Laboratory assistant vs laboratory specialist

The differences between laboratory assistants and laboratory specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a laboratory assistant, becoming a laboratory specialist takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a laboratory specialist has an average salary of $50,357, which is higher than the $34,168 average annual salary of a laboratory assistant.

The top three skills for a laboratory assistant include patients, phlebotomy and customer service. The most important skills for a laboratory specialist are chemistry, patients, and test results.

Laboratory assistant vs laboratory specialist overview

	Laboratory Assistant	Laboratory Specialist
Yearly salary	$34,168	$50,357
Hourly rate	$16.43	$24.21
Growth rate	9%	10%
Number of jobs	50,853	68,634
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	12	2

What does a laboratory assistant do?

Laboratory assistants work for researchers, scientists, or professors in the laboratory setting. They are expected to have a solid background in the field of study of the laboratory they are assigned to. They do a variety of tasks in the laboratory, such as setting up equipment, observing experiments, analyzing results, creating reports, and recommending improvements to the testing. They may also be assigned to clean and sanitize laboratory equipment as needed. Laboratory assistants should have good research skills, analytical skills, and organizational skills.

What does a laboratory specialist do?

A laboratory specialist develops the areas assigned to them and promotes maximum resource allocation and utilization to achieve their goals. Laboratory specialists handle storage and backup devices, support telecommunication-associated equipment, and relay customer requests and issues. It is their job to process specimens in toxicology, coagulation, microbiology, hematology, chemistry, and urinalysis. Skills and knowledge in a photo lab, cell culture, customer service, and test cases are necessary for this position.

Laboratory assistant vs laboratory specialist salary

Laboratory assistants and laboratory specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Laboratory Assistant	Laboratory Specialist
Average salary	$34,168	$50,357
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $44,000	Between $36,000 And $69,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Hawaii
Best paying company	UST Global	Nokia
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Health Care

Differences between laboratory assistant and laboratory specialist education

There are a few differences between a laboratory assistant and a laboratory specialist in terms of educational background:

	Laboratory Assistant	Laboratory Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Most common major	Biology	Biology
Most common college	New York University	SUNY Stony Brook

Laboratory assistant vs laboratory specialist demographics

Here are the differences between laboratory assistants' and laboratory specialists' demographics:

	Laboratory Assistant	Laboratory Specialist
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 43.6% Female, 56.4%	Male, 47.3% Female, 52.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 13.9% White, 53.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 10.8% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.3% Asian, 12.0% White, 54.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between laboratory assistant and laboratory specialist duties and responsibilities

Laboratory assistant example responsibilities.

Comfort frighten patients and maintain an exceptionally bright professional demeanor to accomplish a procedure that makes most people very uncomfortable.
Maintain and QC check laboratory equipment.
Preform laboratory duties using microscopes, centrifuges and a host of other laboratory equipment.
Provide excellent customer service to patients while accurately updating patient demographics, insurance and billing information in LabCorp LCM program.
Provide continuing education in the form of periodic in-services relating the phlebotomy procedures, tests and proper specimen collection requirements.
Process eyewear to meet national ANSII and OSHA standards.

Laboratory specialist example responsibilities.

Manage patient, and corporate information with compassion and confidentiality.
Process specimens in the areas of chemistry, toxicology, hematology, urinalysis, coagulation, serology, and microbiology.
Perform general routine clinical laboratory testing in the areas of clinical chemistry, hematology, coagulation, urinalysis and blood bank.
Perform DNA and RNA isolation, standard and real time PCR, primer design, gene sequence analysis.
Perform clinical laboratory procedures in hematology, clinical chemistry and urinalysis.
Provide customer service to patients and clinicians while collecting specimens and providing patient education.

Laboratory assistant vs laboratory specialist skills

Common laboratory assistant skills

Patients, 15%
Phlebotomy, 12%
Customer Service, 6%
Lab Procedures, 5%
Specimen Collection, 5%
Patient Care, 5%

Common laboratory specialist skills

Chemistry, 10%
Patients, 10%
Test Results, 8%
Laboratory Tests, 7%
Patient Care, 6%
Centrifuges, 5%

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Laboratory Assistant
Laboratory Assistant vs Laboratory Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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