Pharmaceutical laboratory technician vs senior laboratory technician

The differences between pharmaceutical laboratory technicians and senior laboratory technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a pharmaceutical laboratory technician and a senior laboratory technician. Additionally, a senior laboratory technician has an average salary of $48,530, which is higher than the $41,945 average annual salary of a pharmaceutical laboratory technician.

The top three skills for a pharmaceutical laboratory technician include R, environmental monitoring and lab equipment. The most important skills for a senior laboratory technician are lab equipment, patients, and research projects.

Pharmaceutical laboratory technician vs senior laboratory technician overview

	Pharmaceutical Laboratory Technician	Senior Laboratory Technician
Yearly salary	$41,945	$48,530
Hourly rate	$20.17	$23.33
Growth rate	9%	9%
Number of jobs	52,205	63,876
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 70%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	12	12

Pharmaceutical laboratory technician vs senior laboratory technician salary

Pharmaceutical laboratory technicians and senior laboratory technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Pharmaceutical Laboratory Technician	Senior Laboratory Technician
Average salary	$41,945	$48,530
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $58,000	Between $34,000 And $67,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	Genentech
Best paying industry	-	Manufacturing

Differences between pharmaceutical laboratory technician and senior laboratory technician education

There are a few differences between a pharmaceutical laboratory technician and a senior laboratory technician in terms of educational background:

	Pharmaceutical Laboratory Technician	Senior Laboratory Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 70%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Most common major	Biology	Biology
Most common college	New York University	New York University

Pharmaceutical laboratory technician vs senior laboratory technician demographics

Here are the differences between pharmaceutical laboratory technicians' and senior laboratory technicians' demographics:

	Pharmaceutical Laboratory Technician	Senior Laboratory Technician
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 43.1% Female, 56.9%	Male, 58.6% Female, 41.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.8% Asian, 12.2% White, 52.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 12.0% White, 54.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between pharmaceutical laboratory technician and senior laboratory technician duties and responsibilities

Pharmaceutical laboratory technician example responsibilities.

Manage patient, and corporate information with compassion and confidentiality.
Perform QC testing on tablet coating products and assist in development of new products to meet customer's needs.
Develop QC test methods and specifications for new products and coordinate the implementation of new test methods for existing products.
Maintain and operate laboratory equipment and commendably troubleshoot and resolve an assortment of laboratory testing analyzers and perform diverse chemical tests.
Arrange stat shipping and receiving of blood products to and from outside medical facilities.
Perform venipuncture, bleeding times, vaccinations and urinalysis procedures.

Senior laboratory technician example responsibilities.

Lead aerobic, anaerobic and UV light testing, chemical residue testing and centrifuge to separate chemicals from water.
Operate a binary distillation column using LabView to separate a mixture of methanol and water.
Provide and sign certificate of analyses for wet chemistry and microbiology.
Perform CFU-blast, CFU-C, CFU-D, CFU-S assays.
Create raw material library on FTIR.
Perform manual titration, including testing bacteria and other water tests.

Pharmaceutical laboratory technician vs senior laboratory technician skills

Common pharmaceutical laboratory technician skills

R, 16%
Environmental Monitoring, 12%
Lab Equipment, 10%
Sops, 9%
Laboratory Procedures, 8%
GMP, 7%

Common senior laboratory technician skills

Lab Equipment, 9%
Patients, 8%
Research Projects, 5%
Cell Culture, 4%
Safety Procedures, 4%
Molecular Biology, 4%

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Pharmaceutical Laboratory Technician
Pharmaceutical Laboratory Technician vs Senior Laboratory Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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