience part of the resume.
You can highlight the laboratory technician duties and responsibilities provided above in the Professional Experience section of your resume to show that you have been successful working in the role of a laboratory technician.
This information can greatly influence the recruiter/employer to consider you for the new job, especially if having some laboratory technician work experience is important.
Laboratory Technician Requirements: Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities for Career Success
Here are major requirements you may be expected to meet to be hired for the laboratory technician job:
- Good mechanical and hand-eye coordination.
- Ability to read, write, and speak English fluently (written and verbal cues are required)
- Knowledge of laboratory operations and procedures required for the position
- Ability to follow oral or written instructions, or a combination of both as needed. (Examples: filling out forms in a specific format)
- Ability to perform calculations in order to determine volume and mass based on physical measurements (example: determining weight of an item by using volume as a reference)
- Ability to maintain a clean and safe work environment at all times in accordance with the company’s cleaning and safety policies
- Strong computer skills is required as most of the laboratory tasks will involve use of computers (examples: computer programs to perform calculations, storage of data on CDs, transferring data to external hard drives)
- Good verbal communication skills are required in order to communicate with employees working in other areas. (Example: receiving information from employees working in other areas and passing the information on to employees working at their station or vice versa.)
- Must be able to lift 50 pounds on a frequent basis. (Example: all chemicals and equipment used in the lab should be able to be lifted by 50 lbs. at least half of the time)
- Must be able to tolerate a chemical environment, in addition to working with chemicals on a daily basis
- Ability to perform physical labor, bending and twisting, as well as routine use of hands and fingers
- Good working senses are required, such as vision, hearing, smell, and touch.
Laboratory Technician Salary
The average salary for a laboratory technician is approximately $51,718 (glassdoor.com) and $60,030 (indeed.com) per year.
Indeed’s list of highest paying cities include: Nashville, TN, $64,193; Atlanta, GA, $56,278; San Diego, CA, $55,859; Phoenix, AZ, $55,737 and $55,527 per year.
Zippia.com posted that there are currently about 207,650 laboratory technicians working in the United States.
Women make up 46.7% of all laboratory technicians while men make up 53.3%.
A hired laboratory technician is 43 years old on average.
White laboratory technicians are the most common ethnicity (57.3%), followed by Hispanic or Latino (15.7%), Asian (12.8%), and Black or African American (11.3%).
Conclusion
The laboratory technician career path is for people to whom science and medicine is a passion.
It is a challenging field that requires you to think logically and analytically.
Working in a laboratory also requires hard work, dedication, as well as strong time management skills because of the nature of the job.
This post is helpful to individuals interested in the laboratory technician career who want to know what they do.
It is also useful to recruiters/employers in making a detailed job description for the laboratory technician role in their organizations.