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What is a research assistant/technician and how to become one
As a research assistant, you will be responsible for performing tasks that provide support to the professional conducting the research and experiments. In your position, whether it be in the arts or the sciences, you are also expected to conduct interviews and experiments while maintaining quality control standards.
You may work in research laboratories, universities, or market research firms under the guidance of the chief researcher. Your duty is to assist in carrying out research pertaining to the project at hand, collecting the relevant data, analyzing it, and displaying this data on the appropriate charts. Your role may further be extended to you editing and proofreading the accuracy of research papers.
For this position, you need to be highly organized and be equipped with the tenacity to work hard under pressure. You need to have excellent verbal and written communication skills and be able to graphically display data. Your analytical skills need to be brilliant, and the same goes for your critical thinking skills. To become a research assistant, you will need an undergraduate degree in the relevant field and also be in pursuit of either your Master's or Doctoral degree.
What general advice would you give to a research assistant/technician?
Ben Brown
Professor, Ohio State University
Avg. Salary $39,567
Avg. Salary $59,228
Growth rate 19%
Growth rate 0.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.13%
Asian 14.37%
Black or African American 4.76%
Hispanic or Latino 11.33%
Unknown 4.90%
White 64.51%
Genderfemale 49.56%
male 50.44%
Age - 34American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%
Asian 7.00%
Black or African American 14.00%
Hispanic or Latino 19.00%
White 57.00%
Genderfemale 47.00%
male 53.00%
Age - 34Stress level is manageable
7.1 - high
Complexity level is challenging
7 - challenging
Work life balance is fair
6.4 - fair
Research assistant/technician career paths
Key steps to become a research assistant/technician
Explore research assistant/technician education requirements
Start to develop specific research assistant/technician skills
Skills Percentages Patients 7.78% Analyze Data 6.87% Data Collection 6.71% PCR 4.73% Cell Culture 4.64% Complete relevant research assistant/technician training and internships
Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New research assistant/technicians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a research assistant/technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real research assistant/technician resumes.Research research assistant/technician duties and responsibilities
- Manage social media publications to spread awareness and notifications on Facebook.
- Screen for antibody selection an affinity validation by ELISA and colony lift.
- Determine the allergenic potential of thermally process (fry, moist and dry heated) milk using commercial ELISA kits.
- Perform mouse experiments including lymphocyte extractions and genotyping.
Prepare your research assistant/technician resume
When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your research assistant/technician resume.
You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a research assistant/technician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.
Choose from 10+ customizable research assistant/technician resume templates
Build a professional research assistant/technician resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your research assistant/technician resume.
Apply for research assistant/technician jobs
Now it's time to start searching for a research assistant/technician job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:
- Browse job boards for relevant postings
- Consult your professional network
- Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
- Watch out for job scams
How did you land your first research assistant/technician job
Are you a research assistant/technician?
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Average research assistant/technician salary
The average research assistant/technician salary in the United States is $39,567 per year or $19 per hour. Research assistant/technician salaries range between $27,000 and $56,000 per year.
What am I worth?
How do research assistant/technicians rate their job?
Research assistant/technician reviews
It's all about getting data, follow up on project, ensuring that jobs are done properly, write reports after a project is done. You travel if the job or project you're handling is out station.
Nothing really, it's just that sometimes getting data can be very difficult
I like to explore more in community health related field and benefit the future generations from avoidable diseases and help them with information related to health aspects.
None
What I like is that,you get to interact with different people from various communities.Relationships are formed in the process
Language barrier can be a problem,because communication needs to be formed in the language that each community you interact with understands.
Updated January 8, 2025
