Hospital pharmacy tech job a mission impossible??? Please help!!

[uncinmyheart]

I hope you guys can help me out here. I would really really like to work part-time at a hospital as a pharmacy tech. I've applied to 2 hospitals here months ago, where they had several job openings, but I haven't heard anything! I tried following up with them once, but they told me that they would call me if I was selected. I currently work at Rite-Aid pharmacy as a certified pharmacy tech, and I already have 2.5 years experience under my belt, but I really want to try hospital pharmacy. Is there something I'm not doing right??? Is it that hard to get a job at a hospital?? How do I get in?? If anyone has any insight, please help!!

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[fiorio]

not everybody is so lucky that get a HIGH pay hospital pharm tech job with so much LESS work than retail.

 

[NateAZSD]

not everybody is so lucky that get a HIGH pay hospital pharm tech job with so much LESS work than retail.

Very true! I do feel like I work a lot less and get paid a lot more than when I worked retail; man it was like a sweat shop! But I know at my work we are desperate for techs. I would suggest talking to the HR department at whatever hospital you are applying to (OP).

 

[FLPharm2Be]

I volunteered at the hospital where I am a tech now. This helped me, it could help you.

 

[uncinmyheart]

So Nate, you work at a hospital? Did you just apply and then get a call for an interview, or did you have to fight for the position?

 

[uncinmyheart]

I volunteered at the hospital where I am a tech now. This helped me, it could help you.

Yeah, I've gotten the same advice from my friend. I think if I don't hear anything by the end of April, I'm gonna volunteer at the hospital in order to get a job position there. It'll probably be a smoother transition that way.

 

[uncinmyheart]

not everybody is so lucky that get a HIGH pay hospital pharm tech job with so much LESS work than retail.

so are you saying that the people who get a job at a hospital (and of course get paid much better than retail) just "lucky" ?

 

[kismet]

I live in CA and the Kaiser hospitals out here have both "inpatient" and "outpatient" sides... most technicians start on the "outpatient" side (especially if they have no inpatient experience) but then when an inpatient job opens up they will hire from within before they will hire from outside. Kaiser is a CA chain but check out the hospitals in your area, they may do the same type of thing.

Volunteering may help but not all sites will accept volunteers for a variety of reasons: liability, workload, staffing, etc. - my hospital doesn't take technician volunteers because we are too small (and hence have a small staff and are too busy to train) and our sister hospitals the next town over won't take volunteers because they are taking technician students who are doing their externships.

There are "certifications" you can get in addition to your CPhT.. I don't have much info about them (and I honestly think they're BS) but I remember when I was in tech school our teacher said there are IV certifications.. it's a qualification that could help you stand out even without experience. Also there's a whole new world of drugs in the hospital.. if you can demonstrate some knowledge of them it might help in an interview to make you stand out, too.

My worst hospital day is no where near my best retail day, but it's not an "easy" job; doctors are still doctors and nurses can drive you crazy and there are never enough hours in the day... it's just different. 🙂 I may not have to deal with insurance companies, but we still have technology (Pyxis and an order-entry system) and technology ALWAYS breaks. @fiorio: I didn't get my position (and pay) by luck, it's skill. I'm not saying that retail techs aren't skilled, but they have a different skill set. The challenge in moving from retail to hospital (for both pharmacists and technicians) is the new skill set; no employer wants to hire someone with zero experience, but the catch-22 is that you can't get the experience without the job..

 

[NateAZSD]

So Nate, you work at a hospital? Did you just apply and then get a call for an interview, or did you have to fight for the position?

Yes I work at an inpatient pharmacy. I have been at my present job for about 3yrs. Before that I was working retail at OSCO, which was recently bought out by CVS. I was really frustrated with the whole retail gig, so I decided to apply for a hospital job. Like you probably already know, pretty much all applications are done online now, so there was not really a chance for me to meet the management after turning in my app. After about 3 months or so of waiting I got a call from an Hr rep who set me up with an interview. Since then life has been great...no insurance, and best of all, no disgruntled costumers...and of course much better pay.

 

[lozthegreat]

I also got my position by volunteering. Ask if there is any PRN student-tech positions. (Usually over summers only, but I work Saturdays during school, so anything is possible). The pay is pretty good but the best part about being a hospital tech... a 30 minute breakfast break and a 30 minute lunch break (both on the clock), which isn't too bad considering an 8 hr work day.

 

[fiorio]

so are you saying that the people who get a job at a hospital (and of course get paid much better than retail) just "lucky" ?

