Pharmacy Technician Salary: Improving Your Market Value

Pharmacy Technician Salary: Improving Your Market Value



If you are looking for a career with a good pay, becoming a pharmacy technician may just be the right choice for you. Pharmacy technician salary is among the best in the healthcare field considering the small amount of time you need to spend in education and training. But in order to be worthy of a higher salary threshold, you need to make sure your credentials look impressive.

According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average pharmacy technician salary is $14.10 per hour and $29,300 per year. If you're wondering which industries pay pharmacy technicians the most, these are the Federal Executive Branch, Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services, and Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools.

A higher pharmacy technician salary can be expected by those who have acquired certification from the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) or the Institute for the Certification of Pharmacy Technicians (ICPT). It is also not uncommon for employers to prefer hiring pharmacy technicians that have acquired ICPT or PTCB certification. Certification greatly enhances the job prospects of a pharmacy tech.

Your pharmacy technician salary can also be dictated by your educational background. In becoming a pharmacy tech, there is really no formal education requirements, but since this career can be very competitive, those who have acquired formal education are usually preferred by more employers and they also have a better chance of getting higher pay as well.

As with other careers, pharmacy technician salary can also improve with additional training and work experience. And although there is not much room for advancement for pharmacy techs, they can still be given supervisory or specialty positions. Some pharmacy techs may also choose to pursue a higher level of training in order to become a licensed pharmacist.

You can also expect to be given a higher pharmacy technician salary if you can manage to apply in well-known pharmaceutical companies or firms. This requires that you have a very impressive educational background and other credentials that will prove your worthiness in their company. Another way of improving your credentials is by constantly getting recertified every 2 years as a
pharmacy tech.