Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

Medical laboratory assistant to biology technician

A medical laboratory assistant already meets 33% of what the biology technician role asks for. The move turns on 13 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From medical laboratory assistant
33 % overlap
Distant match
To biology technician
14 You already bring
13 Still to learn
51 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Substantial retraining

70.4/ 100

1 How much of what a biology technician is expected to do is already part of a medical laboratory assistant’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 biology technician role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A biology technician role treats 9 of its required skills as things a medical laboratory assistant already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • apply safety procedures in laboratory
  • assist in the production of laboratory documentation
  • calibrate laboratory equipment
  • cryopreservation
  • laboratory techniques
  • maintain laboratory equipment

What stands in the way is 13 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 14 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 medical laboratory assistant background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held perform fertility laboratory procedures working with machinery and specialised equipment
  • already held perform stem cell transplantation assisting and caring
  • 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

All 14 carried skills, including the 9 the biology technician role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 37 missing skills fall into 12 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.

Skill to pick up Tier
01 natural sciences, mathematics and statistics 4 required, 9 supplementary
  • still to learn computational biology required
  • still to learn laboratory equipment required
  • still to learn biology required
  • still to learn life sciences 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 chemistry optional
  • optional, not held ecology optional
  • optional, not held molecular biology optional
  • optional, not held oceanography optional
  • optional, not held pharmacology optional
02 information skills 4 required, 3 supplementary
  • still to learn analyse experimental laboratory data required
  • still to learn apply scientific methods required
  • still to learn collect biological data required
  • still to learn 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
03 handling and moving 1 required, 3 supplementary
  • still to learn collect samples for analysis required
  • optional, not held collect reproductive cells optional
  • optional, not held label samples optional
  • optional, not held preserve samples optional
04 communication, collaboration and creativity 1 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn write technical reports required
  • optional, not held write research proposals optional
05 education 1 required
  • still to learn scientific research methodology required
06 management skills 1 required
  • still to learn manage inventory required

6 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 14 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held apply safety procedures in laboratory skill
  • already held assist in the production of laboratory documentation skill
  • already held calibrate laboratory equipment skill
  • already held cryopreservation knowledge
  • already held laboratory techniques knowledge
  • already held maintain laboratory equipment skill
  • already held perform laboratory tests skill
  • already held perform stem cell transplantation skill
  • already held stem cells knowledge
  • already held analyse blood samples skill
  • already held analyse cell cultures skill
  • already held microbiology-bacteriology knowledge
  • already held perform fertility laboratory procedures skill
  • already held virology knowledge
The 6 learning areas not shown above
Skill to pick up Tier
07 working with machinery and specialised equipment 1 required
  • still to learn use laboratory equipment required
08 business, administration and law 2 supplementary
  • optional, not held animal welfare legislation optional
  • optional, not held environmental legislation optional
09 health and welfare 2 supplementary
  • optional, not held biosecurity optional
  • optional, not held pathology optional
10 working with computers 2 supplementary
  • optional, not held maintain freelance database optional
  • optional, not held prepare visual data optional
11 engineering, manufacturing and construction 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held pollution prevention optional
12 services 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held hazardous waste storage optional
24 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up 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 label samples optional
  • optional, not held perform field research optional
  • optional, not held animal welfare legislation optional
  • optional, not held biosecurity optional
  • optional, not held chemistry 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
58 held skills the biology technician role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role archive healthcare users' records 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 flow cytometry skill
  • not needed by the target role carry out quality control in microbiology laboratories 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 cancer screening tests 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 densiometry knowledge
  • not needed by the target role dermapathology knowledge
  • not needed by the target role dispose medical waste skill
  • not needed by the target role electroencephalography knowledge
  • 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 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 hematological test results skill
  • not needed by the target role interpret medical results skill
  • not needed by the target role interpret urology diagnostic tests 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 microscopic techniques knowledge
  • not needed by the target role mix chemicals skill
  • not needed by the target role monitor stock level skill
  • not needed by the target role operate scientific measuring equipment skill
  • not needed by the target role order supplies skill
  • not needed by the target role paediatric phlebotomy procedures knowledge

18 further entries not listed here

20 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 pick up Tier
  • still to learn computational biology required
  • still to learn laboratory equipment required
  • still to learn biology required
  • still to learn life sciences required
  • still to learn 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 chemistry 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 medical laboratory assistant

Full index of moves from medical laboratory assistant

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a medical laboratory assistant become a biology technician?

Yes, and it is a substantial move. A medical laboratory assistant already covers 33% of what a biology technician is expected to do: 14 skills carry over, 9 of which the biology technician role treats as required.

What skills does a medical laboratory assistant need to become a biology technician?

13 required skills are missing, plus 24 optional ones. They fall into 12 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by natural sciences, mathematics and statistics. The single most important is analyse experimental laboratory data.

How hard is the move from medical laboratory assistant to biology technician?

Its learning distance is 70.4 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

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.