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The differences between senior purchasing agents 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 senior purchasing agent, becoming a certified medical technician takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a senior purchasing agent has an average salary of $73,386, which is higher than the $38,859 average annual salary of a certified medical technician.
The top three skills for a senior purchasing agent include purchase orders, project management and supplier relationships. The most important skills for a certified medical technician are patients, vital signs, and CPR.
| Senior Purchasing Agent | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $73,386 | $38,859 |
| Hourly rate | $35.28 | $18.68 |
| Growth rate | -6% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 43,833 | 164,424 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Average age | 48 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 12 |
Senior Purchasing Agents are experienced employees in the company's purchasing department. They oversee the purchase requisitions of the employees. They validate requests, ensure that the requestors followed company guidelines, check the availability of the items with the chosen supplier, and forward the purchase order to the supplier. Upon fulfillment of the request, Senior Purchasing Agents check the deliveries, ensure that the items are complete and correct, forward the items to the requestor, and process the payment for the supplier. Senior Purchasing agents also prepare reports, spot trends in employee or department purchases, and create recommendations based on observations. They are also expected to form good working relationships with suppliers.
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.
Senior purchasing agents and certified medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Purchasing Agent | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average salary | $73,386 | $38,859 |
| Salary range | Between $52,000 And $103,000 | Between $28,000 And $53,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Denton, TX |
| Highest paying state | New York | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Levi Strauss & Co. | Favorite Healthcare Staffing |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a senior purchasing agent and a certified medical technician in terms of educational background:
| Senior Purchasing Agent | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Most common major | Business | Nursing |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Connecticut |
Here are the differences between senior purchasing agents' and certified medical technicians' demographics:
| Senior Purchasing Agent | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average age | 48 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 57.7% Female, 42.3% | Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 7.7% White, 66.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | 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 | 7% | 8% |