Pharmacy Technician Jobs

On this site you'll find everything you need to know about pharmacy technician jobs, which have become increasingly sought after in today's economic environment. Pharmacy tech jobs are a great way to get into a career in the health care field without spending months or years in college or trade school. Some people are quite happy with working in these positions and stay in them for decades, while others use them as stepping stones to even better health care careers. Either way, pharmacy tech jobs are an excellent option for anyone in the employment market these days.

We've provided you with articles on all aspects of educational requirements; working environments; average wages; job prospects in the future and the trends that will keep these jobs in demand for decades; what getting certified means and why you should strongly consider it; the pharmacy tech certification test and how to prepare for it; resume and interview tips; and much, much more. Reading these articles is a great way of learning everything you need to know about these positions.

Pharmacy tech jobs present many wonderful opportunities and should never be underestimated. While other health care positions might seem more glamorous and sometimes pay better, those jobs normally take at least a year of formal (and expensive) training to qualify for, and in many cases, the pay is not much higher than what pharmacy techs make. For anyone who wants to get into the health care field, or simply needs to get a decent position right away, it's hard to beat pharmacy technician jobs.

How Much Do Pharmacy Technician Jobs Pay?

All over America, there is an increasing level of interest in pharmacy technician jobs. This trend began a few years ago, shortly after the economy started nose-diving and unemployment began skyrocketing. Suddenly millions of people had to begin looking for work, with more and more thinking for the first time of becoming pharmacy technicians. One of the biggest questions many people have is how much these jobs pay. Let's look at average wages, entry-level wages, benefits, and other compensation factors in a pharmacy technician job.

Pharmacy tech wages, just like wages in other industries, aren't hard and fast, but occur across a range. As of this writing, wages for pharmacy technicians in America range from an average of $8.30 an hour for new hires to over $18 an hour for someone with 20 years' experience. Several factors affect these wages. Like all jobs, pharmacy tech positions in big cities tend to pay more than those in small towns. Working for national chain drugstores usually pays more than working for a local independent pharmacist. Techs who are willing to work nights and weekends generally receive premiums for doing so.

At first glance, the starting wages for new hires may not look all that impressive. However, this can be misleading. Generally, once newly hired technicians have proven their skills, they will receive regular raises throughout their first year of employment and on a regular basis in the following years. After only a year of experience, average pay is much closer to $10 an hour, far above the salaries of other entry-level jobs requiring little formal training. In addition, pharmacy technicians often receive excellent benefit packages, including health insurance and paid holidays, which should be considered as part of the total compensation. When all of these factors are considered, it's clear that few other entry-level jobs compare with pharmacy technician jobs when it comes to wages and benefits.

Pharmacy Technicians Receive Outstanding Benefits

In today's difficult job market, pharmacy technician jobs are one of the best-kept secrets in the American health care field. Many people have never even heard of pharmacy technicians and would be surprised to discover just how good these jobs are. This lack of awareness is changing though; as more people go online to discover employment opportunities, more are learning about, and getting interested in obtaining, pharmacy technician jobs. It's easy to see why; not only do these jobs pay more than many other comparable entry-level jobs, in many cases they come with benefit packages that just can't be beat.

Can you think of many entry-level jobs for people without college degrees that offer full health insurance coverage these days? Probably not. Even many higher-paying jobs are losing their health insurance benefits or having them cut back. In contrast, many pharmacy technicians enjoy complete health care insurance at low rates because they work for a hospital or a national drugstore chain. Another common benefit is tuition reimbursement. Again, many companies are cutting back in this area, or don't offer it at all, but that's not the case with pharmacy technician jobs. This benefit alone could be worth tens of thousands of dollars to someone seeking a college education. An entry-level job that offers a great working environment, decent pay, and outstanding benefits - that's why pharmacy tech jobs are becoming so sought after these days.

