Pharmacy Technician
(Female, Age 25) from GrandRapids, MI
This is a REAL-LIFE job profile written by a Female aged 25 who works as a Pharmacy Technician in GrandRapids, MI. We have removed all names and personal information in order to protect privacy. This professional kindly spent a bit of their time to complete one of our job profile surveys so that prospective job seekers like you could read their insights. Please excuse any punctuation or grammatical errors in this profile.
At a Glance
Current Job
Basic data on your current job
| Job Title | Pharmacy Technician |
|---|---|
| Salary | $30,000 |
| Other Compensation | None Set |
| Hours/Week | 40 |
| Company Size | (not answered) |
| Location | GrandRapids, MI |
| Years Experience | 5 years |
Career Ratings
Opinions on your CAREER overall (i.e. not just your current job)
| Years in Career | 0 |
|---|---|
| Education | (not answered) |
| Income Rating | 0 / 10 |
| Interest Rating | 0 / 10 |
| Work-Life Rating | 0 / 10 |
| Fulfilment Rating | 0 / 10 |
Current job Q&A
Describe the type of organization you work for.
I work for a hospital which currently is the largest employer in my area. They employ over 15,000 employees and they are still growing.
Describe your job role and responsibilities.
Making IV additives, compounding medications for patients and assisting pharmacists.
Please list an additional benefits (beyond compensation) that you receive.
Medical,prescription,eye care,dental
Do you feel you are under/over or well/fairly compensated at your current position?
under compensated
Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Please explain.
I work with many people on any given day, I love being around good people who want to help others as much as I do.
Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?
Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?
Yes
Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it.
I work in a large hospital and I love it! I love being able to help people every day, the only dislike I have about my job is the hospital smell.
Please rate each of the following aspects of your current job on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest/best):
Income: 1
Benefits: 2
Hours: 3
Co-Workers: 4
Supervisors: 6
Job Title: 8
Level of Responsibility: 7
The Actual Work: 5
A day in the life of…
Please describe a typical workday for you in your current job:
| 5am to 6am | |
| 6am to 7am | |
| 7am to 8am | Taking care of my kids |
| 8am to 9am | Giving my kids a bath |
| 9am to 10am | Getting my kids breakfast |
| 10am to 11am | Playing with my kids |
| 11am to 12pm | Playing with my kids and getting them some lunch. |
| 12pm to 1pm | Getting my kids ready for their nap. |
| 1pm to 2pm | Getting ready for work and waiting for my husband to get home so I can leave. |
| 2pm to 3pm | Driving to work |
| 3pm to 4pm | Punch in at 3:00pm and head to which pharmacy I will be working in today. Take the elevator up to the 4th floor of the hospital. Arrive in the pharmacy and tidy up. |
| 4pm to 5pm | Make IV additives and refill patients medications, answer phone call about where a patients medication is. Deliver the lost medication to the nurse. |
| 5pm to 6pm | Make more IV additives and deliver them to the patients rooms which are on 2 different floors. Talk to a nurse about how many bags of fluid she needs for her patient. Make the bags up and then deliver them to the patients room. |
| 6pm to 7pm | Finish delivering any medications and then go to dinner from 6:15 until 7:00pm. |
| 7pm to 8pm | Check my email and reply to my bosses email about being able to pick up and extra shifts since they just let 2 more people go. Make more IV additives and deliver to various rooms on the floor I’m working on. |
| 8pm to 9pm | Take a phone call about having a medication administration time change in the computer. Fix the problem. Talk with a nurse about how each others kids are. Make more IV additives and deliver them. |
| 9pm to 10pm | Start making a stock list of items that need to be replaced in the pharmacy from my shift. Make more IV additives and then deliver them. Take a 15 minute break. |
| 10pm to 11pm | Go and get the stock from the list I made earlier. Which takes about a half hour because I have to go down to the basement and gather everything on a cart. After getting all of the stock I bring it back up to the pharmacy on the 4th floor. Put everything away and then refill any last minutes IV’s that nurses have requested. 11:00 the pharmacy closes and we head back down to the basement, which is where the main pharmacy is located. |
| 11pm to 12am | Talk with some coworkers about how their night was and put away returned medications for 20 minutes. Get my things together and then punch out at 11:30pm. |
Table of Contents
How you got your job
How did you get your current job?
Internet
What was the application process?
Submit a resume on the internet
Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail?
Yes, after I submitted my resume on the internet I had to wait four months. When I finally received the call I then went to an interview with a human resource member of the company. Then I got a second call back to have an interview with a department manager.
If you can remember, what questions were you asked during the interview?
I was asked questions like,”Why would you be a good asset to our company?” And also questions about how I would deal with certain situations. How I would deal with confrontations with co-workers and what not.
Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain.
Yes, I went through training for each different area I worked in for at least a month before I was put on my own. I felt very comfortable with each job I was asked to do after I completed my training.
Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
The training depended on which area of the department I worked in. I had training on how to make IV’s, how to make enterals, how to fill prescriptions, how to bill patients.
Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain.
Yes, I had a very good math history from high school and college, so I could pretty much handle any math problem. But my science background was a little shaky, so I didn’t feel as comfortable.
If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare for your job?
n/a
If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
I would recommend that they take the pharmacy technician certification test, otherwise they would not even look at the application.
What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours?
To do my job someone would have to have good math skills, multitasker, and a people person.
Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
At least a high school diploma, associates in the math/science field would be preferred.
What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
Take your time and do a thorough job on everything that comes your way.
Long-term career plans
Is your current employment part of your overall career plan? Why or why not?
Yes, it is part of my career plan, I plan on going to pharmacy school to become a pharmacist within the next five years. So this is all great experience, I learn more and more with each passing day.
What are your current career goals?
To go to pharmacy school and become a clinical pharmacist.
Is there anything else you would like to share about your career?
n/a
Educational background
Please list your educational background:
High School GPA:3
| GPA | School | Degree | |
| College (Undergraduate) or Technical/Vocational |
3 | Grand Rapids Community College | Math |
| Graduate or Professional (Masters or Doctorate) |
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