Certified pharmacy technicians assist pharmacists. They assemble and hand out medicine for prescriptions and provide information about usage and dosage. This is not the kind of job that you can just figure out as you go. You need appropriate education to be hired, and you need to prove it with a certification.
This probably will not come as a surprise, pharmacy technicians work in pharmacies. Okay, the special ones work in hospitals or ambulances, sometimes in government agencies, or private settings, serving special groups, like nuclear pharmacies. Or you can just ditch the customer service aspect of the job entirely and go for handmade preparation of medications in compound pharmacies.
For better or worse, pharmaceuticals is a modern-day gold mine. This position is normally full-time with regular hours, and on average, you earn $32,700 a year, but it can easily open doors to higher-paying positions as well.
What is a Certified Pharmacist Technician?
What Does a Certified Pharmacist Technician Do
There are certain skills that many certified pharmacist technicians have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed customer-service skills, listening skills and math skills.
How To Become a Certified Pharmacist Technician
If you're interested in becoming a certified pharmacist technician, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 39.4% of certified pharmacist technicians have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 3.1% of certified pharmacist technicians have master's degrees. Even though some certified pharmacist technicians have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Certified Pharmacist Technician Job Description
Certified Pharmacist Technician Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of certified nursing assistant you might progress to a role such as team leader eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title general manager.
Average Salary for a Certified Pharmacist Technician
What Am I Worth?
Roles and Types of Certified Pharmacist Technician
The role of a certified pharmacist technician includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general certified pharmacist technician responsibilities:
- Successfully complete the rite aid pharmacy technician training & certification program. This on-the-job program is designed
- Dispensing prescribed medications, drugs and other pharmaceuticals for patient care, according to professional standards
- Must convey professional communication with physician offices at all times both orally
There are several types of certified pharmacist technician, including:
Technician
Role:
Your workload as a technician will vary, depending on what you're trained in. You may be needed to set up a new computer system or maybe you'll need to fix an electricity problem. Either way, you'll probably only need to work 40 hours a week.
The degree of education required for this job depends on what you're specific skillset is. Some technicians only need a high school diploma, others may want to complete an associate's program or earn a certificate to help their employment opportunities. There's definitely something for everyone in the field of technicians.
- Average Salary: $38,045
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Pharmacist Technician
Role:
You can find a lot of pharmacist technicians working in a pharmacy but some find work in drug stores, grocery stores, hospitals, and even general merchandise stores. No matter where you'll be working, you'll probably be required to work a full-time schedule of 40 hours.
Since you'll be standing up the majority of the day, you might find it helpful to buy some really comfy shoes. And before you apply, make sure you, at least, have a high school diploma under your belt, if not also a post-secondary education program. Regardless, you will receive some on-the-job training, so you won't be released to filling prescriptions until you have learned to do so.
- Average Salary: $36,090
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Medical Laboratory Technician
Role:
They analyze microorganisms and every possible cell, tissue, and fluid found in the human body, using sophisticated equipment. By inspecting enzymes and proteins, they can tell if major organs are working correctly. They examine blood and look for bacteria, fungus, parasites, and the like. Doctors rely on their findings when concluding a diagnosis.
Qualified medical technicians are in high demand currently, which is only growing, with an expected increase of 13% until 2026. In order to apply for a position, you need to hold a degree or obtain certification. There are vocational courses where you can learn necessary laboratory technologies and skills, or you can complete a university course in biomedical science of biotechnology.
- Average Salary: $51,780
- Degree: Associate Degree
States With The Most Certified Pharmacist Technician Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active certified pharmacist technician jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where certified pharmacist technicians earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Certified Pharmacist Technician Jobs By State
Top Skills For a Certified Pharmacist Technician
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 22.1% of certified pharmacist technicians listed patients on their resume, but soft skills such as customer-service skills and listening skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Certified Pharmacist Technician Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Certified Pharmacist Technician templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Certified Pharmacist Technician resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Certified Pharmacist Technician Demographics
Certified Pharmacist Technician Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among certified pharmacist technicians, 79.2% of them are women, while 20.8% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among certified pharmacist technicians is White, which makes up 60.2% of all certified pharmacist technicians.
- The most common foreign language among certified pharmacist technicians is Spanish at 58.6%.
Online Courses For Certified Pharmacist Technician That You May Like
1. Drug Commercialization
The University of California San Diego, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Drug Commercialization course brings you lectures from both faculty and industry experts. With this course, recorded on campus at UCSD, we seek to share our access to top people in the field who bring an unprecedented range of expertise on drug commercialization. This course will cover pharmacoeconomic, marketing strategy, intellectual property strategy, portfolio management, managed markets and...
See More on Coursera2. PrEParing: PrEP for Providers and Patients
Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) using the antiretroviral medication emtricitibine/tenofovir approved in countries around the world is a highly effective means of reducing transmission of HIV through sexual encounters and needle sharing. This Johns Hopkins University course PrEPares you with essential information, concepts and practical advice regarding PrEP from leaders in the field. A first of its kind learning opportunity, both providers and patients learn from the same experts through...
See More on Coursera3. Transgender Medicine for General Medical Providers
The course is a comprehensive set of didactic lectures surveying fundamentals of transgender medical and surgical treatment. The material is meant to provide the student with core knowledge that is essential for current primary care providers caring for transgender patients. There are 10 modules led by the expert clinical faculty from the pioneering Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery, located within the Mount Sinai Health System and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New...
See More on CourseraBest States For a Certified Pharmacist Technician
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a certified pharmacist technician. The best states for people in this position are Alaska, California, Oregon, and New Hampshire. Certified pharmacist technicians make the most in Alaska with an average salary of $47,713. Whereas in California and Oregon, they would average $46,533 and $45,548, respectively. While certified pharmacist technicians would only make an average of $42,351 in New Hampshire, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Alaska
$47,713
Avg. Salary
2. Oregon
$45,548
Avg. Salary
3. Arizona
$41,625
Avg. Salary
How Do Certified Pharmacist Technician Rate Their Jobs?
Top Certified Pharmacist Technician Employers
Most Common Employers For Certified Pharmacist Technician
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kaiser Permanente | $38,933 | $18.72 | 107 |
| 2 | PharMerica | $38,562 | $18.54 | 186 |
| 3 | CVS Health | $38,255 | $18.39 | 4,755 |
| 4 | Accredo Health | $38,007 | $18.27 | 153 |
| 5 | Omnicare | $36,915 | $17.75 | 196 |
| 6 | King Soopers/City Market | $35,977 | $17.30 | 60 |
| 7 | Costco Wholesale | $35,873 | $17.25 | 100 |
| 8 | Hy-Vee | $35,399 | $17.02 | 94 |
| 9 | Safeway | $34,764 | $16.71 | 82 |
| 10 | Target | $34,753 | $16.71 | 337 |
Certified Pharmacist Technician Videos
Becoming a Certified Pharmacist Technician FAQs
How Long Does It Take To Become A Certified Pharmacist Technician?
It takes 3 years of professional experience to become a certified pharmacist technician. That is the time it takes to learn specific certified pharmacist technician skills, but does not account for time spent in formal education.