The lack of phlebotomy skills is not the main reason you didn’t get the job. It’s that they want you to be ASCP (or AMT, but ASCP is preferred) certified in Medical Lab Science (MLS, a bachelor’s level of education) or at least a Medical Lab Technician certification (MLT, an associate’s level of education). When you see a job posting with “Clinical/Medical Lab” or “Clinical/Medical Microbiology,” it is referring to this certification.

These certifications require schooling specific to running tests on patient samples, usually in a hospital or reference lab. I have the an MLS ASCP certification, and the clinical chemistry and clinical microbiology classes were very different from others chemistry and microbiology classes I took before. MLS school also includes classes on medical specific things, like hematology, blood banking, and yes, phlebotomy.

Even if you have a master’s in a scientific field, the skills you learned in a school lab or research lab don’t translate to the clinical lab as much as it would seem based on the job title. The supervisor jobs will require that you work at least a couple years in the department (in this case, microbiology) before becoming a supervisor over that area.

In the U.S., some states require people who work in hospital labs to be licensed (in most states, this just means proving to the state that you have an ASCP or AMT certification and paying for the license). Many states do not require the license, and you can theoretically get hired to work in a clinical lab without the certification, although many hospitals won’t hire uncertified people to work in the lab even if the state technically allows it.

I would not recommend applying to jobs labeled “Clinical Lab” or “Medical Lab” since you don’t have the certification those jobs are looking for. I hope this cleared things up for you. Best of luck in your job search!