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The differences between retirement plan specialists and certified medical technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a retirement plan specialist, becoming a certified medical technician takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a retirement plan specialist has an average salary of $60,611, which is higher than the $38,859 average annual salary of a certified medical technician.
The top three skills for a retirement plan specialist include life insurance, financial products and FINRA. The most important skills for a certified medical technician are patients, vital signs, and CPR.
| Retirement Plan Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $60,611 | $38,859 |
| Hourly rate | $29.14 | $18.68 |
| Growth rate | 7% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 9,336 | 164,424 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 76% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Average age | 45 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 12 |
Retirement plan specialists are experts who plan out their client's financial needs for retirement. The specialist's design and implement savings, benefit, and pension programs for clients. They have to explain the complicated nature of compensation, investment, and retirement packages to employees clearly and concisely. They process retirement plans following company and federal regulations. Also, they often have a background in business or human resources, and they may choose to earn employee benefit certifications that may help with their career advancement.
Certified Medical Technicians are specialists in medical diagnoses by performing laboratory testing and analysis for hospitals and physicians. Their duties include lab sanitization to prepare for testing and collection, recording medical samples for testing, specimen preparation, blood drawing for donation and testing, and assisting physicians with sample collection as well as equipment handling in surgical rooms. They must also understand how to use complex and sensitive testing equipment such as cell counters, analyzers, microscopes, and centrifuges.
Retirement plan specialists and certified medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Retirement Plan Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average salary | $60,611 | $38,859 |
| Salary range | Between $41,000 And $88,000 | Between $28,000 And $53,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Denton, TX |
| Highest paying state | - | Alaska |
| Best paying company | - | Favorite Healthcare Staffing |
| Best paying industry | - | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a retirement plan specialist and a certified medical technician in terms of educational background:
| Retirement Plan Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 76% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Most common major | Business | Nursing |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Connecticut |
Here are the differences between retirement plan specialists' and certified medical technicians' demographics:
| Retirement Plan Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average age | 45 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 54.4% Female, 45.6% | Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 15.2% Asian, 7.8% White, 62.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 15.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 10.0% White, 53.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 8% |