How To Become A Specimen Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a specimen technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Your title as a Specimen Technician requires you to be responsible for general support functions within the department. You will need a data entry background, and you may be the one processing ordering to information systems, presorting, pickup, and delivering processed specimens to the laboratory. You will use a centrifuge to spin and analyze specimens. You must have confidence, accuracy, and be dependable.

The job is somewhat complex and requires you to have organization skills and understand specimens and their tests. You need to learn and understand the compliance regulations to test specimens. Your position is important for customer and patient satisfaction.

A college degree is preferred, but if you have a high school diploma or equivalent, you may be hired and trained. You will need previous experience in a production or laboratory environment, a data entry background, and an ability to enter data in a computer program. You may make up to $32,000 a year.

ScoreSpecimen TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.1

Avg. Salary $39,267

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.6

Growth Rate 1%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.80%

Asian 11.99%

Black or African American 11.06%

Hispanic or Latino 16.94%

Unknown 5.10%

White 54.11%

Gender

female 69.38%

male 30.62%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress Level

6.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.7

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

8.7

Work Life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a specimen technician

Explore specimen technician education requirements

Most common specimen technician degrees

Bachelor's

36.2 %

Associate

26.9 %

High School Diploma

15.9 %

Start to develop specific specimen technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	16.23%
Data Entry	11.60%
Medical Terminology	8.82%
Quality Standards	7.28%
Compliance Regulations	6.08%

Complete relevant specimen technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New specimen 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 specimen technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real specimen technician resumes.

Research specimen technician duties and responsibilities

Enter and verify patient data in compliance with HIPAA guidelines.
Maintain HIPPA regulations, GCP, and GLP during daily functions.
Maintain high level of accuracy and adhere to all HIPPA regulations.
Complete paperwork pertaining to issues including TIQ's, NSR's, and OSHA compliance.

Prepare your specimen technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your specimen 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 specimen 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 Specimen Technician Resume templates

Build a professional Specimen 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 Specimen Technician resume.

Apply for specimen technician jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a specimen 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 do specimen technicians rate their job?