It's an avenue of employment that I'm considering, but I don't know a whole lot about it. I've been lead to believe that the starting pay in a retail pharmacy is pretty crappy, but once you get in with hospitals and clinics, it turns into a decent job. Can anybody weigh in on this?

My wife has been one for years and now makes really good money. It starts off above minimum wage, 40 hours is hard to come by, it's retail

DO NOT PAY FOR ANY TRAINING OR CERTS. Every company will pay for yuo to get certified.

Here's the Pharmacy Tech program at the Applied Technology College:  http://dxatc.edu/pharmacy.php

My wife is a pharmacist in retail. She told me that techs get barely above minimum wage, but being Nationally Certified gets you a little more. DO NOT pay for the training - any pharmacy worth a crap will hire you as a regular tech and help you get certified...you just have to study and take the test.

I'm a pharmacy intern (currently in pharmacy school) and i used to work as a tech. Starting pay isn't great in retail pharmacies, but it isn't always minimum wage. I started at $10.05/hr with Walmart. Like you said pay does get better in hospitals, but still don't expect to be making $20/hr. When it comes to certification, what you need to do will vary state to state. In Indiana, you can start without your tech license and your employer can get you a tech in training license until you are able to take the exam for the actual tech license. You will be more competitive for jobs if you are PTCB certified going in though, and personally I'd recommend you do it. The test is pretty easy, and costs like $125 to take. I studied for it using the Mosby's PCTB guide (on amazon.com) and breezed though the test, it's not a big deal. You should know that working in retail requires a certain personality. Customers will yell at you on a daily basis, you will be expected to multitask, and it is very fast-paced (at least at the stores I've worked in). You will need to be able to handle stress well. On the plus side, the day flies by because you are so busy.

My wife got her training through the hospital (about 20 years back).    You can make a good bit more than minimum wage with some training and if you have IV (and Chemotherapy...nobody likes doing that, and if you might get pregnant, you can't do it) experience vs. just counting pills for a retail pharmacy.    Pay around here is about $10 to $13/hr more or less (Allentown, PA area).    

AFARR

At my last pharmacy all of the pharm techs were Filipinos.  I think they had some kinda deal similar to the visiting nurses program, only they imported shitty pharm techs that could fuck up a z-pack script.

The hospital I work at the Pharm Techs start at $13/hr that is fresh off the street and they train you.

Just wanted to make sure the op saw that.  And yes, you'll want to get into a hospital job if you want to make any money.  Even then it's not that great.  I currently work part time at a small retail pharmacy.  The owner only has 8 stores around this part of the state so I don't have any of the pressure the big chains do.  It's not a bad job for some spending money in college.  Even at 40 hours per week it would be hard to make a living off of being a pharmacy tech at a retail store.  We have some pretty interesting customers though.

What can you tell me about the test? (Where do you take it? Is it something one could study for in a week or two? etc...)

 

Been one for over five years.

Work at a hospital inpatient pharmacy.  It's in a college town, so pay isn't that competitive.  

I've never done retail and with the horror stories I hear from other techs/pharmacists that have, I've got no inclination to try.

The PTCB test is pretty easy; when I took it I recall thinking that anyone with a high school diploma wouldn't have much trouble passing the test.  Working for a few weeks in a pharmacy would help, especially a hospital pharmacy.  It did for me.  If you can't work maybe try volunteering.  I recall needing to know which meds required refrigeration on the test.  

Looking at some pay charts online, entry level is $19,000 to 23,000.  Median is $28000.  Mean is $29,000.  And top 10% make $40,000.

I worked as a tech for 5 years as a second job in college.  Its not what I would call a difficult job and its also pretty boring.  Stay away from script farms, they will work you to death.

I have been a tech for the past 9 yrs. Now I am in school taking pre-pharmacy courses

Go PharmD or don't bother.

The only other route that will pay well would be a rep for a major maker, Pfizer, Merck, etc...

You must of had an easy pharmacy.

This is the truth. I maintain between 30 to 40 hours per week for a big retail chain. We have some of the coolest customers, and some of the craziest rudest people I've ever met.

Just do not fall for that technical school BS they show commercials for. not needed.

Go to ptcb.org and review their practice tests. It will be on par with the actual national exam

You know it's bad when the tech can't count to 1

(non-practicing pharmacist here)

I was a sales rep for many years for Wyeth Laboratories (merged with Pfizer about 2 yrs. ago).  These jobs require at  least a  4 yr. college degree and are extremely difficult to land.

The money is pretty good but they are very  high stress positions with a district manager and regional manager  always firmly  up your ass.   Also,  if you go this route plan on working at least 60 hrs. a week.

Good luck with your quest OP.  

Certification is through these folks:  https://www.ptcb.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home1

There is a link on their site to search for testing centers in your area.  Study guides, classes, etc are available.  Its not an especially difficult test, but unless you have worked in a health profession you will need to read up on the material a little.  Once certified you have to do some continuing education to maintain certification/renew it, but there is a lot of that available for free on the Internet.  I think the test is offered weekly in my area, but I don't know how long the turnaround time is to get the results back.

Best advice I can give is to try and get a job somewhere, anywhere and get some experience.  Once there, ask and see if they will pay for certification.  I am a preceptor for a couple of pharmacy tech schools in my area, and honestly I am not overly impressed with the knowledge base of most of the students I see.  Generally they have a decent grasp of theory, but I end up doing a lot of work showing them the practical application of it (pharmacy math in particular).  Some are just dirt stupid.  The type of stuff they learn in a 2-year tech program can be learned in a few months of on the job experience.

Salaries will vary greatly depending on the employment setting.  Locally, I have seen a range between $7.xx/hr and $15.xx/hr plus, depending on experience.  The average seems to run around $11-$14/hr.  The higher paying positions tend to be hospital (especially for IV tech, chemo tech, etc) or independent retail doing stuff like compounding.

My wife was a pharmacy tech at Wal-Mart for a few years and made $16 an hour. Not bad for a part time job while in school! Another example of how Wal-Mart does pay better then most in the retail industry.

I know a girl who is a pharm tech. She works at a prescription fulfillment place that packages daily doses for people who are in retirement communities, nursing homes and other such facilities. The company provides personalized little packs for each person, and each pack has a label that states what's in it, when the person is supposed to take it, if they take it with food, and other pertinent information. She's in QA/QC there, and makes a very good living doing it. She was in a grocery store pharmacy before, and she says this current job is a dream compared to retail. Fixed hours, sterile, professional environment, no hassles.

fWIW - talk to folks in your State as the pay, certifications and responsibilities vary state to state.