Pharmacy technicians help a licensed pharmacist in filling prescriptions, providing medications and other health products to patients. Their main duty is to prepare medications, count tablets, label bottles and so on. However, any questions asked by the clients must be answered not by the pharmacist technician but by the pharmacist.

Pharmacist technicians work in an environment that must be kept clean, organized and well ventilated at all times. Their jobs require long hours of standing especially when they are working in health care facilities. Pharmacist technicians often work during the evening and on weekends. They work 35-45 hours a week in hospitals and in pharmacies.

Pharmacy technicians have a very important job to do, that is why they must have the proper education and pharmacy technician training. So what comprises pharmacy technician training? Typically, a pharmacy technician program last from six months up to two years. There are also schools that offer pharmacist technician training at an intensive manner. Pharmacist technician training instruction includes topics on medical knowledge and pharmaceuticals. Some topics on medical law, drugs and trades are also being taken up. At the end of the education and training, the students are required to take and pass the pharmacy technician certification exam to become a certified pharmacy technician.

Getting a pharmacy technician certification is important as having it will provide a good foundation to an aspiring pharmacy technician about their responsibilities as well as helping out in raising the average pharmacy technician salary. This certification carries with it a lot of benefits and advantages, but one has to do some research before they think of enrolling themself into a pharmacy technician certification program. There are numerous organizations that provides a pharmacy certification thus it is important that you need to know the reputation and history of every organization. The research must also go beyond the institution and you should take in consideration the prerequisites of the program. Most programs would require a high school diploma, a GED or a non- US qualification. Once you have meet all the criteria and enrolled yourself in a pharmacy technician school, then the next step is to prepare yourself for the pharmacy technician certification exam. The two renowned pharmacy technician certification exams are the PTCE which is Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam and the ExCPT or the Examination for Certified Pharmacy Technicians.

What is a PTCE exam? The PTCE certification exam is a computer based exam with 90 multiple choice type of exam questions. This exam focuses more on the responsibilities of the technician including their duties to the pharmacist and their clients, how to do inventories and controlling medications and as well as about drug administration.

The three renowned pharmacy technician schools that offer the best education are the Penn Foster Career School, Ashworth College and Kaplan University. Penn Foster Career School aims to help the students to become successful pharmacy technicians. Their instructions comprises of 10 materials that provides an easy to understand guide on different skills and methods you need in becoming a pharmacy technician. Students who have completed the pharmacy technician training program in this school are qualified to take the pharmacy technician certification exam. As these students prepare for the exam, the school provides a workbook to assist the students during the review. Ashworth College also helps the students to be successful in their careers. The program also consists of 15 instructions. Kaplan University promises its students that they will be receiving the best quality of pharmacy technician education by following a strict standard of professionalism and ethics.

How much is the pharmacy technician salary? The pay range for pharmacy technicians is lower if they are just starting out in their career. The starting salary for pharmacy technicians is almost $8 to $10 an hour. A lot of pharmacy technician’s start as pharmacy aides having fewer responsibilities. There are numerous factors that affect the salary of the pharmacy technician. Some of these factors include experience and education. Pharmacy technicians having a formal education can command a better salary. These professionals that earn better have more years of experience and responsibilities. The kind of employment can also cause an impact on the salary. In general, these pharmacy technicians work in hospitals and earns more compared to those who works in grocery stores and small pharmacies. There are a lot of opportunities for those working in hospitals.

How much should salary and wages affect your career choices? Obviously money plays a large role in what career you pursue, but should money be the sole reason that you choose one job over another? As an individual this is a choice you must make on your own, however there are a few things you might want to consider before diving into a technical training program. Money is great, but it is not everything. You must consider the longevity of the job you are chasing, along with the demand for employees. Truly research the entire job description of your career choice, this does not mean simply reading reviews you may find on the web or in books. To truly research your career, take the time to physically talk to people in the field, along with college professors who teach the courses needed to graduate. Doing this will give you a more accurate knowledge of what you going to be doing for possibly the rest of your life, and is worth the little effort it takes to make sure you will be happy with your final decision.

Education and Schooling

When you are applying for a job to be a pharmacist assistant, you can be sure that your employer will check into your schooling. Not only are they interested in your grades, but they will take a big interest in the school or schools that you attended to get your degree or pharmacy technician certification. For this reason, it is vital that you choose to attend a college or technical school that is accredited. Community colleges are great for their convenience, but before signing up for classes, research them to ensure that they are an accredited school.

How Experience Affects your Wages

How does experience affect your pharmacy technician salary? As a pharmacy tech with less than a years experience, you can expect to earn on average, less than $11.00/hour, but will average closer to $9-10.00 per hour. With less than 5 years experience, your annual income will increase some but not much.  You can really expect to see your salary increase after you have closer to 10 years experience. Once you hit your 10 year mark you can expect an increase of up to 5 dollars more per hour. Closing in on the 20 year mark you will find yourself earning close to 20.00 per hour. On a national average, the average technician salary ranges between $20,000 and $32,000 per year.

Location

Location is pretty much self explanatory. Salary wages differ in different parts of the country for just about any job market. As you find the cost of living to fluctuate in different parts of the country, so will the average annual salary for a pharmacy technician. One living in Los Angeles California should never expect to earn the same amount of money as someone who lives in Houston Texas, Miami Florida or someone living in New York. This is because California has shown that pharmacy techs living there on average earn the highest Pharmacy Technician salaries.

Along with your geographic location playing a role in your annual pharmacy technician salary, your job location will play a big role in how much you can earn as well. Pharmacy Techs who are contracted employees have shown to earn the most money. Another competitive field for good tech wages are that of government jobs and hospitals. For the most part, as a pharmacy technician you will likely find jobs in pharmacies, drug stores and other retail stores that offer a pharmacy like Walmart, CVS and Walgreens for example.

The demand for pharmacy technicians is up right now, this means that salary and wages will go up as well. The field is a challenging and exciting one that can pay off, if you take it seriously and stick to it. As long as people are getting sick, there will always be a need for Pharmacy Techs. This should leave you assured that there will be a need for techs for some time to come.