A microbiology technician helps scientists to execute lab experiments relating to microscopic organisms. She prepares the specimen, records the findings, and is responsible for keeping the facility clean. Depending on her level of experience, she may also conduct an independent experiment on important research topics.
As a microbiology technician, you'll mostly work in privately owned research institutions and university labs. You may also be employed by a biotech company that conducts microbiology research. The employment may be on contract or a full-time job. Microbiology technicians often have to work with infectious specimens, so they use a lot of caution and safety equipment.
Qualification requirements for a microbiology technician include an associate degree program and relevant work experience. An associate degree program teaches the principles necessary for job performance, like hematology, microbiology, and molecular diagnostics.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a Microbiology Technician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $20.45 an hour? That's $42,537 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 7% and produce 5,700 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many Microbiology Technicians 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 Analytical skills, Technical skills and Communication skills.
If you're interested in becoming a Microbiology Technician, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 75.3% of Microbiology Technicians have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 7.9% of Microbiology Technicians have master's degrees. Even though most Microbiology Technicians 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 Microbiology Technician. When we researched the most common majors for a Microbiology Technician, we found that they most commonly earn Bachelor's Degree degrees or Associate Degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on Microbiology Technician resumes include Master's Degree degrees or High School Diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a Microbiology Technician. In fact, many Microbiology Technician jobs require experience in a role such as Laboratory Technician. Meanwhile, many Microbiology Technicians also have previous career experience in roles such as Research Assistant or Laboratory Assistant.