You are putting Words into MY Mouth and PLEASE do not do that.


There are more retail opportunities than Hospital opportunities, so hospital tech job is more difficult to get. They usually have much lower turn over rate which makes it even harder.
Hospital usually receive a lot of applications and they really prefer full time (so they only need to train one full time person rather than several part time people). But if you really want to work in a hospital, maybe applying 2 hospital is not enough, apply more than that.

When I said "lucky", based on a few people I know.
At hospital: if you work at inpatient pharmacy (where you make IV etc), no insurance, you just fill prescriptions, Pharmacists are the ones that can only talk to doctor's phone calls(so they work like hell and you can't help it), don't need to deal with customers, much higher pay than retail, better benefits.

My perception is very limited and I can only say this happen in the city I live at. I'm sure some place else are different.

 

[PharmDstudent]

I've done both- retail and hospital. I had to "know" someone to get hired even though the turn-over rate where I worked was pretty bad. If I were you, I would contact the HR personnel. They do most of the hiring.

I've thought about going back to being a hospital student/tech, but I don't really want to right now. If I could find the right hospital where I wouldn't have to push around a heavy, over-loaded cart full of IV scripts or fill the Pyxis machine until my back breaks, I would consider dabbling in retail and hospital.
I need the freedom of retail; I can take scripts over the phone, counsel a little bit, and type scripts.

The only thing I miss about hospital pharmacy is the IV medication. Besides Lovenox, Epipens, and the birth control shot, we don't fill IV medications where I work.

 

[anteater11]

hi kismet,
so do you work at kaiser? and they do not take in volunteer? really? Cause I am thinking about volunteer at kaiser...🙁

 

[kismet]

hi kismet,
so do you work at kaiser? and they do not take in volunteer? really? Cause I am thinking about volunteer at kaiser...🙁

No, sorry, I don't work at Kaiser, I'm just sharing some of their hiring practices that their recruiters have shared with me. I don't know about their volunteer practices.

 

[Manque26]

I hope you guys can help me out here. I would really really like to work part-time at a hospital as a pharmacy tech. I've applied to 2 hospitals here months ago, where they had several job openings, but I haven't heard anything! I tried following up with them once, but they told me that they would call me if I was selected. I currently work at Rite-Aid pharmacy as a certified pharmacy tech, and I already have 2.5 years experience under my belt, but I really want to try hospital pharmacy. Is there something I'm not doing right??? Is it that hard to get a job at a hospital?? How do I get in?? If anyone has any insight, please help!!

When I applied to hospital from retail, I called the hospital constantly to get my status..I eventually got the job, but HR at my hospital takes forever to process things...but if I were you I would bother them at least once a week

 

[k0ni]

I'm another one who got their hospital job by volunteering. 🙂 It's definitely worth a try. I had no pharmacy experience other than volunteering.

 

[uncinmyheart]

You are putting Words into MY Mouth and PLEASE do not do that.


There are more retail opportunities than Hospital opportunities, so hospital tech job is more difficult to get. They usually have much lower turn over rate which makes it even harder.
Hospital usually receive a lot of applications and they really prefer full time (so they only need to train one full time person rather than several part time people). But if you really want to work in a hospital, maybe applying 2 hospital is not enough, apply more than that.

When I said "lucky", based on a few people I know.
At hospital: if you work at inpatient pharmacy (where you make IV etc), no insurance, you just fill prescriptions, Pharmacists are the ones that can only talk to doctor's phone calls(so they work like hell and you can't help it), don't need to deal with customers, much higher pay than retail, better benefits.

My perception is very limited and I can only say this happen in the city I live at. I'm sure some place else are different.

woah, it doesn't take much to tick you off does it? lol Chill out, I'm not out to get you. Your earlier comment just made it seem like luck is all what gets you a job at a hospital and if that was the case, my next question was where can I get some 'cos there's a lot of "lucky" people on this board! lol😀 but thanks for your input, I really appreciate it. I guess you do need a little bit of luck though to get it 'cos it's so hard!
I definitely agree with you on there being more retail opportunities than hospital, and getting a job in the latter is a lot more difficult (I've been trying for like, the past 6 months). I can only do part-time 'cos I'm a full-time student, but I did notice they have more full-time positions than part-time, which makes sense. I just want to get out of retail 'cos i'm soooo sick of it, and i wanna try my hands on hospital pharmacy (or any kind of pharmacy really). i just didn't know it was that tough.

