A medical laboratory is a very important establishment. This is where patient samples go to get tested and where diseases are identified. Therefore, it is very important that the laboratory stays organized. Usually it is the job of the laboratory clerk to make sure that the lab stays in tip-top shape and that no results go back to the wrong office.
The laboratory clerk usually takes care of all of the administrative duties in a laboratory. This can include keeping track of samples, processing test results, and inputting data. Often, the laboratory clerk is the liaison between the lab and doctors' offices. They receive samples from doctors, organize them in order of priority, and communicate results back to clinics.
Although some laboratory clerks have a bachelor's degree, most do not. The skills needed to succeed in this position, such as organizational skills, data entry, and basic knowledge of phlebotomy, are usually learned on the job.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a laboratory clerk. For example, did you know that they make an average of $14.52 an hour? That's $30,203 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -4% and produce -110,600 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many laboratory clerks have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed customer-service skills, organizational skills and detail oriented.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a laboratory clerk, we found that a lot of resumes listed 13.3% of laboratory clerks included phlebotomy, while 9.0% of resumes included medical records, and 7.9% of resumes included specimen collection. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the laboratory clerk job title. But what industry to start with? Most laboratory clerks actually find jobs in the health care and retail industries.
If you're interested in becoming a laboratory clerk, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 32.7% of laboratory clerks have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 3.0% of laboratory clerks have master's degrees. Even though some laboratory clerks have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a laboratory clerk. When we researched the most common majors for a laboratory clerk, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on laboratory clerk resumes include high school diploma degrees or diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a laboratory clerk. In fact, many laboratory clerk jobs require experience in a role such as cashier. Meanwhile, many laboratory clerks also have previous career experience in roles such as customer service representative or administrative assistant.