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Food Science Technicians

Also called: Laboratory Technician (Lab Technician), Quality Assurance Technician (QA Technician), Quality Control Technician (QC Technician), Quality Assurance Analyst (QA Analyst)

What they do:
Perform standardized qualitative and quantitative tests to determine physical or chemical properties of food or beverage products.
On the job, you would:
  • Conduct standardized tests on food, beverages, additives, or preservatives to ensure compliance with standards and regulations regarding factors such as color, texture, or nutrients.
  • Provide assistance to food scientists or technologists in research and development, production technology, or quality control.
  • Compute moisture or salt content, percentages of ingredients, formulas, or other product factors, using mathematical and chemical procedures.

Knowledge

Arts and Humanities
  • English language
Manufactured or Agricultural Goods
  • manufacture and distribution of products
  • food production
Math and Science
  • arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics
  • chemistry
Business
  • customer service

Skills

Basic Skills
  • talking to others
  • listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
Problem Solving
  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

Abilities

Verbal
  • listen and understand what people say
  • communicate by speaking
Math
  • choose the right type of math to solve a problem
  • add, subtract, multiply, or divide
Ideas and Logic
  • notice when problems happen
  • use rules to solve problems

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include
practical, hands-on problems and solutions.
They do well at jobs that need:
  • Dependability
  • Integrity
  • Attention to Detail
  • Cooperation
  • Adaptability/Flexibility
  • Stress Tolerance

Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Spreadsheet software
  • Microsoft Excel
Word processing software
  • Microsoft Word
Presentation software
  • Microsoft PowerPoint

Education

Education: (rated 3 of 5)
bachelor's degree or
high school diploma
usually needed

Get started on your career:

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Job Outlook

Below Average Outlook
New job opportunities are less likely in the future.
Salary
$33,550
per year, on average
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See more details at O*NET OnLine about food science technicians.