What does a genetic technologist do?
Genetic technologist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real genetic technologist resumes:
- 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.
- Satisfy daily patient schedule by efficiently practicing phlebotomy and assist with physician bone marrow biopsy procedures when need.
- Provide clinical personnel with identification of pathogens & susceptibilities to antibiotics in order to facilitate diagnosis & treatment.
- Complete stat and routine testing on a variety of specimens quickly and accurately while adhering to laboratory safety policies and regulations.
- Direct participation on proficiency testing programs on hematology, chemistry, urinalysis, blood bank, serology, and bacteriology.
Genetic technologist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 16% of Genetic Technologists are proficient in Laboratory Procedures, Clinical Laboratory, and Lab Equipment. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Listening skills, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Genetic Technologists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Laboratory Procedures, 16%
Performed general laboratory decontamination after completion of any laboratory procedures involving biological material.
- Clinical Laboratory, 11%
Participated and validated primers, reagents or protocols for new molecular tests, or for routine clinical laboratory QA and QC
- Lab Equipment, 8%
Maintained online accounts to sell unused lab equipment.
- GEL Electrophoresis, 6%
Cross trained in standard seed testing, herbicide bioassay, starch gel electrophoresis and PCR/DNA testing.
- RNA, 5%
Execute RNA amplification assay for Chlamydia Trachomatis, Neisseria Gonorrhoeae and Trichomonas using the TIGRIS Systems.
- Electrophoresis, 5%
Sequenced PCR products using capillary electrophoresis on an ABI 3730xl sequencer and analyzed sequence data to ensure proper coverage.
Most genetic technologists use their skills in "laboratory procedures," "clinical laboratory," and "lab equipment" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential genetic technologist responsibilities here:
Customer-service skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a genetic technologist to have is customer-service skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "computer support specialists must be patient and sympathetic." Genetic technologists often use customer-service skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "general support of all laboratory testing and internal customer relationships. "
Listening skills. Another essential skill to perform genetic technologist duties is listening skills. Genetic technologists responsibilities require that "support workers must be able to understand the problems that their customers are describing and know when to ask questions to clarify the situation." Genetic technologists also use listening skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "interpreted and communicated test results in hematology, clinical chemistry, coagulation, urinalysis, etc. "
Problem-solving skills. genetic technologists are also known for problem-solving skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to genetic technologist responsibilities, because "support workers must identify both simple and complex computer problems, analyze them, and solve them." A genetic technologist resume example shows how problem-solving skills is used in the workplace: "prepared solutions and cleaned the lab for the molecular biology lab sections. "
Speaking skills. A big part of what genetic technologists do relies on "speaking skills." You can see how essential it is to genetic technologist responsibilities because "support workers must describe the solutions to computer problems in a way that a nontechnical person can understand." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical genetic technologist tasks: "represented the laboratory at the memorial hospital youth health fair under the direction of diane iberg, mt(ascp). "
Writing skills. A commonly-found skill in genetic technologist job descriptions, "writing skills" is essential to what genetic technologists do. Genetic technologist responsibilities rely on this skill because "strong writing skills are useful for preparing instructions and email responses for employees and customers, as well as for real-time web chat interactions." You can also see how genetic technologist duties rely on writing skills in this resume example: "assisted with writing and updating procedures within microsoft office and excel applications and meditech lis. "
The three companies that hire the most genetic technologists are:
- Nationwide Children's Hospital7 genetic technologists jobs
- Kaiser Permanente1 genetic technologists jobs
- California Institute of Technology1 genetic technologists jobs
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Compare different genetic technologists
Genetic technologist vs. Senior laboratory associate
A laboratory coordinator is responsible for supporting laboratory examinations and experiments, collecting laboratory samples, and ensuring the efficiency and performance of laboratory tools and equipment. Laboratory coordinators maintain the cleanliness and orderliness of the laboratory facility at all times to avoid contaminations and hazards that may affect laboratory results and accuracy of examinations. They also perform scientific processes under the supervision of a scientist or laboratory technicians and keep an organized report of findings in the database.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, genetic technologist responsibilities require skills like "laboratory procedures," "gel electrophoresis," "rna," and "extraction." Meanwhile a typical senior laboratory associate has skills in areas such as "chemistry," "laboratory equipment," "lims," and "sops." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Senior laboratory associates earn the highest salaries when working in the health care industry, with an average yearly salary of $72,378. On the other hand, genetic technologists are paid more in the health care industry with an average salary of $59,209.The education levels that senior laboratory associates earn slightly differ from genetic technologists. In particular, senior laboratory associates are 7.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a genetic technologist. Additionally, they're 0.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Genetic technologist vs. Laboratory coordinator
A clinical laboratory scientist intern is responsible for assisting scientists in conducting laboratory experiments and investigations for clinical studies and research trials. Clinical laboratory scientist interns perform administrative duties, such as writing reports, monitoring inventories, and collecting resources for experiments. They also ensure the safety and orderliness of the laboratory to prevent potential hazards and result failures. A clinical laboratory scientist intern must be knowledgeable about the laboratory tools and equipment to inspect its condition before operations and segregate materials for disposal as necessary.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, genetic technologist responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "laboratory procedures," "clinical laboratory," "rna," and "extraction." Meanwhile, a laboratory coordinator has duties that require skills in areas such as "patients," "patient care," "chemistry," and "laboratory safety." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, laboratory coordinators earn a higher salary than genetic technologists. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, laboratory coordinators earn the most pay in the pharmaceutical industry with an average salary of $57,789. Whereas genetic technologists have higher pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $59,209.laboratory coordinators earn lower levels of education than genetic technologists in general. They're 5.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Genetic technologist vs. Laboratory monitor
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from genetic technologist resumes include skills like "laboratory procedures," "clinical laboratory," "gel electrophoresis," and "rna," whereas a laboratory monitor is more likely to list skills in "lab computers," "adobe photoshop," "indesign," and "adobe creative suite. "
Laboratory monitors typically earn lower educational levels compared to genetic technologists. Specifically, they're 16.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 2.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Genetic technologist vs. Clinical laboratory scientist internship
Even though a few skill sets overlap between genetic technologists and clinical laboratory scientist interns, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a genetic technologist might have more use for skills like "clinical laboratory," "gel electrophoresis," "extraction," and "osha." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of clinical laboratory scientist interns require skills like "patients," "data entry," "body fluids," and "test results. "
Clinical laboratory scientist interns reach lower levels of education compared to genetic technologists, in general. The difference is that they're 14.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of genetic technologist
Updated January 8, 2025
