How To Become A Chemical Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a chemical technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Betsy Smith

As a chemical technician, your duty will be to use laboratory instruments and techniques to assist chemists and chemical engineers in researching, developing, producing, and testing chemical products and processes. You might work with agricultural products, pharmaceuticals, or industrial chemicals to develop new products or to research methods that make working with and disposing of chemicals safe for everyone.

The tasks that you will perform in this capacity include applying, evaluating, and improving chemical processes, recording results meticulously, and reporting all deviations from optimum.

Furthermore, they are responsible for conducting quality control and safety surveys and log results across time for different sites and setting up, operating, and maintaining equipment to create, disseminate, use, or apply chemicals.

Individuals holding a two-year degree in applied sciences or chemical technology is becoming the standard requirement for many employers. In addition, those who are well trained in the use of laboratory equipment will have the best job opportunities.

The average annual salary for this position is $35,788. Furthermore, the job is projected to grow further in the near future, resulting in more job opportunities.

What general advice would you give to a chemical technician?

Dr. Betsy Smith

Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Elmira College

I would advise students just graduating to be flexible and open-minded in their job search. Chemistry is a challenging major, and students who succeed in it have learned how to learn, so they shouldn't assume that pure chemistry is the only thing they can do. One growing field is biomedical research, and chemistry majors are often qualified for jobs in that area. If you have other strengths like writing, there are often jobs that can combine them as a technical writer or work for a science journal. There are jobs out there that might be perfect for you that you haven't heard of until you see an ad for it, so be open to different possibilities.

ScoreChemical TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.3

Avg. Salary $42,584

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.9

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.41%

Asian 6.94%

Black or African American 7.72%

Hispanic or Latino 17.03%

Unknown 4.31%

White 63.58%

Gender

female 19.49%

male 80.51%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

6.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.6

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a chemical technician

Explore chemical technician education requirements

Most common chemical technician degrees

Bachelor's

49.6 %

Associate

21.1 %

High School Diploma

18.1 %

Start to develop specific chemical technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Lab Equipment	9.78%
Safety Procedures	7.81%
Hazardous Materials	5.34%
OSHA	5.06%
Math	4.88%

Complete relevant chemical technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New chemical technicians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a chemical technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real chemical technician resumes.

Research chemical technician duties and responsibilities

Manage daily production schedule, monitor machine operation, addressed any etching machinery problems.
Used the FTIR to determine the consistency of the BPA.
Sample preparation for ICP, ICPMS, FLAA, and IC.
Metal analysis through ICP OES testing.

Prepare your chemical technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your chemical technician resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a chemical technician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable chemical technician resume templates

Build a professional chemical technician resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your chemical technician resume.