Pharmacy Tech Jobs Are Excellent Options for College Students

If you're in college, or thinking about going, and you're struggling to find a way to pay your tuition and other expenses, you should consider a pharmacy technician job. These positions can be ideal for college students in many ways. One of the main factors that makes these jobs a good option is that they are everywhere college students are. Whether you're attending a small college in a tiny town or a mega- university in a huge metropolis, there are bound to be pharmacy tech job positions near you. In fact, your college or university itself may even employ pharmacy techs.

A second factor is that pharmacy tech jobs pay better than many of the entry-level, minimum-wage jobs that college students typically rely on until after they graduate, such as those in the fast food and retail industries. Pharmacy tech positions usually pay quite a bit more than minimum wage, and many of them have very good benefit packages. (Benefits aren't usually a main concern of college students looking for work, but they can certainly be a nice bonus.)

Probably the biggest factor that makes these jobs such good options for college students is the flexibility they offer. Pharmacies tend to stay open well past typical retail hours, which are often ideal working hours for college students. Evening and part-time work is quite common in these jobs. Weekend work is also widely available, and because many people are reluctant to work weekends, someone willing to do so has a tremendous advantage in the job market. In fact, many students work 20 to 24 hours on the weekend only, leaving them free to study during the week. If you're a night owl, you might consider working in a pharmacy that's open 24 hours. In most cases, you won't be dealing with many customers, and you might even be allowed to bring your books and study between the few customers who do show up.

The fact that they're available all over the country, have above-average pay, and a flexible schedule make pharmacy technician jobs ideal for college students.

Pharmacy Technician Job: Great Position for a High School Grad

For anyone who has recently graduated from high school, and for those who are about to graduate, pharmacy technician jobs are an excellent way of starting a career in the health care field. Working directly with pharmacists, pharmacy techs are a vital part of our nation's health care industry, seeing to it that hundreds of millions of prescriptions are filled correctly and as quickly as possible. Enhancing and prolonging the lives of millions of Americans of all ages, pharmacy technicians are an important link in the chain of health care in our modern world.

What makes these jobs so attractive for recent and upcoming high school graduates? For one thing, the schooling and training required is minimal. Unlike many other health care careers, which can take years of school to qualify for, pharmacy techs, in most cases, aren't required to have any education beyond a high school diploma. There are excellent training programs, both online and in the brick-and-mortar world that can (in just a few weeks) give a person all the knowledge needed to perform well on the job.

Another attractive aspect of pharmacy tech jobs is that health care is one area of the economy that keeps growing every year, no matter what the rest of the economy is like. Sales of cars, homes, and fast food may go down, but spending less on health care isn't an option, which means that these jobs are always in demand. Look around any fairly large city and count all the stores that have pharmacies, all of which need several pharmacy technicians to serve their clientele.

Another attractive feature of the job is the good pay. Pharmacy techs usually have starting wages quite a bit higher than most jobs high school graduates qualify for. In addition, many of these pharmacy tech jobs also come with excellent benefit packages, including health care. For high school grads, jobs with such good wages and benefits are getting harder and harder to find these days. Any high school grad looking for a steady career should consider applying for pharmacy technician jobs.

Pharmacy Technician Jobs: Great for Empty Nesters

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people find themselves with far more time and far fewer obligations and responsibilities, because their youngest child has grown up and moved out. For the first time in decades, these folks don't always know what to do with themselves. This phenomenon is called the empty- nest syndrome. People in this situation can sometimes feel lost, confused, or unappreciated, and many turn to finding a job to fill the new void in their lives. Unfortunately, many times empty nesters wind up settling for jobs that are beneath their abilities, such as those in the fast food industry, or they spend years getting an education to qualify for a job.

Happily, there's a better option for many people who find themselves in this stage of life. Pharmacy technician jobs are plentiful, the pay is good, the benefits are often outstanding, and getting hired doesn't depend on spending two to four years in college. Pharmacy technicians, under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist, do most of the actual work that is involved in filling prescriptions. Training can take from a few weeks to a few months, and the demand for pharmacy techs is constantly growing. Pharmacy technician jobs are a great idea for empty nesters, as well as for anyone else looking for a career in the field of health care.

