A pharmacy technician has a variety of job duties including processing prescriptions, answering customer questions, reviewing medication orders, checking inventory, and more. That means there are specific skills absolutely necessary for working as a pharmacy tech. What are employers looking for when it comes to hiring pharmacy technician candidates? There are many different skills that are important to have to work as a pharmacy technician. Learn more about those skills below so that you build these skills and add them to your resume.
Skills Employers Look for in Pharmacy Technicians
If you are thinking about becoming a pharmacy technician, you will need to be sure you have these skills. Employers will look for pharmacy technicians with skills like those listed below.
- Attention to Detail – Having excellent attention to detail is essential as a pharmacy technician. When you are working as a pharmacy technician, you will have to perform tasks such as collecting information to fill prescriptions, measuring medication for prescriptions, labeling prescriptions, and more. It is crucial during all these tasks you pay attention to the details because if an order is wrong, it could be detrimental to the health of a customer. As a pharmacy technician, you will not be making the prescriptions or the medications, but you will often be bottling them and labeling them, and you need to make sure this information is accurate. You also may have to double check with doctors or pharmacists if something about the prescription is unclear. Having the ability to pay attention to the details can ensure customers get the medicine they need to get better.
- Organizational Skills – Organizational skills are also vital to working as a pharmacy technician. Part of your job will be to organize the inventory and alert the pharmacist of shortages in supplies or medication. You will also be working in a fast-paced environment at times as a pharmacy technician. This means that you will need to be organized and efficient in performing job duties so that you can make the most of your time.
- Good People Skills – It is also essential to be good at working with people as a pharmacy technician. You will have a lot of interaction with people during this type of job, so you will need to work well with co-workers, and you will need strong customer service skills. As a pharmacy technician, you will work with other pharmacy technicians under the supervision of a pharmacist, so you will need to be able to work will all those people. You will also need to call doctors or nurses if there is a question about a particular prescription. You will also have to work with insurance companies as well. Last, but not least, you will need good interpersonal skills to be sure you are meeting the needs of the customers. When customers come in to pick up medications, it can sometimes be a stressful or emotional time for them. You need to have strong customer service skills to help people understand when they will need to take their medications, and you need to be understanding if your customers are having a hard time. It is not always easy to work with others and work in customer service, but if you like to interact with people and help them, you can succeed as a pharmacy technician.
- Math and Science Skills – Math and science skills are also important for working as a pharmacy technician. Formulas and calculations are essential in putting together the correct medication and the correct dosage. Good science knowledge is also important because it is vital for a pharmacy tech to understand how specific medications will affect the human body. You can learn more about the pharmacy calculations and pharmacology during a pharmacy technician program. Also, your Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam will ensure that you know all you need to in order to work in this field.
As you can see, you need some specific skills to succeed as a pharmacy technician. The good news is, you can learn these skills during a pharmacy technician school.
Building Knowledge and Skills in Pharmacy Tech School
Pharmacy tech school will help you build the knowledge and skills you need to land a great job as a pharmacy tech. During your pharmacy tech school, you will take classes like anatomy and physiology, pharmacy calculations, pharmacology, pharmacy principles and practice, pharmacy information systems, and more. You will even have the chance to do a pharmacy tech externship and get real experience working as a pharmacy technician.
FVI School of Nursing and Technology has a pharmacy technician program for you to build up your skills. Learn more here about our program, and reach out to us if you have any questions.
For more information about graduation rates, the median debt of students who completed the program, and other important information, please visit our website:
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