How to become a Medical Lab Technician: education, training and skills.
What workers in the job actually report about their education, experience and training, the skills to build first, and the stepping-stone roles that lead in.
- 3% High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 3% Post-Secondary Certificate
Not shown: answers with low-precision O*NET estimates, so these shares do not add to 100%.
BLS lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for medical and clinical laboratory technicians in the United States (Employment Projections, 2025–35). O*NET's survey estimates of required education for medical and clinical laboratory technicians are too imprecise to name a most common level. O*NET places the job in Job Zone 3 of 5 (medium preparation). The most common answer for related work experience was “over 3 months, up to and including 6 months” (30%), and for on-the-job training “over 3 months, up to and including 6 months” (53%).
Data Government data groups this job as Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians (O*NET-SOC 29-2012.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.
What BLS lists for medical and clinical laboratory technicians
According to BLS 2025–35 projections data, medical and clinical laboratory technicians in the United States typically need no work experience in a related occupation to enter the occupation.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
Once hired, medical and clinical laboratory technicians in the United States typically need no on-the-job training to become fully competent, according to BLS 2025–35 projections data.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
Six steps to becoming a Medical Lab Technician
Data Steps 1 to 5 summarise BLS and O*NET data for the role; step 6 is advice.
- EducationCheck the education employers ask for
O*NET's survey estimates for this job are too imprecise to name a most common level.
- TrainingExpect on-the-job training
Most common: over 3 months, up to and including 6 months.
- ExperienceRelated experience
Most common: over 3 months, up to and including 6 months (30% of workers).
- SkillsBuild the core skills
Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Operations Monitoring are rated most important.
- ToolsLearn the tools
MEDITECH software, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software.
- CredentialsCheck licensing where you live
Many occupations need a state license or certification. Requirements vary by state, so confirm with your state's licensing board.
What workers report
Data Share of workers giving each answer, O*NET.
O*NET Job Zone 3 (Medium Preparation Needed): Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Related roles that need less preparation
Data O*NET related occupations in a lower Job Zone with a skill match of 65% or more.
How this page is built
Education, experience, training and Job Zone come from O*NET 31.0 survey data for the occupation. The typical entry-level education, work experience and on-the-job training lines come from BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35. O*NET answers with low-precision estimates are not shown, and an answer is called the most common only when no hidden answer could be larger. Stepping-stone roles use our skill-match score: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- Licensing rules in your state.
- Requirements at a specific employer.
- How long the path will take you personally.
BLS typical entry-level education: a bachelor's degree
Not shown: answers with low-precision O*NET estimates, so these shares do not add to 100%.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.