Top 12 Medical Laboratory Technician Skills to Put on Your Resume

Hiring managers skim fast. A sharp Medical Laboratory Technician resume needs both the nuts-and-bolts technical strengths and the human side—communication, safety, judgment. Show you can run the assays, keep specimens pristine, and coordinate with clinicians without drama. Align those skills with how labs actually run today, and you’ll get noticed.

Medical Laboratory Technician Skills

1. Phlebotomy
2. Microscopy
3. Hematology
4. Biochemistry
5. ELISA
6. PCR
7. Spectrophotometry
8. Histopathology
9. Immunology
10. Chromatography
11. Quality Control
12. LIS (Laboratory Information System)

1. Phlebotomy

Phlebotomy is venipuncture—drawing blood from a vein—for diagnostics, donations, or treatments. Clean stick, correct tube, intact sample. No shortcuts.

Why It's Important

Blood drives a huge slice of diagnostic medicine. Without well-collected samples, even the smartest analyzer can’t rescue bad data. Good phlebotomy protects patients, preserves specimen integrity, and speeds accurate results.

How to Improve Phlebotomy Skills

Grow precision and calm through repetition, coaching, and strong pre-analytical habits.

1. Stay current: Review updated guidance from groups like ASCP, NPA, CLSI, and OSHA. When practices change, your technique should too.

2. Practice on purpose: Sim drills, supervised draws, varied patient populations. Track your first-attempt success rate and complication rates.

3. Invite critique: Ask experienced colleagues to watch your setup, angle, and order of draw. Fix one small thing at a time.

4. Communicate better: A steady explanation reduces anxiety and movement, which reduces failed attempts.

5. Master pre-analytical steps: Correct ID, order of draw, gentle inversion, prompt transport, temperature control. Specimen quality is king.

6. Safety, always: PPE, sharps protocol, exposure response. Habit builds speed without risk.

How to Display Phlebotomy Skills on Your Resume

2. Microscopy

Microscopy reveals what the naked eye misses—cells, organisms, crystals, pathology in living color. Technique and care turn slides into answers.

Why It's Important

Many diagnoses hinge on what’s seen under the scope. Accurate recognition, clean preparations, and thoughtful correlation support rapid, trustworthy reporting.

How to Improve Microscopy Skills

Build both the hands and the eye.

1. Keep learning: Review staining chemistries, contrast methods, and imaging basics through professional societies and training modules.

2. Deliberate practice: Examine varied specimens routinely; compare your reads with reference images and expert reports.

3. Care for the instrument: Clean optics, align illumination (Köhler), calibrate eyepiece reticles, and document maintenance.

4. Leverage digital tools: Use calibrated image capture and analysis software for measurement, documentation, and team review.

5. Quality first: Standardize smear thickness, fixation times, and stain quality. Use controls to catch drift early.

How to Display Microscopy Skills on Your Resume

3. Hematology

Hematology probes blood and bone marrow—cells, hemoglobin, coagulation, the whole living system. Instruments count; humans interpret.

Why It's Important

From anemia to leukemia, infection to coagulopathies, hematology surfaces early clues and guides therapy. Precision brings clarity.

How to Improve Hematology Skills

1. Commit to continuing education: Tap ASCP and similar organizations for updates on analyzers, flags, and interpretation.

2. Sharpen manual differentials: Even with automation, morphology matters. Regular smear review and proficiency challenges keep skills sharp.

3. Guard quality: Follow CLSI-aligned QC, lot-to-lot checks, delta checks, and instrument correlation routines.

4. Proficiency testing: Participate in external programs to benchmark performance and uncover blind spots.

5. Learn from peers: Case huddles and morphology rounds build shared pattern recognition.

How to Display Hematology Skills on Your Resume

4. Biochemistry

Biochemistry explains the chemistry of life—enzymes, metabolites, hormones, the signaling and the flux. It’s the backbone of many routine and stat tests.

Why It's Important

A strong biochemical foundation helps you understand method principles, interference, and clinical significance—so you catch what the instrument misses and interpret with context.

How to Improve Biochemistry Skills

1. Refresh fundamentals: Enzymes, kinetics, buffers, transport, pathways. Short, regular study wins over cramming.

2. Get hands-on: Run controls, perform calibrations, and troubleshoot drift. Simulators and supervised bench rotations help.

3. Stay current: Follow professional webinars and journals covering biomarkers, interference studies, and method comparisons.

