Career Overlap Transition record Edition 1 · ESCO v1.2.1
Table 1Transition record

scientific laboratory techniciantobiology technician

A scientific laboratory technician already meets 44% of what the biology technician role asks for. The move turns on 10 required skills not yet in the profile.

From scientific laboratory technician
44%
Overlap1
To biology technician
18 Skills carried over
10 Required, not held
62.1 Difficulty2
Career overlap Partial match

44%

Learning distance Substantial retraining

62.1/ 100

1 Share of the biology technician role’s weighted skill requirement already met by the scientific laboratory technician profile. Required skills count in full, supplementary skills at 0.35. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs. 2 Combines what is missing with how specialised it is, so a gap of general skills scores easier than the same number of narrow ones.

Why

Why this move works

A biology technician role treats 12 of its required skills as things a scientific laboratory technician already does. These are the ones it depends on most.

  • analyse experimental laboratory data
  • apply safety procedures in laboratory
  • assist in the production of laboratory documentation
  • biology
  • calibrate laboratory equipment
  • collect samples for analysis

What stands in the way is 10 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 18 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A biology technician role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a scientific laboratory technician background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held assist in the production of laboratory documentation information skills
  • already held analyse blood samples information skills
  • already held stem cells natural sciences, mathematics and statistics
  • already held analyse cell cultures information skills
  • already held cryopreservation natural sciences, mathematics and statistics
  • already held virology health and welfare

All 18 carried skills, including the 12 the biology technician role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you would need to learn

The 33 missing skills fall into 13 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered below in the order worth working in: the areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the supplementary ones.

Skill to acquire Tier
01 information skills 3 required, 3 supplementary
  • required, not held apply scientific methods required
  • required, not held collect biological data required
  • required, not held perform scientific research required
  • optional, not held perform field research optional
  • optional, not held keep task records optional
  • optional, not held monitor the welfare of animals optional
02 natural sciences, mathematics and statistics 2 required, 8 supplementary
  • required, not held computational biology required
  • required, not held laboratory equipment required
  • optional, not held applied zoology optional
  • optional, not held botany optional
  • optional, not held evolutionary biology optional
  • optional, not held genomics optional
  • optional, not held ecology optional
  • optional, not held molecular biology optional
  • optional, not held oceanography optional
  • optional, not held pharmacology optional
03 communication, collaboration and creativity 1 required, 1 supplementary
  • required, not held write technical reports required
  • optional, not held write research proposals optional
04 working with machinery and specialised equipment 1 required, 1 supplementary
  • required, not held use laboratory equipment required
  • optional, not held perform fertility laboratory procedures optional
05 assisting and caring 1 required
  • required, not held perform stem cell transplantation required
06 education 1 required
  • required, not held scientific research methodology required

