Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between laboratory supervisors and supervisors 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 supervisor, becoming a supervisor takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a laboratory supervisor has an average salary of $67,361, which is higher than the $53,902 average annual salary of a supervisor.
The top three skills for a laboratory supervisor include clinical laboratory, patients and chemistry. The most important skills for a supervisor are customer service, safety procedures, and sales floor.
| Laboratory Supervisor | Supervisor | |
| Yearly salary | $67,361 | $53,902 |
| Hourly rate | $32.39 | $25.91 |
| Growth rate | 3% | - |
| Number of jobs | 49,957 | 224,920 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 44% |
| Average age | 44 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 2 |
The primary job of laboratory supervisors is to oversee the daily operations of laboratories. They are responsible for facilitating the collection, analysis, and interpretation of laboratory results. Other responsibilities include supervising personnel, managing the operating budget of the laboratory, and hiring employees. Laboratory supervisors are responsible for overseeing quality assurance and enforcing practices to ensure quality control within the laboratory. Aside from these tasks, they also manage the acquisition of laboratory equipment and supplies and resolve any technical or administrative issues within the laboratory.
Supervisors are responsible for overseeing the daily functions of employees in a specific team, department, or even a work shift. They create work schedules, organize work processes and workflows, train new hires, provide necessary reports related to the team function and the employees, monitor and evaluate employee performance, and ensure that goals of the specific team or department are met. When needed, supervisors also provide guidance to employees in terms of their career or even personal challenges. They also help in fostering harmonious work relationships by resolving interpersonal conflicts at work. To be successful in their role, they must have leadership skills, time management skills, decision-making capabilities, analytical skills, and problem-solving skills.
Laboratory supervisors and supervisors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Laboratory Supervisor | Supervisor | |
| Average salary | $67,361 | $53,902 |
| Salary range | Between $47,000 And $96,000 | Between $31,000 And $92,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | California | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Chevron | Reed Smith |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a laboratory supervisor and a supervisor in terms of educational background:
| Laboratory Supervisor | Supervisor | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 44% |
| Most common major | Biology | Business |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between laboratory supervisors' and supervisors' demographics:
| Laboratory Supervisor | Supervisor | |
| Average age | 44 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 52.7% Female, 47.3% | Male, 55.8% Female, 44.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.7% Asian, 12.0% White, 53.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 12.2% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 19.0% Asian, 4.6% White, 59.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 6% |