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

What is a department technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

The average department technician salary is $41,763. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an business major. It usually takes 1-2 years of experience to become a department technician. Department technicians with a Master Certified Electronics Technician (CETma) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 83,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreDepartment TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.3

Avg. Salary $41,763

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.41%

Asian 10.56%

Black or African American 10.91%

Hispanic or Latino 16.63%

Unknown 5.41%

White 56.09%

Gender

female 31.54%

male 68.46%

Age - 41

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 - 41

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.4

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a department technician

Explore department technician education requirements

Most common department technician degrees

Bachelor's

50.6 %

Associate

24.2 %

High School Diploma

12.4 %

Start to develop specific department technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Patient Care	19.65%
Computer System	10.31%
CPR	7.37%
Troubleshoot	7.06%
Routine Maintenance	5.65%

Complete relevant department technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New department 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 department technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real department technician resumes.

Research department technician duties and responsibilities

Manage the c-arm and o-arm in the operating room while maintaining the sterile field at all times.
Build and test network hardware as well as integration of 3rd party components (routers, switches, Cisco products )
Assist with blood draws, EKG's, and specimen collections.
Conduct readiness for ISO and safety audits.

Prepare your department technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your department 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 department 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 department technician resume templates

Build a professional department 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 department technician resume.