Healthcare Practitioners and Technical · Holland code IRC
Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists
Perform complex medical laboratory tests for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. May train or supervise staff.
Also called: Clinical Laboratory Scientist (CLS), Clinical Laboratory Technologist, Medical Lab Technologist (Medical Laboratory Technologist), Medical Technologist (MT), Clinical Chemist, Histologist Technologist, Lab Tech (Laboratory Technologist), Microbiology Technologist (MT).
O*NET 29-2011.00
At a glance
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree
- 52% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 4 of 5
- Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Analyze samples of biological material for chemical content or reaction.
- Analyze laboratory findings to check the accuracy of the results.
- Conduct chemical analysis of body fluids, including blood, urine, or spinal fluid, to determine presence of normal or abnormal components.
- Enter data from analysis of medical tests or clinical results into computer for storage.
- Collect and study blood samples to determine the number of cells, their morphology, or their blood group, blood type, or compatibility for transfusion purposes, using microscopic techniques.
- Set up, clean, and maintain laboratory equipment.
- Operate, calibrate, or maintain equipment used in quantitative or qualitative analysis, such as spectrophotometers, calorimeters, flame photometers, or computer-controlled analyzers.
- Establish or monitor quality assurance programs or activities to ensure the accuracy of laboratory results.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Science4.0 / 5
- Critical Thinking4.0 / 5
- Active Listening3.9 / 5
- Reading Comprehension3.8 / 5
- Monitoring3.5 / 5
- Active Learning3.4 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Chemistry4.2 / 5
- Customer and Personal Service4.2 / 5
- Computers and Electronics4.1 / 5
- English Language4.0 / 5
- Biology3.9 / 5
- Mathematics3.9 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic80
- Investigative86
- Artistic2
- Social30
- Enterprising9
- Conventional67
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- medical laboratory manager · DE Leiter eines medizinischen Labors/Leiterin eines medizinischen Labors · FR directeur de laboratoire d'analyses de biologie médicale/directrice de laboratoire d'analyses de biologie médicale
- specialist biomedical scientist · DE Experte Biomedizinische Wissenschaften/Expertin Biomedizinische Wissenschaften · FR médecin d’études cliniques
- biomedical scientist advanced · DE Wissenschaftlicher Experte Biomedizinische Forschung/Wissenschaftliche Expertin Biomedizinische Forschung · FR ingénieur de recherche biomédicale/ingénieure de recherche biomédicale
- scientific laboratory technician · DE Labortechniker Biowissenschaften/Labortechnikerin Biowissenschaften · FR technicien de laboratoire scientifique/technicienne de laboratoire scientifique
- bacteriology technician · DE Bakteriologietechniker/Bakteriologietechnikerin · FR technicien bactériologiste/technicienne bactériologiste
- biomedical scientist · DE Biomedizintechniker/Biomedizintechnikerin · FR technicien de biologie médicale/technicienne de biologie médicale
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Senior officers in fire, ambulance, prison and related services (1163)8,000 employed
- Biochemists and biomedical scientists (2113)68,000 employed
- Natural and social science professionals n.e.c. (2119)36,500 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Japan
Japan classifies jobs in its own way. The closest category that names the same work is “臨床検査技師”, which may be narrower or broader than this occupation.
- Median monthly pay
- ¥293,400
- Middle half earn ¥248,000 to ¥344,300 a month.
- Workers in the category
- 90,710
- Regular employees in firms of ten or more.
Scheduled monthly pay before tax, excluding overtime and bonuses, so it is not comparable to the annual figures above. Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, via e-Stat, under the Japanese Government Standard Terms of Use. The category match was made by hand.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €50,992 |
| Austria | €46,986 |
| Germany | €44,473 |
| Netherlands | €42,448 |
| Ireland | €41,613 |
| Sweden | €41,155 |
| Italy | €34,882 |
| France | €34,816 |
| Spain | €29,757 |
| Portugal | €18,080 |
| Poland | €12,108 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.28. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (29-2011).
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