Junior chemist vs research laboratory technician

The differences between junior chemists and research laboratory technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a junior chemist has an average salary of $64,002, which is higher than the $38,308 average annual salary of a research laboratory technician.

The top three skills for a junior chemist include lab equipment, R and HPLC. The most important skills for a research laboratory technician are patients, chemistry, and laboratory equipment.

Junior chemist vs research laboratory technician overview

	Junior Chemist	Research Laboratory Technician
Yearly salary	$64,002	$38,308
Hourly rate	$30.77	$18.42
Growth rate	6%	9%
Number of jobs	13,461	86,476
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age	42	40
Years of experience	-	4

What does a junior chemist do?

A Junior Chemist prepares test solutions, compounds, and reagents for laboratory personnel to conduct the test. They work under the supervision of a senior chemist.

What does a research laboratory technician do?

Research laboratory technicians play a vital role in scientific laboratories. They perform varied duties and responsibilities, which include setting up, operating, and maintaining the laboratory equipment, assisting in laboratory-based research activities such as sampling, testing, and analyzing results, and providing technical support to the laboratory team members. In addition, they are expected to support the development and advancement of science and modern medicine. Other typical duties of research laboratory technicians include preparing samples and specimens, keeping abreast with current technical developments, and ensuring strict compliance with safety procedures.

Junior chemist vs research laboratory technician salary

Junior chemists and research laboratory technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Junior Chemist	Research Laboratory Technician
Average salary	$64,002	$38,308
Salary range	Between $36,000 And $110,000	Between $30,000 And $48,000
Highest paying City	East Windsor, NJ	Chicago, IL
Highest paying state	Delaware	Illinois
Best paying company	APTIM	Accenture
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Manufacturing

Differences between junior chemist and research laboratory technician education

There are a few differences between a junior chemist and a research laboratory technician in terms of educational background:

	Junior Chemist	Research Laboratory Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common major	Chemistry	Biology
Most common college	University of Southern California	Cornell University

Junior chemist vs research laboratory technician demographics

Here are the differences between junior chemists' and research laboratory technicians' demographics:

	Junior Chemist	Research Laboratory Technician
Average age	42	40
Gender ratio	Male, 58.2% Female, 41.8%	Male, 49.0% Female, 51.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 19.7% White, 58.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 12.3% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 13.5% Asian, 15.7% White, 49.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.5%
LGBT Percentage	5%	6%

Differences between junior chemist and research laboratory technician duties and responsibilities

Junior chemist example responsibilities.

Achieve and maintain ISO 9001-2000 certification by creating and implementing policies and serving as management representative.
Process laboratory data to ensure efficiency of plant operations and troubleshoot unexpect conditions to prevent an upset within the plant.
Solve the quality issues with Zithromax SDD extrusion during a systems audit of the start up process, in Vega Baja.
Provide general support to the custom mixing and extrusion departments in day-to-day operations.

Research laboratory technician example responsibilities.

Manage RT-PCR screening of candidate genes.
Manage the development of innovative visualization and concept mapping of contest environment analysis challenges and analyst skill sets.
Use many scientific techniques to collect and analyze RNA, DNA, and specific proteins from lines of potato plants.
Preform computational molecular simulation of DNA and RNA.
Retain patients from previous research projects and update database using patient histories and correlating pertinent medical data.
Work with non human primates in an HIV testing laboratory.

Junior chemist vs research laboratory technician skills

Common junior chemist skills

Lab Equipment, 17%
R, 8%
HPLC, 6%
PH Meter, 5%
QC, 5%
Analytical Instruments, 5%

Common research laboratory technician skills

Patients, 9%
Chemistry, 7%
Laboratory Equipment, 7%
Cell Culture, 5%
Research Data, 4%
Research Projects, 4%

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Junior Chemist vs Research Laboratory Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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