Environmental laboratory technician vs senior field technician

The differences between environmental laboratory technicians and senior field technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an environmental laboratory technician and a senior field technician. Additionally, a senior field technician has an average salary of $51,329, which is higher than the $40,682 average annual salary of an environmental laboratory technician.

The top three skills for an environmental laboratory technician include lab equipment, water samples and sops. The most important skills for a senior field technician are customer satisfaction, customer service, and asphalt.

Environmental laboratory technician vs senior field technician overview

	Environmental Laboratory Technician	Senior Field Technician
Yearly salary	$40,682	$51,329
Hourly rate	$19.56	$24.68
Growth rate	9%	9%
Number of jobs	58,055	88,582
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 66%	Associate Degree, 37%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	2	2

What does an environmental laboratory technician do?

Environmental laboratory technicians are professionals who are responsible for testing all contaminants that may affect the environment and the health of both humans and wildlife. These technicians are required to prepare and test samples such as gases, soils, water, and industrial wastewater to determine the level of pollutants or identify the sources of contamination. They must discuss and report the summary of the data from test results with supervisors and customers. Environmental laboratory technicians must also design monitoring programs and set up equipment when working in the field.

What does a senior field technician do?

A senior field technician provides services during fieldwork and ensures customer support for their company. They must identify errors in the system and develop solutions. They must build relationships with customers and solve any issues they present. This position requires a technical degree and great time management skills.

Environmental laboratory technician vs senior field technician salary

Environmental laboratory technicians and senior field technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Environmental Laboratory Technician	Senior Field Technician
Average salary	$40,682	$51,329
Salary range	Between $29,000 And $56,000	Between $32,000 And $81,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between environmental laboratory technician and senior field technician education

There are a few differences between an environmental laboratory technician and a senior field technician in terms of educational background:

	Environmental Laboratory Technician	Senior Field Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 66%	Associate Degree, 37%
Most common major	Biology	Electrical Engineering
Most common college	University of California, Berkeley	Stanford University

Environmental laboratory technician vs senior field technician demographics

Here are the differences between environmental laboratory technicians' and senior field technicians' demographics:

	Environmental Laboratory Technician	Senior Field Technician
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 60.9% Female, 39.1%	Male, 92.5% Female, 7.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 10.5% White, 56.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% Asian, 10.5% White, 56.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between environmental laboratory technician and senior field technician duties and responsibilities

Environmental laboratory technician example responsibilities.

Manage daily RCRA inspections and mechanical, electrical, and electronic equipment preventive/corrective maintenance procedures.
Support short and long term projects meeting establish deadlines such as the upcoming revisions to the USP heavy metals testing.
Initiate and maintain paperwork in accordance with FDA guidelines and perform investigations for any deviant results.
Perform internal audits of laboratories in accordance with current standard operating procedure of good laboratory practices and FDA regulations.
Assist HAZWOPER technicians with logistical support for operations on project operations including research of facilities and vendors need for project completion.
Monitor temperature and pressure of production distillation towers

Senior field technician example responsibilities.

Manage a new PC assembly team, build, upgrade, and install new PCs for users.
Accomplish expert with Nortel TDM/CDMA/EVDO wireless telephony networking systems.
Install workstations, consoles, printers, racks, sequencers, processors, fiber optics & KVM switches.
Configure and support VPN connections.
Configure and troubleshoot VPN access point and remote log in.
Facilitate deployments by creating a standard OS image for the C/PDC.

Environmental laboratory technician vs senior field technician skills

Common environmental laboratory technician skills

Lab Equipment, 9%
Water Samples, 8%
Sops, 6%
Environmental Samples, 6%
Test Equipment, 5%
Environmental Lab, 4%

Common senior field technician skills

Customer Satisfaction, 11%
Customer Service, 10%
Asphalt, 10%
Video Conferencing, 5%
Construction Materials, 5%
Ladders, 4%

Environmental Laboratory Technician vs. similar jobs

Environmental Laboratory Technician related careers

Environmental Laboratory Technician related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Life, Physical, and Social Science Industry
Environmental Laboratory Technician
Environmental Laboratory Technician vs Senior Field Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse life, physical, and social science jobs