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 specialist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real laboratory specialist resumes:
- 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.
- Use of lab equipment, such as centrifuges and spectrometer
- Implement QA/laboratory safety in compliance with CLIA, HIPAA, and OSHA regulations.
- Maintain equipment and laboratories on-site and off-site according to CLIA and OSHA regulations.
- Process shipping and receiving of HIV and various other serology specimens for confirmation results.
- Use the software program ArmedXpert to compare evidence samples to known DNA samples, check results of controls.
- Perform phlebotomy on subjects pursuant to study protocols
- Total RNA extraction, purification, reverse-transcription.
- Provide necessary training and instruction to patients while maintaining confidentiality.
- Perform troubleshoot on all laboratory equipment and maintain quality controls.
Laboratory specialist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Laboratory Specialists are proficient in Chemistry, Patients, and Test Results. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Listening skills, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Laboratory Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Chemistry, 10%
Collaborated with engineering and chemistry to design and troubleshoot experiments Accomplishments Performed detailed cost analysis of laboratory testing.
- Patients, 10%
Provided customer service to patients and clinicians while collecting specimens and providing patient education.
- Test Results, 8%
Performed statistical data analysis of test results and issued technical reports pertaining to test results.
- Laboratory Tests, 7%
Operated different types of laboratory equipment, performed laboratory testing, raw material evaluations, and monitored plant test batches.
- Patient Care, 6%
Provided patient care in relation to Cardiac pulmonary functions and respiratory therapy.
- Centrifuges, 5%
Monitored and maintained the proper operation of laboratory equipments such as freezers, incubators, centrifuges, and calibrated equipments.
"chemistry," "patients," and "test results" are among the most common skills that laboratory specialists use at work. You can find even more laboratory specialist responsibilities below, including:
Customer-service skills. One of the key soft skills for a laboratory specialist to have is customer-service skills. You can see how this relates to what laboratory specialists do because "computer support specialists must be patient and sympathetic." Additionally, a laboratory specialist resume shows how laboratory specialists use customer-service skills: "assisted customers with film purchases, data entry customer's orders, verified, packaged and price pictures accordingly. "
Listening skills. Another essential skill to perform laboratory specialist duties is listening skills. Laboratory specialists responsibilities require that "support workers must be able to understand the problems that their customers are describing and know when to ask questions to clarify the situation." Laboratory specialists also use listening skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "communicated effectively and professionally with staff for results, test requirements and document and troubleshoot problems as they occurred. "
Problem-solving skills. This is an important skill for laboratory specialists to perform their duties. For an example of how laboratory specialist responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "support workers must identify both simple and complex computer problems, analyze them, and solve them." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a laboratory specialist: "provided power, data, bench support, and solutions to unix, windows, and linux based, pc's. ".
Speaking skills. A big part of what laboratory specialists do relies on "speaking skills." You can see how essential it is to laboratory specialist responsibilities because "support workers must describe the solutions to computer problems in a way that a nontechnical person can understand." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical laboratory specialist tasks: "presented data and research at weekly medicinal chemistry meetings. "
Writing skills. A commonly-found skill in laboratory specialist job descriptions, "writing skills" is essential to what laboratory specialists do. Laboratory specialist responsibilities rely on this skill because "strong writing skills are useful for preparing instructions and email responses for employees and customers, as well as for real-time web chat interactions." You can also see how laboratory specialist duties rely on writing skills in this resume example: "assist in writing technical reports that are submitted to the fda. "
The three companies that hire the most laboratory specialists are:
- University of Virginia51 laboratory specialists jobs
- University of Michigan17 laboratory specialists jobs
- Army National Guard16 laboratory specialists jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable laboratory specialist resume templates
Build a professional laboratory specialist resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your laboratory specialist resume.
Compare different laboratory specialists
Laboratory specialist vs. Histologic technician
A Histologic Technician prepares tissue specimens for routine and special procedures to confirm a patient diagnosis. They work in hospital laboratories, government agencies, public health departments, and other institutions.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, laboratory specialist responsibilities require skills like "chemistry," "test results," "laboratory tests," and "patient care." Meanwhile a typical histologic technician has skills in areas such as "ascp," "tissue specimens," "ihc," and "microtome." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
The education levels that histologic technicians earn slightly differ from laboratory specialists. In particular, histologic technicians are 2.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a laboratory specialist. Additionally, they're 0.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Laboratory specialist vs. Certified pharmacist technician
A certified pharmacist technician is responsible for assisting patients by providing medicines based on their needs or their physicians' prescriptions. Certified pharmacist technicians must be able to supply the correct medications, including the right dosage to patients. They must also have a broad understanding of the medical industry, providing medicinal information to patients and referring them to the right health professionals as needed. Certified pharmacist technicians also monitor medicine inventories, manage supplies, and create sales reports.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that laboratory specialist responsibilities requires skills like "chemistry," "test results," "laboratory tests," and "centrifuges." But a certified pharmacist technician might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "direct supervision," "math," "telephone calls," and "rx."
Certified pharmacist technicians may earn a lower salary than laboratory specialists, but certified pharmacist technicians earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $37,078. On the other hand, laboratory specialists receive higher pay in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $51,385.certified pharmacist technicians earn lower levels of education than laboratory specialists in general. They're 5.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for laboratory specialists in the next 3-5 years?
Gerald Bergtrom Ph.D.
Professor of Biological Sciences (Emeritus) & Teaching & Learning Consultant, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
-Medical science will need to respond to new challenges arising out of climate change and the aging population. Supported (as always) by basic sciences, medical science will focus on big-picture biology, represented by the ever-growing number of "...omics". These include genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics... and the enabling technologies that let us look at a lot of genes, gene products, and biochemical reactions at the same time. Finally, the ever-improving gene-editing technologies can lead to the treatment of disease, leading to a greater understanding of the disease and biological process in general.
Laboratory specialist vs. Medical technologist, generalist
A Medical Technologist Generalist performs day-to-day operations in the laboratory such as routine testing, quality control, and maintenance of instruments. They also develop, perform, and evaluate the accuracy of laboratory procedures.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, laboratory specialists are more likely to have skills like "chemistry," "test results," "customer service," and "spectrometers." But a medical technologist, generalist is more likely to have skills like "microbiology," "blood bank," "team-oriented environment," and "laboratory procedures."
Medical technologists, generalist earn the highest salary when working in the health care industry, where they receive an average salary of $60,952. Comparatively, laboratory specialists have the highest earning potential in the health care industry, with an average salary of $51,385.Most medical technologists, generalist achieve a similar degree level compared to laboratory specialists. For example, they're 2.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Laboratory specialist vs. Medical technologist
A medical technologist's role is to conduct laboratory tests with accuracy and speed. It is their responsibility to gather, prepare, and analyze samples such as blood, tissues, and bodily fluid. The produced results will be crucial to a patient's diagnosis and further treatments. It is also essential for medical technologists to keep a precise record of data and coordinate with fellow team members and physicians to ensure the fast and efficient delivery of results. Furthermore, a medical technologist can choose to work in different establishments such as a hospital, laboratory, or private clinic.
Types of laboratory specialist
Updated January 8, 2025
