Biology technician to physics technician
A biology technician already meets 35% of what the physics technician role asks for. The move turns on 7 required skills not yet in the profile.
60.9/ 100
1 How much of what a physics technician is expected to do is already part of a biology technician’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the physics technician role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A physics technician role treats 6 of its required skills as things a biology technician already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- analyse experimental laboratory data
- apply safety procedures in laboratory
- laboratory techniques
- maintain laboratory equipment
- perform laboratory tests
- scientific research methodology
What stands in the way is 7 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 9 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A physics technician role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a biology technician background worth leading with.
- already held analyse experimental laboratory data information skills
- already held maintain laboratory equipment working with machinery and specialised equipment
- already held calibrate laboratory equipment working with machinery and specialised equipment
- already held apply safety procedures in laboratory assisting and caring
- already held laboratory techniques natural sciences, mathematics and statistics
- already held perform laboratory tests working with machinery and specialised equipment
All 9 carried skills, including the 6 the physics technician role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 24 missing skills fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn apply statistical analysis techniques required
- still to learn execute analytical mathematical calculations required
- still to learn gather experimental data required
- still to learn report analysis results required
- optional, not held interpret geophysical data optional
- optional, not held analyse scientific data optional
- optional, not held observe matter optional
- still to learn physics required
- optional, not held quantum mechanics optional
- optional, not held acoustics optional
- optional, not held astronomy optional
- optional, not held geology optional
- optional, not held geophysics optional
- optional, not held mathematics optional
- optional, not held statistics optional
- optional, not held thermodynamics optional
- still to learn assist scientific research required
- optional, not held communicate with external laboratories optional
- optional, not held write scientific publications optional
- still to learn use measurement instruments required
- optional, not held operate remote sensing equipment optional
- optional, not held operate telescopes optional
- optional, not held densiometry optional
- optional, not held quantum computing optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a physics technician role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 apply statistical analysis techniques practise this
- 02 assist scientific research practise this
- 03 execute analytical mathematical calculations practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 9 skills that carry over
- already held analyse experimental laboratory data skill
- already held apply safety procedures in laboratory skill
- already held laboratory techniques knowledge
- already held maintain laboratory equipment skill
- already held perform laboratory tests skill
- already held scientific research methodology knowledge
- already held apply scientific methods skill
- already held calibrate laboratory equipment skill
- already held collect samples for analysis skill
17 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held densiometry optional
- optional, not held interpret geophysical data optional
- optional, not held quantum computing optional
- optional, not held quantum mechanics optional
- optional, not held acoustics optional
- optional, not held analyse scientific data optional
- optional, not held astronomy optional
- optional, not held communicate with external laboratories optional
- optional, not held geology optional
- optional, not held geophysics optional
- optional, not held mathematics optional
- optional, not held observe matter optional
- optional, not held operate remote sensing equipment optional
- optional, not held operate telescopes optional
- optional, not held statistics optional
- optional, not held thermodynamics optional
- optional, not held write scientific publications optional
42 held skills the physics technician role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role analyse blood samples skill
- not needed by the target role analyse cell cultures skill
- not needed by the target role animal welfare legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role applied zoology knowledge
- not needed by the target role assist in the production of laboratory documentation skill
- not needed by the target role biology knowledge
- not needed by the target role biosecurity knowledge
- not needed by the target role botany knowledge
- not needed by the target role chemistry knowledge
- not needed by the target role collect biological data skill
- not needed by the target role collect reproductive cells skill
- not needed by the target role computational biology knowledge
- not needed by the target role cryopreservation knowledge
- not needed by the target role ecology knowledge
- not needed by the target role environmental legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role evolutionary biology knowledge
- not needed by the target role genomics knowledge
- not needed by the target role hazardous waste storage knowledge
- not needed by the target role keep task records skill
- not needed by the target role label samples skill
- not needed by the target role laboratory equipment knowledge
- not needed by the target role life sciences knowledge
- not needed by the target role maintain freelance database skill
- not needed by the target role manage inventory skill
- not needed by the target role microbiology-bacteriology knowledge
- not needed by the target role molecular biology knowledge
- not needed by the target role monitor the welfare of animals skill
- not needed by the target role oceanography knowledge
- not needed by the target role pathology knowledge
- not needed by the target role perform fertility laboratory procedures skill
- not needed by the target role perform field research skill
- not needed by the target role perform scientific research skill
- not needed by the target role perform stem cell transplantation skill
- not needed by the target role pharmacology knowledge
- not needed by the target role pollution prevention knowledge
- not needed by the target role prepare visual data skill
- not needed by the target role preserve samples skill
- not needed by the target role stem cells knowledge
- not needed by the target role use laboratory equipment skill
- not needed by the target role virology knowledge
2 further entries not listed here
11 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn physics required
- optional, not held densiometry optional
- optional, not held quantum computing optional
- optional, not held quantum mechanics optional
- optional, not held acoustics optional
- optional, not held astronomy optional
- optional, not held geology optional
- optional, not held geophysics optional
- optional, not held mathematics optional
- optional, not held statistics optional
- optional, not held thermodynamics optional
Common questions about this move
Can a biology technician become a physics technician?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A biology technician already covers 35% of what a physics technician is expected to do: 9 skills carry over, 6 of which the physics technician role treats as required.
What skills does a biology technician need to become a physics technician?
7 required skills are missing, plus 17 optional ones. They fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by information skills. The single most important is apply statistical analysis techniques.
How hard is the move from biology technician to physics technician?
Its learning distance is 60.9 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
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.