Pharmacy technician

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Good day fellow nurses,

I have a family member who got laid off his job 5 months; he lives with me 24/7 and we are looking for something for him to do. He wants to go school for pharmacy technician and he wants me find out about the job market before he commits himself. So I would like to know if there are jobs for pharm techs, is the demand high or not?

thanks in advance for your input.

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Specializes in A little of this & a little of that.

Depends on where you live. Thre are lots of jobs for pharmacy techs in large chains like Wal-Mart, larger hospital pharmacies and large pharmacies like the ones that supply nursing homes.

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Depends on where you live. Thre are lots of jobs for pharmacy techs in large chains like Wal-Mart, larger hospital pharmacies and large pharmacies like the ones that supply nursing homes.

live in new york city,

thanks

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Specializes in Hospice.

I think just about wherever you go, the turnover is pretty high for pharmacy techs so jobs aren't too hard to come by. The hours are weird, you're on your feet the whole time, and most of the time you are stuck in one small room probably standing in one spot. Those conditions aren't too bad if you're getting compensated, but after 10 years of being a pharmacy tech, I was making $11.04 an hour. So that depends on your family member. For me the money wasn't enough to support myself and my two children.

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I would thoroughly check out any program. In most states there is no formal training required for pharmacy techs. Of course, many employers want to hire people with either experience or training, so there is a place for these programs. But many of them are (IMO) big ripoffs! Pharmacy technician is not a high-paying career, so investing many months of one's life and many thousands of one's dollars on training programs is not a wise investment. There is one program near where I live that is an 8 month program, where they have the students take Anatomy and Physiology and a lot of other classes that are completely unnecessary. (Of course, this is just a trade school so none of these classes will transfer to college later.) This school seems to really con students into thinking they are headed for a high-paying job and I have heard a few of them express disappointment on how much they end up making when they are done.

If you can find a program that is cost effective and reputable, then it certainly beats sitting around the house 24/7!

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He really should check in the local paper or an online job board. I like Indeed.com because it pulls from many of the major sites and lists the jobs in one place. I am a licensed PhT (pharmacy technician) and here in Northern CA jobs are scarce. Because of this we tend to have abusive Pharmacist as we are replacable because tons of vocational schools churning out techs at a high rate. If he sees that there are a lot of jobs in his area then he shoouldnt have a problem.

Also he should decide what kind of tech he wants to be because if you start your career in retail (Walgreens, Walmart, CVS etc) he will have a hard time finding a job at a hospital, who pay more. The skills between retail and hospital are totally different. If he couldn't find a hospital job I would recommend starting a career at a "closed door" pharmacy because you tend to use a lot of skills and going to a hospital environment will be easier because you tend to get IV experience in "closed door".

Being a PhT is a wonderful job if you find the right pharmacy because you get to learn a lot and the pay if adequate.

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Specializes in MICU, neuro, orthotrauma.

Don't sign him up for classes! Waste of money. He doesn't need it.

He is in luck if he wants to do this. NY state does not regulate. But, in order to be marketable, I would go ahead and become a nationally certified pharm tech. It's easy to do. And they are now accepting applications. It's only done a few times a year.

He can sign up for the exam here

In order to prepare, go ahead and purchase a certification review book. Here is a list.

I am editing to add: this is what my husband did in a state that actually was regulated, but they were impressed that he was nationally certified and they took him on and helped him with the state regulations while on the job.

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Specializes in ED, ICU, PACU.
live in new york city,

thanks

My daughter is a pharmacy tech at a major NYC hospital. She learned on the job at a local grocery store in the South & took her certification test as part of State law. Since NY does not require certification (CPhT), she found a hospital job within 2 weeks of moving to NYC (five years ago). I would say the market is good if certified.

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Yes, thank you to the poster who mentioned getting certified. That does make you more attractive and I believe it only cost $120 to test and you have to take continuing education courses to maintain it. That does make you more attractive. In CA (which requires techs to have formal education and be registered) many hospials are requiring national certification. And I am sure a state like NY, that doesn't regulate, according to the other posters, that would be something impressive on his resume.

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