Everything that you need to know about becoming a pharmacy technician
In short words, a pharmacy technician is the assistant to the pharmacist.
Now, a pharmacy technician is still a healthcare provider. Though a pharmacy technician can have a license, he/she is still required to work under the direct supervision of a licensed pharmacist.
Technicians use phones, serve customers, count pills, and bring awareness to the pharmacist for patient care.
Like most professions, to be a pharmacy technician you at least or a GED.
So, when you want to go higher in the ranks and make $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 a year education is going to play a huge roll. Why don’t you read further for specific steps to getting the right certifications that will get you paid.
Here are some of your options when it comes to certifications as a pharmacy technician:
So, here is how you pick which one you should take.
First of all, choose according to which one is a requirement in your state.
Now, keep in mind the PTCB is the most popular and is highly recognized and endorsed (just a FYI).
Generally speaking, technicians supply medications to patients under pharmacist supervision. The technician see’s what needs to be made, puts the medication together according to prescription, and does most of the communication between the pharmacist and the patient.
Indeed, this list is going to give you the good the bad and the ugly of what to look out for when working in 2 of the most popular pharmacy technician settings.
Hospital pros: Set schedule/shifts, more laid back just get your work done for your shift and you’re good, more isolated work to yourself, higher pay, more benefits.
Hospital cons: Can be hard to get shift changes, less flexible due to hospital demands.
Retail pros: Very flexible, easy to get a job, customer interaction (if you’re looking for that)
Retail cons: High stress environment, very time based, very team oriented (one station depends on another), pharmacy technicians get the bulk of the blame for what the doctor or insurance may not do.
Ordinarily, there are 400,000 jobs available for pharmacy technicians, so you will be sure to get a job. On top of that, in the next 5 years there is an expected 9% increase of pharmacy technician jobs. So that’s 36,000 MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOU TO MAKE SOME SERIOUS CASH!
Go to a “college” or community college and take a program that is stretched out beyond measure! Cost = $2000+
Get credits from an “accredited” “fast-track” technical college. Cost = $1400+
If you want to learn how to become a pharmacy technician online this is the method. Take an online pharmacy program and it will usually run you about
Take the affordable self paced PTCB program as PharmacyTechLessons.com, get tutoring, and team up with 500 pharmacy technician students all over the nation. Cost here.
Take one of the Courses at PharmacyTechLessons.com and learn how to get pharmacy job offers every week for the highest pay in your state. Cost = here
The average pay of a pharmacy technician is $32,000/year.
Now when you do the math that’s about $15 dollars per hour.
As you might guess, over the course of the last 10 years the salary has increased by $10,000!!! Even since 2017 the salary is on an upward trend, let’s look at the breakdown of pay.
Average hourly pay = $15.00/hour
Non-Certified technician = $10.50/hour
Certified technician = $15.00/hour
Retail technician = $12.00/hour
Hospital technician = $19.00/hour
So let’s talk about it – where do pharmacy technicians get paid the most?
Working at CVS as a pharmacy technician has its ups and has it’s downs.
Let’s check out CVS pharmacy employee complaints and even the good things some pharmacy technicians are saying to gauge where the the CVS employee satisfaction is:
Now just being honest you may need a better interview to get a job at Kroger pharmacy than you would CVS pharmacy. Here’s what employee’s at Kroger had to say.
Walgreens it looking to pay you a bigger buck as a pharmacy technician, and either way it goes you get the experience to advance higher, but I wouldn’t focus to much on advancing within the company.
Now while HEB isn’t the most universal store, especially compare to CVS, it does offer great job opportunities, and obviously it pays much more than the average retailer.
So in case you don’t want to look at it from hour to hour lets get a year to year look at how pharmacy technicians perform as far as salary:
The highest paying states are Alaska, Washington, California, and District of Columbia.
Check for your state below to see the average annual pay.
There are many other professions that are similar to being a pharmacy technician, like:
They are all similar because they do not require “college degree” but they can however be attained through certification.
If you’re looking to pass the PTCB & ExCPT exam, I have a free class that reveals The EXACT Process Students Use To Pass the PTCB Exam in 3 Months or Less Without Failing. Click here to check it out.
If you’re ready to work with me so I can help you pass the exam, go here.
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-O’neisha Biggs
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