4. Use strong references: Standard clinical chemistry texts (like Tietz) anchor your practice and exam prep.

5. Case-based practice: Work through delta-check scenarios, hemolysis/lipemia/ictus interference cases, and critical value workflows.

How to Display Biochemistry Skills on Your Resume

5. ELISA

ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) detects or quantifies antibodies, antigens, and hormones on a plate. Specific, sensitive, scalable.

Why It's Important

When you need reliable quantitation—infectious disease markers, autoimmune panels, allergy workups—ELISA delivers clarity with proper controls and tight technique.

How to Improve ELISA Skills

1. Coating: Optimize concentrations with a small matrix (checkerboarding). Aim for strong signal with low background.

2. Blocking: Select the blocker that reduces nonspecific binding without smothering your signal. Titrate time and concentration.

3. Specimen prep: Dilute into the assay’s sweet spot; reduce matrix effects; standardize pre-treatment if needed.

4. Incubation discipline: Time and temperature consistency are non-negotiable. Use timers. Batch wisely.

5. Washing quality: Enough cycles, proper buffer, even aspiration. Residual reagent is the enemy.

6. Detection chemistry: Pair high-quality conjugates with the right substrate; stop reactions consistently for comparable reads.

7. Controls and curves: Include blanks, negatives, positives, and a robust standard curve. Fit data with appropriate models and review residuals.

For deeper protocols and troubleshooting tips, consult comprehensive ELISA guides from major scientific publishers and manufacturers.

How to Display ELISA Skills on Your Resume

6. PCR

PCR amplifies selected DNA sequences—fast, precise, and foundational for molecular diagnostics. Variants like qPCR and digital PCR widen the toolkit.

Why It's Important

Pathogen detection, genotyping, oncology markers—PCR makes tiny signals measurable, enabling timely answers and targeted care.

How to Improve PCR Skills

1. Template quality: Use clean, inhibitor-free nucleic acid. Validate extraction methods and include inhibition controls.

2. Primer design: Specificity first. Balanced GC content, minimal secondary structures, and matched melting temperatures.

3. Mg2+ and additives: Titrate MgCl2; consider DMSO or betaine for GC-rich targets. Small adjustments, big effects.

4. Thermal profile: Fine-tune annealing temperature and extension time. Use gradient runs to lock in conditions.

5. Hot-start enzymes: Reduce nonspecific amplification and primer-dimers with hot-start polymerases.

6. Cycle discipline: Avoid overcycling. Typically 25–35 cycles; more isn’t always better.

7. Contamination control: Physical separation of pre- and post-amplification areas, unidirectional workflow, and routine decontamination.

8. Instrument care: Calibrate thermocyclers and verify ramp rates. Confirm pipette accuracy regularly.

How to Display PCR Skills on Your Resume

7. Spectrophotometry

Spectrophotometry measures light absorbance/transmittance at specific wavelengths to quantify analytes. Quietly powerful, relentlessly used.

Why It's Important

From enzyme assays to drug levels, this method delivers precise numbers fast—critical for diagnosis, monitoring, and therapy adjustments.

How to Improve Spectrophotometry Skills

1. Calibrate and verify: Use certified reference materials and document routine checks for accuracy and linearity.

2. Maintain optics: Keep cuvettes clean and unscratched; service lamps, detectors, and alignment on schedule.

3. Standardize prep: Consistent volumes, timing, temperature, and mixing. Small variations drift results.

4. High-quality reagents: Lot-verify critical reagents and store as directed. Track stability.

5. QC program: Run internal controls each shift; enroll in proficiency testing; trend with Levey-Jennings and Westgard rules.

6. Train and cross-train: Ensure everyone can troubleshoot bubbles, baseline noise, and carryover without delay.

7. Software confidence: Keep firmware/software updated and validate calculations after updates.

How to Display Spectrophotometry Skills on Your Resume

8. Histopathology

Histopathology examines tissue architecture and cell detail to pin down disease. Careful processing makes the pathologist’s read possible.

Why It's Important

Diagnosis, staging, margins—tissue tells the story. Accurate processing and staining lead directly to better clinical decisions.

How to Improve Histopathology Skills

1. Refine processing: Monitor fixation, dehydration, clearing, and infiltration times. Validate tissue processors and reagents.

