Chemical Technicians: Salary, Job Description, How To Become One, and Quiz

Job description

Chemical Technicians conduct chemical and physical laboratory tests to assist scientists in making qualitative and quantitative analyses of solids, liquids, and gaseous materials for research and development of new products or processes, quality control, maintenance of environmental standards, and other work involving experimental, theoretical, or practical application of chemistry and related sciences.

• Compile and interpret results of tests and analyses.
• Conduct chemical or physical laboratory tests to assist scientists in making qualitative or quantitative analyses of solids, liquids, or gaseous materials.
• Maintain, clean, or sterilize laboratory instruments or equipment.
• Set up and conduct chemical experiments, tests, and analyses, using techniques such as chromatography, spectroscopy, physical or chemical separation techniques, or microscopy.

Salary

Chemical Technicians with little to no experience tend to make between $29920 and $36900 while the more experienced ones can earn over $62860 per year.

One of the easiest ways to increase your salary as a Chemical Technician is to move to a higher paying state like LA. Right now, the highest paying states for Chemical Technicians are LA, DE, NJ, TX and MA.

However, a higher pay at LA doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the living expenses at LA might be twice as high than where you are currently at now.

Three other factors that can increase your salary as a Chemical Technician is the degree you hold, the industry you work in, and lastly the company you work for.

Requirements

We asked other Chemical Technicians what degree they had when they got the job and most of them said they had an Associate’s Degree followed by a Bachelor’s Degree.

Other than that, we also asked them what did they major in and here are the most popular majors that came up.

Pros and Cons

Here are some of the pros and cons of being a Chemical Technician.

What is the job like

56% of Chemical Technicians said they were satisfied with their job and 47% said they feel like their job is making other people’s lives better.

Is this right for me

You can read more about these career personality types here.

People who are suitable for this job tends to like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally..

They also like work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They like working with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery.

Explore other careers