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Food Science Technicians

Work with food scientists or technologists to perform standardized qualitative and quantitative tests to determine physical or chemical properties of food or beverage products. Includes technicians who assist in research and development of production technology, quality control, packaging, processing, and use of foods.

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    Work Activities

    Work Activities

    • 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.
    • Record or compile test results or prepare graphs, charts, or reports.
    • Analyze test results to classify products or compare results with standard tables.
    • Monitor and control temperature of products.
    • Provide assistance to food scientists or technologists in research and development, production technology, or quality control.
    • Mix, blend, or cultivate ingredients to make reagents or to manufacture food or beverage products.
    • Perform regular maintenance of laboratory equipment by inspecting, calibrating, cleaning, or sterilizing.
    • Order supplies needed to maintain inventories in laboratories or in storage facilities of food or beverage processing plants.
    • Supervise other food science technicians.
    • 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.
    • Maintain records of testing results or other documents as required by state or other governing agencies.
    • Train newly hired laboratory personnel.
    • Prepare or incubate slides with cell cultures.
    • Measure, test, or weigh bottles, cans, or other containers to ensure that hardness, strength, or dimensions meet specifications.
    • Compute moisture or salt content, percentages of ingredients, formulas, or other product factors, using mathematical and chemical procedures.
    • Taste or smell foods or beverages to ensure that flavors meet specifications or to select samples with specific characteristics.

    Skills

    • Installation

      Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.

    • Reading Comprehension

      Reading work-related information.

    • Time Management

      Managing your time and the time of other people.

    • Persuasion

      Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

    • Repairing

      Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.

    • Social Perceptiveness

      Understanding people's reactions.

    • Equipment Maintenance

      Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

    • Writing

      Writing things for co-workers or customers.

    • Troubleshooting

      Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.

    • Mathematics

      Using math to solve problems.

    • Science

      Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

    • Active Learning

      Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

    • Equipment Selection

      Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.

    • Critical Thinking

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

    • Management of Personnel Resources

      Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.

    • Complex Problem Solving

      Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

    • Coordination

      Changing what is done based on other people's actions.

    • Judgment and Decision Making

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.

    • Instructing

      Teaching people how to do something.

    • Learning Strategies

      Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.

    • Quality Control Analysis

      Testing how well a product or service works.

    • Systems Evaluation

      Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

    • Management of Financial Resources

      Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.

    • Management of Material Resources

      Managing equipment and materials.

    • Systems Analysis

      Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.

    • Negotiation

      Bringing people together to solve differences.

    • Programming

      Writing computer programs.

    • Operations Monitoring

      Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.

    • Active Listening

      Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

    • Operations Analysis

      Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.

    • Operation and Control

      Using equipment or systems.

    • Service Orientation

      Looking for ways to help people.

    • Speaking

      Talking to others.

    • Monitoring

      Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

    • Technology Design

      Making equipment and technology useful for customers.

    WorkKeys®

    Applied Math
    N/A
    Workplace Documents
    N/A
    Graphic Literacy
    N/A

    Abilities

    • Hearing Sensitivity

      Telling the difference between sounds.

    • Speed of Limb Movement

      Quickly moving your arms and legs.

    • Gross Body Coordination

      Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.

    • Wrist-Finger Speed

      Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.

    • Perceptual Speed

      Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

    • Multilimb Coordination

      Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.

    • Flexibility of Closure

      Seeing hidden patterns.

    • Memorization

      Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.

    • Speech Clarity

      Speaking clearly.

    • Control Precision

      Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.

    • Oral Comprehension

      Listening and understanding what people say.

    • Problem Sensitivity

      Noticing when problems happen.

    • Spatial Orientation

      Knowing where things are around you.

    • Explosive Strength

      Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.

    • Far Vision

      Seeing details that are far away.

    • Visual Color Discrimination

      Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.

    • Depth Perception

      Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.

    • Visualization

      Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

    • Response Orientation

      Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.

    • Trunk Strength

      Using your lower back and stomach.

    • Sound Localization

      Noticing the direction that a sound came from.

    • Reaction Time

      Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.

    • Fluency of Ideas

      Coming up with lots of ideas.

    • Number Facility

      Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

    • Dynamic Flexibility

      Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Gross Body Equilibrium

      Keeping your balance or staying upright.

    • Near Vision

      Seeing details up close.

    • Glare Sensitivity

      Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.

    • Category Flexibility

      Grouping things in different ways.

    • Speech Recognition

      Recognizing spoken words.

    • Dynamic Strength

      Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

    • Information Ordering

      Ordering or arranging things.

    • Extent Flexibility

      Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Speed of Closure

      Quickly knowing what you are looking at.

