Sample prep technician vs research laboratory technician

The differences between sample prep technicians and research laboratory technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a sample prep technician, becoming a research laboratory technician takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a sample prep technician has an average salary of $42,504, which is higher than the $38,308 average annual salary of a research laboratory technician.

The top three skills for a sample prep technician include QC, lab equipment and AA. The most important skills for a research laboratory technician are patients, chemistry, and laboratory equipment.

Sample prep technician vs research laboratory technician overview

	Sample Prep Technician	Research Laboratory Technician
Yearly salary	$42,504	$38,308
Hourly rate	$20.43	$18.42
Growth rate	7%	9%
Number of jobs	63,971	86,476
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age	38	40
Years of experience	2	4

What does a sample prep technician do?

Sample Prep Technicians are responsible for carrying out sample preparation and laboratory testings. Their duties include client samples sorting and logging, conducting preliminary sample preparation, monitoring temperatures of freezers and refrigerators, cleaning of N-Evap, water baths refrigerators, and foreheads, and making sure proper procedures for sample returning, disposal, and archiving. They calibrate equipment such as pipettes, syringes, and balances, wash glassware, dispose of waste solvents, salinize liners and glass wools and sustain standard inventory. Sample Prep Technicians also perform equipment repair, assist laboratory technician, and ensure work adhere to organizations environmental, quality, health, and safety policies.

What does a research laboratory technician do?

Research laboratory technicians play a vital role in scientific laboratories. They perform varied duties and responsibilities, which include setting up, operating, and maintaining the laboratory equipment, assisting in laboratory-based research activities such as sampling, testing, and analyzing results, and providing technical support to the laboratory team members. In addition, they are expected to support the development and advancement of science and modern medicine. Other typical duties of research laboratory technicians include preparing samples and specimens, keeping abreast with current technical developments, and ensuring strict compliance with safety procedures.

Sample prep technician vs research laboratory technician salary

Sample prep technicians and research laboratory technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Sample Prep Technician	Research Laboratory Technician
Average salary	$42,504	$38,308
Salary range	Between $28,000 And $63,000	Between $30,000 And $48,000
Highest paying City	Fall River, MA	Chicago, IL
Highest paying state	Rhode Island	Illinois
Best paying company	Los Alamos National Laboratory	Accenture
Best paying industry	Automotive	Manufacturing

Differences between sample prep technician and research laboratory technician education

There are a few differences between a sample prep technician and a research laboratory technician in terms of educational background:

	Sample Prep Technician	Research Laboratory Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common major	Biology	Biology
Most common college	Stanford University	Cornell University

Sample prep technician vs research laboratory technician demographics

Here are the differences between sample prep technicians' and research laboratory technicians' demographics:

	Sample Prep Technician	Research Laboratory Technician
Average age	38	40
Gender ratio	Male, 67.6% Female, 32.4%	Male, 49.0% Female, 51.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 10.5% White, 56.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	Black or African American, 12.3% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 13.5% Asian, 15.7% White, 49.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.5%
LGBT Percentage	8%	6%

Differences between sample prep technician and research laboratory technician duties and responsibilities

Sample prep technician example responsibilities.

Assist in managing technical and regulatory site visits to the laboratory and interface with QA and RA on all vendor/regulatory audits.
Maintain cleanliness of car wash.
Certify weights of shipments of grain and shipping containers according to USDA regulations.
Perform quality control (QC) testing of environmental samples within assign sample batches.
Perform calibration checks on pipettes monthly, on microwaves weekly, on scales daily.
Experience utilizing proper PPE for task, and ensuring a safe work area through housekeeping.

Research laboratory technician example responsibilities.

Manage RT-PCR screening of candidate genes.
Manage the development of innovative visualization and concept mapping of contest environment analysis challenges and analyst skill sets.
Use many scientific techniques to collect and analyze RNA, DNA, and specific proteins from lines of potato plants.
Preform computational molecular simulation of DNA and RNA.
Retain patients from previous research projects and update database using patient histories and correlating pertinent medical data.
Work with non human primates in an HIV testing laboratory.

Sample prep technician vs research laboratory technician skills

Common sample prep technician skills

QC, 12%
Lab Equipment, 10%
AA, 10%
Safety Regulations, 7%
Sample Prep, 6%
Lims, 6%

Common research laboratory technician skills

Patients, 9%
Chemistry, 7%
Laboratory Equipment, 7%
Cell Culture, 5%
Research Data, 4%
Research Projects, 4%

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Sample Prep Technician
Sample Prep Technician vs Research Laboratory Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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