Like any career, there are benefits and drawbacks to working as a pharmacy technician. It can be hectic and stressful, but there’s satisfaction in helping people. Consider the following pros and cons: Potential Benefits
You’re helping people. If you’ve ever been sick, you know how important it is to get your medication and trust that it’s correct. As a pharmacy technician, you’re the one providing relief and helping people save time and money. It can definitely be satisfying to build relationships with regular customers.
It doesn’t require higher education. Most of the skills and knowledge pharmacy technicians need is learned on the job. Certification is important to get started and prepare you for a career, but once you’re ready, you’ll improve through experience.
No two days are the same. Pharmacies and hospitals see a lot of people with various needs. Pharmacy technicians have different tasks each day, speak with a wide range of people, and constantly learn new things. Potential Drawbacks
The role has a slow job growth. The BLS predicts a 4% job growth rate for pharmacy technicians, which is significantly lower than the U.S. average of 8%. It may be hard to find work without a steady stream of new jobs in the field.
There is a low satisfaction rate among employees. Pharmacy technicians rate their job satisfaction as 2.8 out of 5 stars, according to a recent survey. This puts them in the bottom 15% of all U.S. careers.
This career reportedly causes high stress. CareerExplorer interviewed over 6,000 pharmacy technicians to determine how stressful their jobs were. Nearly all of them ranked it as a high stress profession.