Food service worker vs certified medical technician

The differences between food service workers and certified medical technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a certified medical technician has an average salary of $38,859, which is higher than the $28,753 average annual salary of a food service worker.

The top three skills for a food service worker include food handling, safety standards and customer service. The most important skills for a certified medical technician are patients, vital signs, and CPR.

Food service worker vs certified medical technician overview

	Food Service Worker	Certified Medical Technician
Yearly salary	$28,753	$38,859
Hourly rate	$13.82	$18.68
Growth rate	2%	5%
Number of jobs	169,323	164,424
Job satisfaction	4	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 28%
Average age	37	44
Years of experience	-	12

What does a food service worker do?

Foodservice workers are employees at restaurants, food trucks, or any outlet that provides food to customers. They may be assigned to welcome customers, take food orders, prepare food orders in the kitchen, serve food, handle customer payments, clean up the tables once the guests leave, or maintain the whole store's cleanliness. They may also be assigned to manage inventories, handle stocks and deliveries, and other activities related to the restaurant's successful operations. Foodservice workers must always be hygienic and maintain the sanitation of the area to ensure food safety.

What does a certified medical technician do?

Certified Medical Technicians are specialists in medical diagnoses by performing laboratory testing and analysis for hospitals and physicians. Their duties include lab sanitization to prepare for testing and collection, recording medical samples for testing, specimen preparation, blood drawing for donation and testing, and assisting physicians with sample collection as well as equipment handling in surgical rooms. They must also understand how to use complex and sensitive testing equipment such as cell counters, analyzers, microscopes, and centrifuges.

Food service worker vs certified medical technician salary

Food service workers and certified medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Food Service Worker	Certified Medical Technician
Average salary	$28,753	$38,859
Salary range	Between $22,000 And $36,000	Between $28,000 And $53,000
Highest paying City	Urban Honolulu, HI	Denton, TX
Highest paying state	Hawaii	Alaska
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	Favorite Healthcare Staffing
Best paying industry	Retail	Health Care

Differences between food service worker and certified medical technician education

There are a few differences between a food service worker and a certified medical technician in terms of educational background:

	Food Service Worker	Certified Medical Technician
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 28%
Most common major	Business	Nursing
Most common college	-	University of Connecticut

Food service worker vs certified medical technician demographics

Here are the differences between food service workers' and certified medical technicians' demographics:

	Food Service Worker	Certified Medical Technician
Average age	37	44
Gender ratio	Male, 36.6% Female, 63.4%	Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.3% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.7% Asian, 7.1% White, 58.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 15.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 10.0% White, 53.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	6%	8%

Differences between food service worker and certified medical technician duties and responsibilities

Food service worker example responsibilities.

Volunteer at rehabilitation center/ nursing home escorting and communicating with the patients.
Learned how to do math quickly and efficiently.
Demonstrate money-handling and math skills in processing payments for orders.
Prepare all food stuffs, roasting meats, baking cookies, preparing salads.
Work in full compliance with values of compassion, dignity, excellence, integrity, and team work.
Install and maintain HVAC systems which include walkin coolers and freezers, reach-ins and pass thru and a/c systems

Certified medical technician example responsibilities.

Maintain the cleanliness of storage areas, trays, centrifuges, refrigerators, freezers and work area.
Administer medications to patients according to their medication record as scheduled, as needed according to physician orders.
Perform laboratory test and procedures in areas including chemistry, hematology, urinalysis, coagulation, serology, and bacteriology.
Perform first aid and apply CPR when necessary.
Perform first aid or CPR during medical emergencies until paramedics arrive.
Assist the residents in their ADL needs and prepare their meals.

Food service worker vs certified medical technician skills

Common food service worker skills

Food Handling, 22%
Safety Standards, 9%
Customer Service, 9%
Patients, 7%
Cash Control, 4%
Rehabilitation, 4%

Common certified medical technician skills

Patients, 17%
Vital Signs, 12%
CPR, 8%
Administer Medications, 7%
Resident Care, 6%
HIPAA, 6%

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Food Service Worker vs Certified Medical Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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