7 further areas in the appendix

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a biology technician role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 18 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held analyse experimental laboratory data skill
  • already held apply safety procedures in laboratory skill
  • already held assist in the production of laboratory documentation skill
  • already held biology knowledge
  • already held calibrate laboratory equipment skill
  • already held collect samples for analysis skill
  • already held cryopreservation knowledge
  • already held laboratory techniques knowledge
  • already held life sciences knowledge
  • already held maintain laboratory equipment skill
  • already held perform laboratory tests skill
  • already held stem cells knowledge
  • already held analyse blood samples skill
  • already held analyse cell cultures skill
  • already held chemistry knowledge
  • already held label samples skill
  • already held microbiology-bacteriology knowledge
  • already held virology knowledge
The 7 learning areas not shown above
Skill to acquire Tier
07 management skills 1 required
  • required, not held manage inventory required
08 business, administration and law 2 supplementary
  • optional, not held animal welfare legislation optional
  • optional, not held environmental legislation optional
09 handling and moving 2 supplementary
  • optional, not held collect reproductive cells optional
  • optional, not held preserve samples optional
10 health and welfare 2 supplementary
  • optional, not held biosecurity optional
  • optional, not held pathology optional
11 working with computers 2 supplementary
  • optional, not held maintain freelance database optional
  • optional, not held prepare visual data optional
12 engineering, manufacturing and construction 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held pollution prevention optional
13 services 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held hazardous waste storage optional
23 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to acquire Tier
  • optional, not held applied zoology optional
  • optional, not held botany optional
  • optional, not held collect reproductive cells optional
  • optional, not held evolutionary biology optional
  • optional, not held genomics optional
  • optional, not held perform fertility laboratory procedures optional
  • optional, not held perform field research optional
  • optional, not held animal welfare legislation optional
  • optional, not held biosecurity optional
  • optional, not held ecology optional
  • optional, not held environmental legislation optional
  • optional, not held hazardous waste storage optional
  • optional, not held keep task records optional
  • optional, not held maintain freelance database optional
  • optional, not held molecular biology optional
  • optional, not held monitor the welfare of animals optional
  • optional, not held oceanography optional
  • optional, not held pathology optional
  • optional, not held pharmacology optional
  • optional, not held pollution prevention optional
  • optional, not held prepare visual data optional
  • optional, not held preserve samples optional
  • optional, not held write research proposals optional
64 held skills the biology technician role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role analyse samples of food and beverages skill
  • not needed by the target role analyse test data skill
  • not needed by the target role answer patients' questions skill
  • not needed by the target role archive healthcare users' records skill
  • not needed by the target role archive scientific documentation skill
  • not needed by the target role assist scientific research skill
  • not needed by the target role automated analysers in the medical laboratory knowledge
  • not needed by the target role biological chemistry knowledge
  • not needed by the target role blood collection on babies knowledge
  • not needed by the target role blood donation knowledge
  • not needed by the target role blood transfusion knowledge
  • not needed by the target role blood type classification knowledge
  • not needed by the target role carry out quality control in microbiology laboratories skill
  • not needed by the target role check material resources skill
  • not needed by the target role check the received biological samples skill
  • not needed by the target role clinical biochemistry knowledge
  • not needed by the target role clinical cytology knowledge
  • not needed by the target role collect biological samples from patients skill
  • not needed by the target role communicate in healthcare skill
  • not needed by the target role conduct routine blood testing skill
  • not needed by the target role data protection knowledge
  • not needed by the target role develop scientific research protocols skill
  • not needed by the target role dispose medical waste skill
  • not needed by the target role ensure compliance with environmental legislation skill
  • not needed by the target role examine cell specimens microscopically skill
  • not needed by the target role examine samples in dermatology skill
  • not needed by the target role execute analytical mathematical calculations skill
  • not needed by the target role explain the molecular basis of a disease to patients skill
  • not needed by the target role fine-needle aspiration knowledge
  • not needed by the target role histopathology knowledge
  • not needed by the target role identify patients' medical records skill
  • not needed by the target role immunology knowledge
  • not needed by the target role interpret electromyograms skill
  • not needed by the target role interpret hematological test results skill
  • not needed by the target role interpret medical results skill
  • not needed by the target role label blood samples skill
  • not needed by the target role maintain healthcare user data confidentiality skill
  • not needed by the target role maintain medical laboratory equipment skill
  • not needed by the target role manage chemical processes inspection skill
  • not needed by the target role manage chemical testing procedures skill

24 further entries not listed here

17 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to acquire Tier
  • required, not held computational biology required
  • required, not held laboratory equipment required
  • required, not held scientific research methodology required
  • optional, not held applied zoology optional
  • optional, not held botany optional
  • optional, not held evolutionary biology optional
  • optional, not held genomics optional
  • optional, not held animal welfare legislation optional
  • optional, not held biosecurity optional
  • optional, not held ecology optional
  • optional, not held environmental legislation optional
  • optional, not held hazardous waste storage optional
  • optional, not held molecular biology optional
  • optional, not held oceanography optional
  • optional, not held pathology optional
  • optional, not held pharmacology optional
  • optional, not held pollution prevention optional
Index

Other moves recorded from scientific laboratory technician

Full index of moves from scientific laboratory technician

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.