What does a Food Science Technician do?

Work with food scientists or technologists to perform standardized qualitative and quantitative tests to determine physical or chemical properties of food or beverage products. Day to day that includes work like taste or smell foods or beverages to ensure that flavors meet specifications or to select samples with specific characteristics and Measure, test, or weigh bottles, cans, or other containers to ensure that hardness, strength, or dimensions meet specifications.

What skills should a Food Science Technician put on a resume?

O*NET rates Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Speaking, Writing, and Critical Thinking among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Food Science Technician list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Apache JMeter, Apache Struts, Database software, Graphical user interface GUI design software, and Graphics software. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Food Science Technician work?

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Central Laboratory Technician, CLT, Laboratory Technician, and Lab Tech. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Food Science Technician need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 32% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Food Science Technician role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Food Science Technician resume example

A resume for a Food Science Technician needs to show the work itself: work with food scientists or technologists to perform standardized qualitative and quantitative tests to determine physical or chemical properties of food or beverage products. Day to day that means work like this: taste or smell foods or beverages to ensure that flavors meet specifications or to select samples with specific characteristics; measure, test, or weigh bottles, cans, or other containers to ensure that hardness, strength, or dimensions meet specifications. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Central Laboratory Technician
CLT
Laboratory Technician
Lab Tech
QC Tech
Quality Control Technician
Quality Assurance Analyst
QA Analyst
Food Science Tech
Laboratory Assistant
Lab Assistant
QA Lab Tech
Quality Assurance Lab Technician
Quality Assurance Technician
Quality Analyst
Quality Tech
Quality Technician
Bottle House QC Technician

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

What people in this job call themselves

Titles reported by people actually doing this work, which is often not the title on the job posting.

Central Laboratory Technician (CLT)
Food Science Tech (Food Science Technician)
Laboratory Assistant (Lab Assistant)
Laboratory Technician (Lab Tech)
QA Lab Tech (Quality Assurance Lab Technician)
QC Tech (Quality Assurance Technician)
QC Tech (Quality Control Technician)
Quality Assurance Analyst (QA Analyst)
Quality Tech (Quality Technician)

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Taste or smell foods or beverages to ensure that flavors meet specifications or to select samples with specific characteristics.
Measure, test, or weigh bottles, cans, or other containers to ensure that hardness, strength, or dimensions meet specifications.
Maintain records of testing results or other documents as required by state or other governing agencies.
Monitor and control temperature of products.
Analyze test results to classify products or compare results with standard tables.
Record or compile test results or prepare graphs, charts, or reports.
Perform regular maintenance of laboratory equipment by inspecting, calibrating, cleaning, or sterilizing.
Examine chemical or biological samples to identify cell structures or to locate bacteria or extraneous material, using a microscope.
Conduct standardized tests on food, beverages, additives, or preservatives to ensure compliance with standards and regulations regarding factors such as color, texture, or nutrients.
Train newly hired laboratory personnel.
Provide assistance to food scientists or technologists in research and development, production technology, or quality control.
Supervise other food science technicians.

16 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Taste or smell foods or beverages to ensure that flavors meet specifications or to select samples with specific characteristics, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Measure, test, or weigh bottles, cans, or other containers to ensure that hardness, strength, or dimensions meet specifications, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Maintain records of testing results or other documents as required by state or other governing agencies, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Monitor and control temperature of products, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Apache JMeter
Apache Struts
Database software
Graphical user interface GUI design software
Graphics software
IBM Lotus Notes
IBM WebSphere
Linux
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft SQL Server

24 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Agar plates
Anaerobic jars
Benchtop centrifuges
Bioluminometers
Boiling water baths
Bunsen burners
Calorimeters
Colony counters
Color testing equipment
Compound binocular light microscopes
Desktop computers
Dessicators

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

clean objects
Apache JMeter
Apache Struts

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Reading Comprehension
02Active Listening
03Speaking
04Writing
05Critical Thinking
06Science
07Complex Problem Solving
08Coordination
09Monitoring
10Quality Control Analysis

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Food Production
Production and Processing
Chemistry
English Language
Computers and Electronics
Biology
Mathematics

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

32%Bachelor's Degree
23%Associate's Degree
17%High School Diploma, or the equivalent

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Medium Preparation Needed”. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

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.

Common questions

What does a Food Science Technician do?: Work with food scientists or technologists to perform standardized qualitative and quantitative tests to determine physical or chemical properties of food or beverage products. Day to day that includes work like taste or smell foods or beverages to ensure that flavors meet specifications or to select samples with specific characteristics and Measure, test, or weigh bottles, cans, or other containers to ensure that hardness, strength, or dimensions meet specifications.
What skills should a Food Science Technician put on a resume?: O*NET rates Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Speaking, Writing, and Critical Thinking among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Food Science Technician list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Apache JMeter, Apache Struts, Database software, Graphical user interface GUI design software, and Graphics software. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Food Science Technician work?: O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Central Laboratory Technician, CLT, Laboratory Technician, and Lab Tech. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Food Science Technician need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 32% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Food Science Technician role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.