 

[uncinmyheart]

When I applied to hospital from retail, I called the hospital constantly to get my status..I eventually got the job, but HR at my hospital takes forever to process things...but if I were you I would bother them at least once a week

Awesome! Thanks for the tip!🙂

 

[uncinmyheart]

I've done both- retail and hospital. I had to "know" someone to get hired even though the turn-over rate where I worked was pretty bad. If I were you, I would contact the HR personnel. They do most of the hiring.

I've thought about going back to being a hospital student/tech, but I don't really want to right now. If I could find the right hospital where I wouldn't have to push around a heavy, over-loaded cart full of IV scripts or fill the Pyxis machine until my back breaks, I would consider dabbling in retail and hospital.
I need the freedom of retail; I can take scripts over the phone, counsel a little bit, and type scripts.

The only thing I miss about hospital pharmacy is the IV medication. Besides Lovenox, Epipens, and the birth control shot, we don't fill IV medications where I work.

interesting..thanks for the input! 🙂
i've heard hospital pharmacy is a completely different kind of work and environment than retail, but right now, i'm sooo sick of working retail, i'm ready to try anything new. I admit, i do have a lot of freedom where i work, but it's getting to the point where it's just become soo repetitive and boring and tedious (and the pay reeeally sucks!!👎), and i wanna try something different.Plus i wanna get exposure to the whole pharmacy working field 'cos there's no way i'm doing retail once i'm a pharmacist! 😱.

where do you work?

 

[WestTXisGr8]

I hope you guys can help me out here. I would really really like to work part-time at a hospital as a pharmacy tech. I've applied to 2 hospitals here months ago, where they had several job openings, but I haven't heard anything! I tried following up with them once, but they told me that they would call me if I was selected. I currently work at Rite-Aid pharmacy as a certified pharmacy tech, and I already have 2.5 years experience under my belt, but I really want to try hospital pharmacy. Is there something I'm not doing right??? Is it that hard to get a job at a hospital?? How do I get in?? If anyone has any insight, please help!!

My suggestion is get the name of the Director of Pharmacy and talk directly to him/her. Human Resources doesn't hire you, typically it's the decision of the DOP. At least that's how it is at the hospital I work for. HR may do the background check, etc. But they do that AFTER the Pharmacy Dept. has hired you.

I had a friend also who was wanting to work at the same hospital as a Nurse's Aide. He filled out the application, talked to HR, called them every few days, and weeks later he still didn't have a job. I told him I'd see what I could do, I talked to a head person on the Nurse's floor and recommended they interview him. Next day he was interviewed and had a job.

So go to the person in charge of the department, not HR. At least that's my advice.

-----------------------------------------
"My 2 cents worth...and priced just right!"

 

[mrblah]

I worked for Kaiser for 3 years. They usually do not hire techs from the outside, unless you know someone who will vouch for you. They like to "promote from within" meaning apply for a pharmacy assistant job and hope you get noticed. You have a higher chance of being hired as a Pharm. assistant than as a technician. They also have their own tech training course, so its more efficient for them to hire assistants and train them to be techs. (even if you are a certified tech, they will still hire you as a assistant, and send you to that training course...aw the kaiser way of life).

Volunteering to work at a kaiser hospital will not land you a job in pharmacy. The culture is different, and both in/outpatient kaiser Rx's are well insulated from the regular hospital culture.

Kaiser pays well both inpatient and outpatient technicians if you do land a job with them.

I don't think I can ever go back to being a technician. I have alot of respect for what you do, but after 10 years of being a tech, it has left a bitter taste in my mouth.... Get out of it while you can. Go work as a tech for the experience, and get out. You don't want to become a "lifer"..... (term for being stuck at a deadend job w/ no upward mobility or pay).

BTW, Walgreens also pays well if you are promoted to "senior tech" but prepare to give up your life for 18.75 per hour (socal).

 

[RxShazzie]

i would say volunteering is the best way. that way you get the inside scoop from other techs when they're looking for new positions. you also get to know the pharmacy manager and build a relationship. this is what i'm doing and i've already been talking to the manager about moving up from a volunteer to an on-call tech. it's not much, but it's a job.

 

[uncinmyheart]

i would say volunteering is the best way. that way you get the inside scoop from other techs when they're looking for new positions. you also get to know the pharmacy manager and build a relationship. this is what i'm doing and i've already been talking to the manager about moving up from a volunteer to an on-call tech. it's not much, but it's a job.

Thanks for the tip! I'm definitely going to try that route. I am going to apply to volunteer at a hospital this summer, and hopefully from there build some contacts, and then land a pharm. tech position. we'll see!