Medical laboratory assistant to chromatographer
A medical laboratory assistant already meets 24% of what the chromatographer role asks for. The move turns on 24 required skills not yet in the profile.
80.5/ 100
1 How much of what a chromatographer 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 chromatographer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A chromatographer 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
- calibrate laboratory equipment
- laboratory techniques
- mix chemicals
- operate scientific measuring equipment
- perform laboratory tests
What stands in the way is 24 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 chromatographer 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.
- already held mix chemicals handling and moving
- already held work with chemicals handling and moving
- already held use chemical analysis equipment working with machinery and specialised equipment
- already held test chemical samples information skills
- already held calibrate laboratory equipment working with machinery and specialised equipment
- already held apply safety procedures in laboratory assisting and caring
All 9 carried skills, including the 9 the chromatographer role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 39 missing skills fall into 11 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 scientific methods required
- still to learn document analysis results required
- still to learn follow laboratory manuals required
- still to learn manage chemical processes inspection required
- still to learn manage chemical testing procedures required
- optional, not held develop scientific theories optional
- optional, not held keep up to date on product knowledge optional
- optional, not held archive scientific documentation optional
- optional, not held develop scientific research protocols optional
- optional, not held keep up-to-date with regulations optional
- still to learn apply liquid chromatography required
- still to learn transfer chemicals required
- still to learn handle chemicals required
- still to learn handling chemical products for soil and plants required
- still to learn prepare chemical samples required
- still to learn chemical products required
- still to learn gel permeation chromatography required
- still to learn high-performance liquid chromatography required
- still to learn oxidation required
- optional, not held computational chemistry optional
- optional, not held mass spectrometry optional
- still to learn chemical processes required
- still to learn solid phase microextraction required
- still to learn laboratory-based sciences required
- still to learn contact scientists required
- still to learn improve chemical processes required
- optional, not held assist scientific research optional
- optional, not held train employees optional
- optional, not held write scientific publications optional
- still to learn monitor chemical process condition required
- still to learn perform chemical experiments required
- optional, not held maintain chromotography machinery optional
5 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a chromatographer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 apply liquid chromatography practise this
- 02 chemical processes study this
- 03 chemical products study 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 apply safety procedures in laboratory skill
- already held calibrate laboratory equipment skill
- already held laboratory techniques knowledge
- already held mix chemicals skill
- already held operate scientific measuring equipment skill
- already held perform laboratory tests skill
- already held test chemical samples skill
- already held use chemical analysis equipment skill
- already held work with chemicals skill
The 5 learning areas not shown above
- still to learn use chromatography software required
- optional, not held use microsoft office optional
- still to learn regulate chemical reaction required
- still to learn health and safety regulations required
- optional, not held apply organisational techniques optional
- optional, not held create project specifications optional
- optional, not held project management principles optional
15 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held computational chemistry optional
- optional, not held develop scientific theories optional
- optional, not held keep up to date on product knowledge optional
- optional, not held maintain chromotography machinery optional
- optional, not held mass spectrometry optional
- optional, not held apply organisational techniques optional
- optional, not held archive scientific documentation optional
- optional, not held assist scientific research optional
- optional, not held create project specifications optional
- optional, not held develop scientific research protocols optional
- optional, not held keep up-to-date with regulations optional
- optional, not held project management principles optional
- optional, not held train employees optional
- optional, not held use microsoft office optional
- optional, not held write scientific publications optional
63 held skills the chromatographer 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 archive healthcare users' records skill
- not needed by the target role assist in the production of laboratory documentation 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 cryopreservation knowledge
- 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 laboratory equipment skill
- not needed by the target role maintain medical laboratory equipment skill
- not needed by the target role microbiology-bacteriology knowledge
23 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 chemical processes required
- still to learn chemical products required
- still to learn gel permeation chromatography required
- still to learn high-performance liquid chromatography required
- still to learn oxidation required
- still to learn solid phase microextraction required
- still to learn health and safety regulations required
- still to learn laboratory-based sciences required
- optional, not held computational chemistry optional
- optional, not held mass spectrometry optional
- optional, not held project management principles optional
Other moves recorded from medical laboratory assistant
- scientific laboratory technician 80% covered · adjacent
- bacteriology technician 38% covered · substantial
- biochemistry technician 37% covered · substantial
- medical laboratory manager 34% covered · substantial
- biology technician 33% covered · substantial
- phlebotomist 30% covered · substantial
- cytotechnologist 29% covered · career change
- zoology technician 28% covered · substantial
Common questions about this move
Can a medical laboratory assistant become a chromatographer?
Yes, and it is a career change move. A medical laboratory assistant already covers 24% of what a chromatographer is expected to do: 9 skills carry over, 9 of which the chromatographer role treats as required.
What skills does a medical laboratory assistant need to become a chromatographer?
24 required skills are missing, plus 15 optional ones. They fall into 11 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by information skills. The single most important is apply liquid chromatography.
How hard is the move from medical laboratory assistant to chromatographer?
Its learning distance is 80.5 out of 100, which is the career change 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.