How to Hire a Pharmacy Technician

Why hire a pharmacy technician?

A great pharmacy technician hire can help your business:

• Increase the number of prescriptions you can fill and the number of patients you can attend to
• Provide excellent customer service to patients
• Increase the overall sales of your business

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance pharmacy technician

Pharmacies can hire freelance pharmacy technicians remotely to perform online duties for the role, including tracking patient records, processing insurance claims and ordering prescriptions. They can also employ freelance techs to come in and cover for full-time techs who need to take time off. 

Freelance pharmacy techs can provide support to pharmacists while they’re searching for a full-time hire to fill the position. Additionally, small pharmacies that have a full-time tech may hire freelancers to assist on days when there’s more work than normal.

Most pharmacies have at least one full-time pharmacy technician on their payroll. 

What are the types of pharmacy technicians?

There are a few types of pharmacy technicians who operate in different kinds of pharmacies. These positions include:

• Retail pharmacy technician: Retail pharmacy techs are the most common type. They work in pharmacies inside stores and are responsible for responding to customer concerns and locating prescriptions. 
• Closed-door pharmacy technician: A closed-door pharmacy technician works in a pharmacy that isn’t open to the public. These types of pharmacists typically prepare medications for long-term care facilities and prisons. 
• Compound pharmacy technician: Compound pharmacy technicians help supply patients with atypical medications for diseases that don’t respond to orthodox treatments. These prescription medications are often handmade and unavailable at retail pharmacies. 
• Hospital pharmacy technician: Hospital pharmacy techs help provide medication for hospital patients. They can be responsible for preparing and delivering the prescription. 
• Pharmacy benefit manager: Pharmacy techs can advance to pharmacy benefit managers, who are responsible for overseeing the processing and payment of prescription drugs to a third party. 

Where to find pharmacy technicians

To find the right pharmacy technician for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Post flyers. Hanging up help wanted flyers is often an effective method for bringing in a few potential candidates.
• Network. Ask other pharmacists in the area if they have any leads about techs who are looking for work. 
• Use a recruitment agency. Recruitment agencies are often able to provide you with several candidates for your open position within a short period of time. 
• Hire from within. Conduct interviews with other employees in the business, such as cashiers, to determine if they’d be interested in training for a pharmacy technician position. 
• Post your job online. Try posting your pharmacy technician job on Indeed to find and attract quality pharmacy technician candidates.

What are the types of pharmacy technicians?

There are a few types of pharmacy technicians who operate in different kinds of pharmacies. These positions include:

• Retail pharmacy technician: Retail pharmacy techs are the most common type. They work in pharmacies inside stores and are responsible for responding to customer concerns and locating prescriptions. 
• Closed-door pharmacy technician: A closed-door pharmacy technician works in a pharmacy that isn’t open to the public. These types of pharmacists typically prepare medications for long-term care facilities and prisons. 
• Compound pharmacy technician: Compound pharmacy technicians help supply patients with atypical medications for diseases that don’t respond to orthodox treatments. These prescription medications are often handmade and unavailable at retail pharmacies. 
• Hospital pharmacy technician: Hospital pharmacy techs help provide medication for hospital patients. They can be responsible for preparing and delivering the prescription. 
• Pharmacy benefit manager: Pharmacy techs can advance to pharmacy benefit managers, who are responsible for overseeing the processing and payment of prescription drugs to a third party. 

Writing a pharmacy technician job description

A thoughtful description is important to finding qualified pharmacy technician candidates. A pharmacy technician job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your pharmacy technician job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on pharmacy technician jobs, according to Indeed data:

• Pharmacy technician
• Pharmacy
• Pharmacy tech
• Certified pharmacy technician
• Healthcare
• Medical
• Teen
• Hospital pharmacy technician
• Remote pharmacy technician

Interviewing pharmacy technician candidates

Strong candidates for pharmacy technician positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• Drug interactions
• How to deal with controlled substances
• How to interact with customers

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of pharmacy technician interview questions for examples (with sample answers).