    • Auditory Attention

      Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.

    • Originality

      Creating new and original ideas.

    • Written Comprehension

      Reading and understanding what is written.

    • Night Vision

      Seeing at night or under low light.

    • Peripheral Vision

      Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.

    • Rate Control

      Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.

    • Arm-Hand Steadiness

      Keeping your arm or hand steady.

    • Manual Dexterity

      Holding or moving items with your hands.

    • Finger Dexterity

      Putting together small parts with your fingers.

    • Static Strength

      Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.

    • Oral Expression

      Communicating by speaking.

    • Written Expression

      Communicating by writing.

    • Selective Attention

      Paying attention to something without being distracted.

    • Time Sharing

      Doing two or more things at the same time.

    • Mathematical Reasoning

      Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.

    • Stamina

      Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.

    • Inductive Reasoning

      Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.

    • Deductive Reasoning

      Using rules to solve problems.

    Knowledge

    • Mechanical

      Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

    • History and Archeology

      Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

    • Medicine and Dentistry

      Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

    • Chemistry

      Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

    • Therapy and Counseling

      Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

    • Education and Training

      Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

    • Communications and Media

      Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

    • Mathematics

      Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

    • Personnel and Human Resources

      Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

    • Fine Arts

      Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

    • Physics

      Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.

    • Administrative

      Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

    • Administration and Management

      Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

    • Geography

      Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

    • Engineering and Technology

      Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.

    • Sales and Marketing

      Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

    • Production and Processing

      Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

    • Transportation

      Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

    • Telecommunications

      Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

    • Computers and Electronics

      Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    • Economics and Accounting

      Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

    • Philosophy and Theology

      Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.

    • English Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

    • Food Production

      Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

    • Public Safety and Security

      Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

    • Building and Construction

      Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.

    • Sociology and Anthropology

      Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    • Design

      Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

    • Foreign Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

    • Customer and Personal Service

      Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

    • Biology

      Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

    • Law and Government

      Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

    • Psychology

      Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

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    Pay

    • Ohio Annual Salary 54430/yr
    • Typical Salary
    • Ohio Hourly Wage 26.17/hr
    • Typical Hourly Wage

    Ohio Employment Trends

    • Currently Employed 200
    • Yearly Projected Openings 30

    Typical Education

    Personality

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

    Tools

    • Anaerobic jars or accessories
    • Bench scales
    • Benchtop centrifuges
    • Binocular light compound microscopes
    • Calorimeters
    • Chemical absorption gas analyzers
    • Colorimeters
    • Decontamination shower
    • Desktop computers
    • Dropping pipettes
    • Electronic counters
    • Electronic toploading balances
    • Extracting equipment for laboratories
    • Eyewashers or eye wash stations
    • Fire extinguishers
    • Fluorescent microscopes
    • Forced air or mechanical convection general purpose incubators
    • Fume hoods or cupboards
    • Gas burners
    • Goggles
    • Handheld thermometer
    • Heating or drying equipment or accessories
    • Homogenizers
    • Inoculating devices
    • Lab coats
    • Laboratory balances
    • Laboratory beakers
    • Laboratory blenders or emulsifiers
    • Laboratory burets
    • Laboratory clamps
    • Laboratory flasks
    • Laboratory funnels
    • Laboratory hotplates
    • Laboratory knives
    • Laboratory mechanical convection ovens
    • Laboratory mills
    • Laboratory mixers
    • Laboratory separators
    • Laboratory stirring rods
    • Laboratory tongs
    • Laser printers
    • Magnetic spin bars or stir bars or stirring beads
    • Magnetic stirrers
    • Magnetic tools
    • Metal detectors
    • Microbiology analyzers
    • Microplate readers
    • Microscope slides
    • Moisture balances
    • Moisture meters
    • Multipurpose or general test tubes
    • Notebook computers
    • Optical diffraction apparatus
    • Pasteur or transfer pipettes
    • Personal computers
    • Pestle or mortars
    • Petri plates or dishes
    • Protective gloves
    • Psychrometers
    • Remote reading thermometers
    • Specialty plates for bacteria
    • Steam autoclaves or sterilizers
    • Triple beam balances
    • Ultraviolet UV lamps
    • Vacuum ovens
    • Viscosimeters
    • Water analysis systems
    • Water baths
    • pH meters

    Technology

    • Analytical or scientific software
    • Application server software
    • Cloud-based management software
    • Data base user interface and query software
    • Electronic mail software
    • Enterprise resource planning ERP software
    • Graphical user interface development software
    • Graphics or photo imaging software
    • Object or component oriented development software
    • Office suite software
    • Operating system software
    • Presentation software
    • Process mapping and design software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Web platform development software
    • Word processing software

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