Labor trends show phlebotomy jobs will grow by 6% from 2024 to 2034, with employers adding 18,400 openings each year. In some states, applicants may qualify with on-the-job training only. A phlebotomy certification puts you at the front of the line with hands-on skills, training and experience that employers value.
Certification also opens doors to advance into broader lab and clinical roles. Here’s a look at your career options and what to do after phlebotomy certification.
1. Entry-Level Jobs You Can Get With a Phlebotomy Certification
Phlebotomy graduates are ready for several jobs that involve collecting and preparing blood or other samples for testing, research, transfusion or donation. These include:
- Phlebotomist in medical facilities
- Mobile phlebotomist for donation drives, mobile screening or long-term centers
- Home phlebotomist collecting samples from home care, hospice, palliative or research patients
- Mobile examiner collecting samples for insurance
2. Where Phlebotomists Commonly Work
Phlebotomists can work at many places where blood, tissue or other samples are collected. These may be fast-paced healthcare settings, like hospitals and emergency departments, or they may be routine healthcare environments.
Typical phlebotomy jobs are on-site positions in:
- Hospitals
- Outpatient clinics
- Urgent care centers
- Diagnostics labs
- Surgery centers
- Blood donation centers
- Clinical research centers
- Physician offices
- Public health agencies
- Long-term care centers
- Assisted living facilities
3. Career Advancement Options After Phlebotomy
Phlebotomy is a great entry point into healthcare services and can lead to careers in a few other areas. For instance, you might move into education and teach new students as a certified phlebotomy instructor. You might move into laboratory support as a medical laboratory assistant or clinical laboratory technologist and perform tests on collected samples. Further, you might venture into a role as a lab liaison technician to test and inspect lab equipment.
If you prefer to work with patients rather than behind the scenes, cross-training into patient-facing roles may be the preferred route. For instance, you might leverage your phlebotomy skills into a medical assistant position. Here you’ll help physicians with patient exams and procedures, collect samples, take and record patient vitals, interview and record medical history and schedule appointments.
4. Specialization and Skill-Building Paths
Investing in additional training and specialized skills may help increase your value and boost your pay over time. For instance, cross-training as an EKG technician allows you to work in both phlebotomy and EKG environments. With specialized certification in arterial phlebotomy, you could work as a cardiac catheterization technologist.
Post-certification training in pediatric and geriatric phlebotomy is another high-value skill set that may increase your career value. These patients tend to have small or fragile veins and higher rates of complex conditions, which require advanced technical skills.
5. How MedCerts Supports Career Growth After Certification
Whether you’re looking to start phlebotomy training or wondering what to do after phlebotomy certification, MedCerts offers several pathways. Many of our students launch a lab career with online phlebotomy training and gain experience in the field before coming back to gain additional certifications. Many others take advanced programs that lead to multiple certifications. In either instance, MedCerts alumni receive 40% every program they take after their first, so it’s even easier and more accessible to grow their careers.
Phlebotomy is an attractive entry point into a healthcare career. With MedCerts, you can complete training in as few as 12 weeks and continue with other programs for high-demand skills, career flexibility and enhanced earning potential.
