Pharmacy tech school?

[maria1oh]

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I have a potential job app from someone who has no work experience but graduated from a tech school. Her preceptors gave decent recommendations. Any one know what is taught in these schools? Does it prepare you for retail?

 

[Rukn]

You should know only experience prepares you for retail

 

[Dr Wario]

I have a potential job app from someone who has no work experience but graduated from a tech school. Her preceptors gave decent recommendations. Any one know what is taught in these schools? Does it prepare you for retail?

The only thing I feel when I see this on an application is pity for all that money and time wasted.

 

[trailerpark]

I worked a rotation with a tech who spent 11k on a tech school and she told me she didn't know you could get a job without it and she was already looking for a job outside of CVS because she hated it. I felt so bad for her. People are naive but she still should have asked around and looked into it more and maybe that tech school wouldn't have had the opportunity to screw her over.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[Apotheker2015]

I have a potential job app from someone who has no work experience but graduated from a tech school. Her preceptors gave decent recommendations. Any one know what is taught in these schools? Does it prepare you for retail?

Tough one. HOWEVER, in the spirit of fairness, she will probably be more useful than I was a technician during my first year of pharmacy school before I got my intern license the summer before second year started. I had zero pharmacy experience when I got into pharmacy school. Never even shadowed a pharmacist. No one takes medications in my family. Thus, before applying to pharmacy school I did not really have a working knowledge of drugs. I admit it. LOL, I did not know what Lisinopril was. Of course, I learned fast but the first couple of weeks most people wanted to smack me. I'm just really nice so they didn't.

Here is a link to the curriculum of a pharmacy technician certificate program. http://www.aacc.edu/pharmtech/rxn_curriculum.cfm

I am always all for the underdog. I would say that at least your applicant has gone through calculations relevant to pharmacy techs and it looks like they get familiar with pharmacy laws, too. I would not say that she has no work experience. While it is true that she has no "paid" work experience, she did a practicum. I think they call them "externships". So she does have experience. On the upside, it's her first job and she will likely be eager beaver and in her best behavior.

Look at it this way. This is someone you can mold and comes with no bad habits, mostly because she has no habits. I see that as a very good thing. Make her your "mini-me". Why not? I can't tell you how many times I have seen technicians who have a plethora of experience who end up being a complete pain in the *ss because they believe they are basically pharmacists or come with bad habits and try to argue with you, etc. I'd say give her chance. Like I said, she'll be loyal just because you gave her a job even though she will likely get paid peanuts. She won't leave as fast as a more experienced tech would if they see a better prospect. She has likely been told about professional behavior and won't lack decorum. Last but not least, statistically, it will be years before she thinks of attempting to divert any controlled substances. JUST SAYING...

That's my humble two cents.

 

[catalyzt]

I interviewed a girl for a tech position that graduated from a tech school - had her certificate with her to prove it - and she showed up wearing an old untucked t-shirt and her hair was clearly not done. She looked like she had just woke up 30 minutes prior and maybe so because this was a morning interview, if that tells you anything.

 

[Apotheker2015]

I interviewed a girl for a tech position that graduated from a tech school - had her certificate with her to prove it - and she showed up wearing an old untucked t-shirt and her hair was clearly not done. She looked like she had just woke up 30 minutes prior and maybe so because this was a morning interview, if that tells you anything.

LOL, I believe you. I was just playing devil's advocate.

 

[sosoo]

since they have basic knowledge, they will pick up fast. they understand sig codes......... they're familiar with top selling drugs....... . anyone else without experience will bombard u questions after questions for a year before they can work independently.

 

[Michael_Scott]

these schools really go overboard and teach a lot....I would say she is more prepared than your avg pharm tech who goes and takes the exam without attending a tech school.
as above poster said, only experience prepares one for retail..

 

[Sine Cura]

Paying to go to tech school indicates poor judgment but as other people said at least there theoretically is a baseline of knowledge. Unfortunately you are either hiring noobs or scraping the bottom of the barrel most of the time when it comes to hiring techs for retail. An eventually good tech without prior tech school or retail experience does not need a year to learn everything and does not repeat the same ******* mistakes over and over, and picks things up fast. By "everything" I mean inventory management, knowing the basics of what's covered, entering what is on the shelf, knowing when and how to do TARs (in California), touch typing rather than typing with two fingers, knowing how to calculate x days early for controls, understanding that it's better to get **** done than move like a sloth, etc. But good techs tend to be a little more ambitious and find a way to escape chain retail (like Kaiser or PBM). Non-ambitious techs have no prospects so you settle for average or terminate them for performance eventually (which takes a while because you have to follow the process to make it stick) or compliance reasons.

