Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

Medical laboratory assistant to zoology technician

A medical laboratory assistant already meets 28% of what the zoology 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
28 % overlap
Distant match
To zoology technician
10 You already bring
13 Still to learn
39 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Substantial retraining

71.9/ 100

1 How much of what a zoology 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 zoology technician role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A zoology technician role treats 6 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
  • laboratory techniques
  • maintain laboratory equipment
  • perform laboratory tests

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 10 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A zoology 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 assist in the production of laboratory documentation information skills
  • already held analyse blood samples information skills
  • already held analyse cell cultures information skills
  • already held cryopreservation natural sciences, mathematics and statistics
  • already held maintain laboratory equipment working with machinery and specialised equipment
  • already held calibrate laboratory equipment working with machinery and specialised equipment

All 10 carried skills, including the 6 the zoology technician role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 29 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, 3 supplementary
  • still to learn applied zoology required
  • still to learn laboratory equipment required
  • still to learn animal biology required
  • still to learn biology required
  • optional, not held evolutionary biology optional
  • optional, not held chemistry optional
  • optional, not held life sciences optional
02 information skills 4 required, 2 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 inspect animal welfare management optional
  • optional, not held keep task records optional
03 communication, collaboration and creativity 1 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn write technical reports required
  • optional, not held write research proposals optional
04 agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary 1 required
  • still to learn animal behaviour required
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 zoology 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 10 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 laboratory techniques knowledge
  • already held maintain laboratory equipment skill
  • already held perform laboratory tests skill
  • already held analyse blood samples skill
  • already held analyse cell cultures skill
  • already held cryopreservation knowledge
  • already held microbiology-bacteriology 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 3 supplementary
  • optional, not held pollution legislation optional
  • optional, not held animal welfare legislation optional
  • optional, not held environmental legislation optional
09 engineering, manufacturing and construction 2 supplementary
  • optional, not held animal food products optional
  • optional, not held watershed development optional
10 handling and moving 2 supplementary
  • optional, not held label samples optional
  • optional, not held preserve samples optional
11 working with computers 2 supplementary
  • optional, not held maintain freelance database optional
  • optional, not held prepare visual data optional
12 services 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held hazardous waste storage optional
16 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held animal food products optional
  • optional, not held evolutionary biology optional
  • optional, not held inspect animal welfare management optional
  • optional, not held label samples optional
  • optional, not held pollution legislation optional
  • optional, not held watershed development optional
  • optional, not held animal welfare legislation optional
  • optional, not held chemistry optional
  • optional, not held environmental legislation optional
  • optional, not held hazardous waste storage optional
  • optional, not held keep task records optional
  • optional, not held life sciences optional
  • optional, not held maintain freelance database optional
  • optional, not held prepare visual data optional
  • optional, not held preserve samples optional
  • optional, not held write research proposals optional
62 held skills the zoology 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

22 further entries not listed here

15 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 animal behaviour required
  • still to learn applied zoology required
  • still to learn laboratory equipment required
  • still to learn animal biology required
  • still to learn biology required
  • still to learn scientific research methodology required
  • optional, not held animal food products optional
  • optional, not held evolutionary biology optional
  • optional, not held pollution legislation optional
  • optional, not held watershed development optional
  • optional, not held animal welfare legislation optional
  • optional, not held chemistry optional
  • optional, not held environmental legislation optional
  • optional, not held hazardous waste storage optional
  • optional, not held life sciences 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 zoology technician?

Yes, and it is a substantial move. A medical laboratory assistant already covers 28% of what a zoology technician is expected to do: 10 skills carry over, 6 of which the zoology technician role treats as required.

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

13 required skills are missing, plus 16 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 zoology technician?

Its learning distance is 71.9 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.