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The differences between forklift drivers and certified medical technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a forklift driver, becoming a certified medical technician takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a certified medical technician has an average salary of $38,859, which is higher than the $33,476 average annual salary of a forklift driver.
The top three skills for a forklift driver include pallets, electric pallet jack and safety procedures. The most important skills for a certified medical technician are patients, vital signs, and CPR.
| Forklift Driver | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $33,476 | $38,859 |
| Hourly rate | $16.09 | $18.68 |
| Growth rate | 7% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 116,516 | 164,424 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Average age | 43 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 12 |
A forklift operator is responsible for managing and operating industrial trucks and machines to ensure its performance safety and stability. Forklift operators' duties include safely handling of deliveries, securely moving items to storage areas, monitoring inventories and supplies, running diagnostic tests, reporting inspected malfunctions and deficiencies, performing basic troubleshooting, and adhering to safety procedures. It is a requirement that a forklift operator must have excellent time-management skills, as well as the ability to multi-task for daily operations.
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.
Forklift drivers and certified medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Forklift Driver | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average salary | $33,476 | $38,859 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $41,000 | Between $28,000 And $53,000 |
| Highest paying City | Shakopee, MN | Denton, TX |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Alaska |
| Best paying company | BD | Favorite Healthcare Staffing |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a forklift driver and a certified medical technician in terms of educational background:
| Forklift Driver | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Most common major | Business | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | University of Connecticut |
Here are the differences between forklift drivers' and certified medical technicians' demographics:
| Forklift Driver | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average age | 43 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 91.0% Female, 9.0% | Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 15.7% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 20.2% Asian, 2.5% White, 56.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | 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 | 4% | 8% |