2. Elevate staining: Standardize H&E; validate special stains and IHC panels; include on-slide controls.

3. Equipment vigilance: Microtomes, water baths, cryostats—maintain and calibrate to reduce artifacts and chatter.

4. Robust QA/QC: Participate in external quality assessments and review internal rejects/repeats for trends.

5. Learn continuously: Use resources from the National Society for Histotechnology, CAP, and peer case libraries to strengthen pattern recognition.

How to Display Histopathology Skills on Your Resume

9. Immunology

Immunology explores how the body defends, misfires, and remembers. In the lab, it’s assays for antibodies, antigens, cytokines, complements, and more.

Why It's Important

Allergies, autoimmunity, immunodeficiencies, infections—immune markers guide diagnosis and treatment across specialties.

How to Improve Immunology Skills

1. Structured learning: Short courses and workshops from universities and professional bodies keep methods and concepts fresh.

2. Bench exposure: Run immunoassays under mentorship—ELISA, IFA, flow-based methods—and review tricky cases together.

3. Read widely: Follow journals and society updates; track emerging biomarkers and assay interferences.

4. Data fluency: Practice interpreting titers, cutoffs, likelihood ratios, and panel algorithms with clinical context.

How to Display Immunology Skills on Your Resume

10. Chromatography

Chromatography separates complex mixtures so you can identify and quantify what’s inside. Gas, liquid, thin-layer—choose the right tool, get clean peaks.

Why It's Important

Therapeutic drug monitoring, toxicology, metabolic profiling—chromatography brings resolution and confidence where immunoassays can blur.

How to Improve Chromatography Skills

1. Sample prep discipline: Clarify, filter, and appropriately dilute. Reduce particulates and matrix effects before they reach the column.

2. Column wisdom: Match stationary phase to analyte chemistry; monitor backpressure and efficiency; replace at the first hint of deterioration.

3. Mobile phase tuning: Optimize pH, ionic strength, and organic composition. Fresh, degassed solvents pay dividends.

4. Flow and temperature: Adjust methodically. Small tweaks can unlock resolution without lengthening run times.

5. Gradient strategies: Use gradients for complex matrices; validate re-equilibration to maintain retention time stability.

6. Preventive maintenance: Service pumps, autosamplers, and detectors on schedule. Log every change.

7. Validate and verify: Linearity, accuracy, precision, LOD/LOQ, carryover, and stability—document it all.

How to Display Chromatography Skills on Your Resume

11. Quality Control

Quality Control is the safety net and the compass. It proves your results are right, repeatable, and ready for clinical decisions.

Why It's Important

Accurate results protect patients. QC catches drift, flags errors, and keeps the lab aligned with regulatory and accreditation standards.

How to Improve Quality Control Skills

1. Honor the SOP: Write clear procedures, version-control them, and follow them consistently.

2. Calibrate and maintain: Align with CLSI-style recommendations. Document everything—who, what, when.

3. External checks: Enroll in proficiency testing and compare performance with peer groups; investigate variances.

4. Strong IQC: Use appropriate control materials and apply Westgard rules. Trend, don’t guess.

5. Train relentlessly: Ongoing education through bodies like ASCP and ASCLS keeps the team sharp and consistent.

6. Culture of quality: Encourage reporting, root-cause analysis, and preventive actions without blame.

7. Data management: Use LIMS tools to reduce transcription errors, track revisions, and audit trails.

How to Display Quality Control Skills on Your Resume

12. LIS (Laboratory Information System)

An LIS manages orders, results, QC data, and workflows. It stitches instruments, people, and reports into a coherent stream.

Why It's Important

Accuracy, speed, traceability. A well-configured LIS reduces errors, strengthens compliance, and shortens turnaround times.

How to Improve LIS (Laboratory Information System) Skills

1. Update routinely: Keep current versions for security, features, and interoperability improvements.

2. Deepen training: Provide role-based training and quick-reference guides; refresh after upgrades.

3. Automate wisely: Use autoverification rules, barcode tracking, and instrument interfaces to minimize manual touchpoints.

4. Integrate systems: Ensure clean interfaces with EHR/HIS, reference labs, and instruments; validate message mapping.

5. Harden security: Role-based access, multi-factor where possible, audit logs, and HIPAA-aligned policies.

6. Customize reporting: Tailor critical value alerts, reflex algorithms, and cumulative reports to clinical needs.

7. Collect feedback: Ask end users what slows them down. Iterate. Small LIS tweaks often save hours.

How to Display LIS (Laboratory Information System) Skills on Your Resume