What do you have to do to get a job as a pharmacy technician?

Can you get a job as a pharmacy technician with just taking the PTCE and no courses?

• I've heard that you can get the certificate to be a pharmacy tech without taking classes. Is it likely that you will still get hired without taking the courses though?

• Answer:

  There are various routes you can take to become a pharmacy tech. However, to address your question directly. Firstly, yes you can get certified and licensed without taking a program or stepping foot into a classroom. That's exactly what I did. I purchased a book and checked a couple out at the library and studied for 6 months with a study partner. Then I took the PTCB exam, passed and got licensed. But, depending where you are finding a job may be the hardest part. Now, from what I have heard from techs who went thru expensive programs, it's rarely worth it. The reason for that is, that someone who pays $5000 to go to a tech school or even $500 for an online program is probably in the same position to get hired as someone who self studied. The only disagreement I have with that reasoning is if the school offers career job placement. Another consideration is how the job market is in your city. Many places demand 2+ years of experience and if the job market is tight, so is the competition. But, in other cities they're hiring tech's off the street and doing in house training. So, each person and their unique situation is going to vary. But, remember that going the route of a school may be quite costly. However, the investment may be worth it if the school offers lifetime job placement assistance. I don't endorse the schools necessarily, but they also are valuable for people who may not be disciplined enough to do self study or online training at home. If you'd like to get an idea of what types of subjects you'll be studying, I welcome you to visit my website and take a look around. The site is a study site for Pharm Tech students preparing for the PTCB and ExCPT exams. There are over 300 pages of information, including an interactive forum where questions are asked and answered. Additionally, there are dozens of Math tutorial pages including videos to help you learn mixture and dilution calculations, and much more. Best of all, It's 100% free, open source and no registration or password is ever needed. Best of luck in getting your new career launched. Keith N