Clinical Laboratory Specialist

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Clinical Laboratory Specialist collects and analyzes samples of body fluids, tissues, and other substances for diagnostic and research purposes. Works in a laboratory or healthcare facility. Specializes in specific types of tests including hematology, immunohematology, clinical chemistry, serology, bacteriology, parasitology and urinalysis.

Job Outlook

There were 27 Clinical Laboratory Specialist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 2092 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Laboratory Technologist industry, which includes the Clinical Laboratory Specialist career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:

Salary

Many new Clinical Laboratory Specialist jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.

National

The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $82,499.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $82,499.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Clinical Laboratory Specialist postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $68,492.

Education and Experience

Posted Clinical Laboratory Specialist jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.

Education Level	Percentage
Associate's Degree	0%
Bachelor's Degree	75.24%
Master's Degree	8.32%
Doctoral Degree	2.92%
Other	7.65%

Posted Clinical Laboratory Specialist jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Years of Experience	Percentage
0 to 2 years	72.71%
3 to 5 years	16.01%
6 to 8 years	9.23%
9+ years	2.05%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Clinical Laboratory Specialist positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.

Baseline Skills

A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.

Quality Control (58.41%)
Communication (49.24%)
Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (44.69%)
Customer Service (35.13%)
Problem Solving (33.7%)
Organizational Skills (30.59%)
Operations (20.94%)
Research (12.33%)
Quality Assurance (11.28%)
Management (9.8%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

Chemistry (37.77%)
Medical Laboratory (88.66%)
Biology (53.99%)
Clinical Laboratory Science (40.48%)
Microbiology (13.66%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

Laboratory Procedures (12.33%)
Workflow Management (5.37%)
Biological Hazards (3.45%)
Laboratory Experience (8.28%)
Laboratory Equipment (9.02%)
Blood Banking (5.18%)
Small Animal Care (1.18%)
Molecular Biology (4.39%)
Automation (6.61%)
Capillary (2.51%)
Hematology (13.17%)
Biochemical Assays (10.4%)
Clinical Chemistry (1.97%)
Regulatory Compliance (1.92%)
Immunology (4.14%)
Flow Cytometry (2.32%)
Reagent (5.97%)
Venipuncture (3.65%)
Data Entry (3.3%)
Health Technology (45.66%)
Data Analysis (3.6%)
Laboratory Techniques (3.85%)
Pathology (5.37%)
Medical Terminology (1.04%)
Quality Management (3.3%)
Laboratory Testing (14.94%)
Urinalysis (3.75%)
Nursing (5.03%)
Phlebotomy (4.83%)
Surgery (2.22%)

Salary Boosting Skills

A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.

Chemistry (100%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Clinical Laboratory Specialist skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

Clinical Laboratory Technologist
Laboratory Specialist
Microbiology Laboratory Technician
Clinical Laboratory Scientist
Medical Laboratory Specialist
Process Improvement Specialist
Clinical Laboratory Technician
Laboratory Support Specialist
Microbiology Specialist

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Clinical Laboratory Specialist jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

Labcorp (646)
Northwell Health (84)
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (76)
NYU Langone Health (63)
University of California (62)
K&A Recruiting (56)
Mayo Clinic (45)
Stony Brook University (41)
Memorial Healthcare System (41)
Catholic Health System (28)

North Carolina

Grail (5)
Duke University (4)
Novant Health (2)
State of North Carolina (2)
Randstad (2)
K&A Recruiting (2)
UNC Health (2)
Actalent (1)
Heubach Corporation (1)
Cone Health (1)

NC State Programs Relevant to this Career

If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!

All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.

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