How To Become An Identification Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is an identification technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an identification technician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $22.8 an hour? That's $47,423 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 3% and produce 20,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreIdentification TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.7

Avg. Salary $47,423

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.4

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.67%

Asian 2.83%

Black or African American 11.93%

Hispanic or Latino 17.00%

Unknown 5.00%

White 62.58%

Gender

female 61.36%

male 38.64%

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

9.4

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.7

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an identification technician

Explore identification technician education requirements

Most common identification technician degrees

Bachelor's

41.0 %

Associate

32.1 %

Master's

12.8 %

Start to develop specific identification technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Afis	16.31%
Fingerprint Cards	14.39%
Criminal Justice	13.58%
Identification System	10.52%
Law Enforcement Agencies	8.77%

Complete relevant identification technician training and internships

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

Research identification technician duties and responsibilities

Attach warrants and enter data into CJIS
Process evidence in-house for latent fingerprints, trace evidence and DNA evidence.
Assist in the training of new employees - fingerprint comparisons, AFIS input, crime scene techniques
Fingerprint arrestee's and take their photo, collect DNA samples if need depending on charges.

Prepare your identification technician resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable identification technician resume templates

Build a professional identification technician 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 identification technician resume.