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The differences between irrigation technicians and certified medical technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become an irrigation technician, 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 $35,472 average annual salary of an irrigation technician.
The top three skills for an irrigation technician include golf courses, trenchers and sprinkler heads. The most important skills for a certified medical technician are patients, vital signs, and CPR.
| Irrigation Technician | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $35,472 | $38,859 |
| Hourly rate | $17.05 | $18.68 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 27,291 | 164,424 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 42% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Average age | 41 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 12 |
An irrigation technician is responsible for installing, testing, and maintaining irrigation equipment such as sprinklers, suction valves, and pumps. Typical duties for this position include operating heavy machinery for trenching, installing wiring systems for irrigation timers, and inspecting equipment for a day's work. In addition, an irrigation technician may be required to travel to the client's location to install, test, or perform preventative maintenance of irrigation equipment. You are also expected to dig trenches and install lines and pipes and troubleshoot and replace faulty parts.
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.
Irrigation technicians and certified medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Irrigation Technician | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average salary | $35,472 | $38,859 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $45,000 | Between $28,000 And $53,000 |
| Highest paying City | Concord, CA | Denton, TX |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Alaska |
| Best paying company | San Diego College of Continuing Education | Favorite Healthcare Staffing |
| Best paying industry | Construction | Health Care |
There are a few differences between an irrigation technician and a certified medical technician in terms of educational background:
| Irrigation Technician | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 42% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Most common major | Business | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | University of Connecticut |
Here are the differences between irrigation technicians' and certified medical technicians' demographics:
| Irrigation Technician | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average age | 41 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 96.1% Female, 3.9% | Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 26.0% Asian, 2.0% White, 57.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4% | 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 | 3% | 8% |