If they do need a year they aren't worth keeping but again back to the bottom of the barrel

 

[lord999]

Paying to go to tech school indicates poor judgment but as other people said at least there theoretically is a baseline of knowledge. Unfortunately you are either hiring noobs or scraping the bottom of the barrel most of the time when it comes to hiring techs for retail. An eventually good tech without prior tech school or retail experience does not need a year to learn everything and does not repeat the same ******* mistakes over and over, and picks things up fast. By "everything" I mean inventory management, knowing the basics of what's covered, entering what is on the shelf, knowing when and how to do TARs (in California), touch typing rather than typing with two fingers, knowing how to calculate x days early for controls, understanding that it's better to get **** done than move like a sloth, etc. But good techs tend to be a little more ambitious and find a way to escape chain retail (like Kaiser or PBM). Non-ambitious techs have no prospects so you settle for average or terminate them for performance eventually (which takes a while because you have to follow the process to make it stick) or compliance reasons.

If they do need a year they aren't worth keeping but again back to the bottom of the barrel

(Tongue-in-cheek) You realize that if you adjusted the wording a little, you could say the same for all post-license education in pharmacists 🙂. Pharmacy residents pay in opportunity costs easily $80-100k, and for what, a certificate on the wall that a pharmacist can easily achieve with paid status after three years worth of work in most typical cases?

For some people, tech school works great (and the local CC will teach you for a bargain $2.5k) especially if your pharmaceutical calculations are deficient. Remember, these are current high school graduates, basic arithmetic can't be assumed at least in the state I live in.

"Hire for character, train for excellence" should always be one of the priorities in any hire. With this applicant, can you see that applicant fitting in at your place? Did he or she seem quick enough on the draw that you can see him or her dealing with a screaming patient? A huge line? Loyal enough to stick around considering the investment that you all will make in that applicant? Smart enough to be task independent without subverting the law?

Remember that credentials are merely that. They are signals that you can refer to without any background information on the person. A degree, other experience, length of employment are signals to me and anyone who bothers to look on the applicant's past behavior. That should be combined with the interview and what you can find out from people you trust. Honestly, when I hired techs and pharmacists, I really relied on the grapevine rather than try for people off the street. Yes, it's unfair that networks basically give a huge advantage over individuals, but you know, firing techs and pharmacists is a huge PITA that I don't want to go through.

No amount of credentialing will overcome a deficient employee, but I can force the credentials through the board in the tech case on an excellent employee. For pharmacists, even the best employees have to possess a modicum of credentialing and character to be even considered. What those signals are depends on the market, the Bay Area has higher standards than the rest of CA, and CA has higher general standards than the rest of the country.

To the OP, without work experience, the question can be reframed as: Without work experience, do I trust this applicant from the interview and from her schooling from what I know of tech schooling to hire her? Maybe, that's a judgment call on your part. But even with the schooling, I tend to worry much more on my opinion of her capability to work than any signals in the past as techs are expendable and fairly replaceable (sorry to former and current techs, I was one myself, but that's just the way it is). For that paycheck, will she do the work required in a way that you won't have to clean up afterwards on your paycheck?

As for the famous pharmacist-technician version of the Genji plan or My Fair Lady, yes, that's a right solid way of doing that too, but it a high risk to high reward sort of venture. And really, are we that pathetic?

 

[ldiot]

I have a potential job app from someone who has no work experience but graduated from a tech school. Her preceptors gave decent recommendations. Any one know what is taught in these schools? Does it prepare you for retail?

Tech school in a state that doesn't even require any certifications = stupid. The person got scammed and probably isn't very smart. I've met 2 people who went to tech school and both were nice people but also idiots and slow techs that couldn't do anything more than run the register.

 

[BidingMyTime]

Completely anecdotal, but the few techs I've worked with who graduated tech school, were definitely sub par compared to techs hired off the street. I have no doubt there are exceptions, but generally speaking, people paying to get "formally" educated, for a job that does not require "formal" education, lack certain quick-thinking intellectual skills that are needed in pharmacy.

That said, I wouldn't discount someone just because they went to tech school, but I wouldn't give it much weight over someone who didn't.

 

[mentos]

Who's the bigger sucker, a tech who paid for tech school or all the P1s paying for pharmacy school now?

 

[ldiot]

Who's the bigger sucker, a tech who paid for tech school or all the P1s paying for pharmacy school now?

Nobody will argue that going into pharmacy school now is as bad of an idea as it's ever been but these tech people are paying money and spending time in order to get a job that:

a) Pays minimum wage
b) Is twice as much work as other minimum wage jobs
c) Doesn't even require the education to get the job
d) In a majority of cases isn't even full time work

That's just insane. People are doing this in states that require no education or certification other than a highschool education!!! You could skip the classes and just take the test to get the certification but even that is a waste of time because the certification is literally useless!

Nobody would go to a tech school knowing all this but a lot of people just aren't that bright or are too lazy to do their homework. For me personally it's hard to feel bad for them. I wouldn't necessairly hold it against someone in terms of hiring but all the managers I've seen in this situation have preferred people with real experience without question over someone with a certification.