Pharmacy Tech Jobs Are Great for Retired People

There is a growing trend these days of retired people going back into the work force. Some do so out of boredom, or to stay busy after a spouse has died, or for similar personal reasons. Many retirees must do so out of financial necessity: Pension funds are drying up, Social Security cost-of-living adjustments are being frozen, and prices just keep going higher and higher. Whatever your reason, if you're a retiree who wants to rejoin the work force, you should consider pharmacy technician jobs.

Pharmacy technicians act as pharmacists' assistants. They do the actual hands-on work of making sure America's health care clients get their prescriptions filled quickly and accurately. Because of the rapidly aging Baby Boomer population, pharmacy tech jobs are currently one of the careers in the U.S. with the best employment prospects for today, the immediate future, and the long term.

What makes these jobs even better for retired people is that there isn't a lot of schooling required in order to qualify and get hired. Many people qualify on their own in just a few weeks through online programs, and there are local schools all over America that offer programs that take only a few months to complete. Wages are also above average compared to other entry-level jobs, such as in the fast food or retail industries, that retired people often resort to. What about your age? Is it a handicap? If you're able to stand on your feet all day, and have good vision and hearing (with or without corrective devices), there's really no reason you can't do the job. In addition, these days more and more employers are expressing a preference for older workers, who are sometimes perceived as being more dependable than younger people. So if you're a retiree seeking a new source of income, check into pharmacy technician jobs, which might be exactly what you're looking for.

Pharmacy Technician Jobs Are Not for Women Only

If you're a male who's looking for a career in the health care field that doesn't take years of schooling, and tens of thousands of dollars in school debt, you've probably heard about pharmacy tech jobs. These jobs constitute one of the fastest-growing sectors of the entire economy, not just health care, and they offer good pay and great benefits. Unfortunately, some men have somehow gotten the impression that these jobs are geared toward women, and so they miss out on a great opportunity that could change their lives. Don't make that same mistake!

Pharmacy tech jobs are not just for women. While it's true that a majority of pharmacy techs are women, there are plenty of men working in this rewarding and respected occupation. Pharmacy techs of both genders work right beside pharmacists to make sure that the sick and injured people of America get their prescriptions filled accurately and rapidly. Men shouldn't cheat themselves out of a great job by thinking that only women are pharmacy technicians. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Pharmacy Technician Job Prospects for the Future

According to U.S. labor officials and economic experts, pharmacy technician jobs will be one of the hottest areas of growth in not only the health care field but also in all sectors of the economy for the foreseeable future. Why? The primary reason is the fact that America is aging. The average person in America today is older than the average American ten years ago; ten or fifteen years from now, the average age of an American will be even older. In fact, it's predicted that it won't be long before one out of five Americans is age 65 or older.

The aging of the American population is unprecedented. Never before in our history have we had anything close to twenty percent of our citizenry in the 65-and-above age bracket. How does this drive the demand for pharmacy technician jobs? Seniors are by far the biggest consumers of health care, including prescription drugs, of any age group. This wave of population aging is expected to last for a couple of decades, which means that for the foreseeable future, pharmacy technician jobs will be in high demand.

Pharmacy Technician Jobs: Don't Pass Up This Opportunity

Every year, thousands of people learn about pharmacy technician jobs for the first time. Such jobs typically fly under the radar; many people have never given much thought to what actually goes on behind the counter of a pharmacy, assuming that the pharmacist does all the work. People are often surprised to learn about this little-known job, and many only do so because they're looking for a job themselves.

It's also a sad fact that many unemployed people skip right over pharmacy technician jobs and never apply for one. Why? Well, in many cases they assume they don't have the education to qualify for a pharmacy tech job. If this concern has been holding you back from getting started on a pharmacy tech career, don't sell yourself short: If you have a high school diploma and can read and understand this article, then you've got the necessary qualifications for pharmacy technician jobs.

Pharmacy tech jobs don't require a college education. If you're bright and can read and follow instructions accurately, you've got what it takes to work with prescriptions as a pharmacy technician.