How To Become A Genetic Technologist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a genetic technologist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a genetic technologist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $25.27 an hour? That's $52,561 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 83,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreGenetic TechnologistUS Average

Salary

4.1

Avg. Salary $52,561

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.6

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.83%

Asian 11.98%

Black or African American 11.05%

Hispanic or Latino 16.68%

Unknown 5.46%

White 54.01%

Gender

female 64.33%

male 35.67%

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

9.6

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.6

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.3

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a genetic technologist

Explore genetic technologist education requirements

Most common genetic technologist degrees

Bachelor's

71.7 %

Master's

20.7 %

Associate

4.1 %

Start to develop specific genetic technologist skills

Skills	Percentages
Laboratory Procedures	16.24%
Clinical Laboratory	10.73%
Lab Equipment	7.73%
GEL Electrophoresis	5.57%
RNA	5.17%

Complete relevant genetic technologist training and internships

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

Research genetic technologist duties and responsibilities

Manage and maintain Tecan for automate pipetting.
Work on researching new lab machinery and techniques for DNA extraction.
Seed preparation and extraction, loading protein gels, preparation of chemical substances, staining gels
Assign to work as a laboratory generalist, performing duties on all laboratory departments including histology and phlebotomy.

Prepare your genetic technologist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your genetic technologist 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 genetic technologist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable genetic technologist resume templates

Build a professional genetic technologist 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 genetic technologist resume.