1. Resume Examples
  2. Pharmacy Technician
Written by Susan ShorSusan Shor

Pharmacy Technician Resume Example & Writing Guide

You’re trained in handling prescription medications and assisting pharmacists in maintaining complete and accurate records. Now you want to show off your trustworthiness in a pharmacy technician resume that will land you your next job. You’re in the right place to find out how!
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Pharmacy Technician Resume Example & Writing Guide
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Pharmacy technicians must be alert and focused at all times. There’s no leeway for mistakes when dispensing medication. Your pharmacy technician resumes must highlight your attention to detail and your trustworthiness, while making the case for your employment.

This guide, along with the corresponding resume examples will help you to:

  • Highlight the qualities that make you an excellent pharmacy technician
  • Help you pass the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) test
  • Turn your employment history section into a story of success
  • Make a professional first impression.

Let’s take a look at the job outlook and professional role before we delve into the pharmacy technician resume example.

What does a pharmacy technician do? 

What exactly does a pharmacy technician do? According to the General Pharmaceutical Council, pharmacy technicians have six main responsibilities:

  1. Supply medicine to patients
  2. Put together prescriptions
  3. Provide information to both healthcare providers and patients
  4. Manage dispensaries and other areas where medicine is stored
  5. Supervise staff
  6. Produce medicine in hospitals and in the pharmaceutical industry.

Healthcare is a high-growth industry and being a pharmacy technician can give you an insight into whether this is the right path for you. Being a pharmacy technician has some major positives. You may be able to work flexible hours since you are in a health care profession where people need access to medicine outside normal business hours. But this career can be stressful, too, with its high demand for extreme attention to detail and strict adherence to HIPAA (the health insurance portability and accountability act) privacy regulations. Add to that, the administration of COVID vaccines at your workplace, and you may feel even more pressure.

Your job as a pharmacy technician is getting more complex as medication reconciliation and other regulations change and become more exacting and complicated. If you are at the entry-level, you will learn on the job after your certification. That means, you can start working soon after high school if you are ready to enter the workforce. If you are already working as a pharmacy tech, you may choose to specialize to advance your career.

Statistical insight

The bad news is that CareerExplorer puts job satisfaction for pharmacy technicians in the bottom 15 percent of all careers.

The good news is that there are many different environments for you to choose from, so you can find the right balance in your life depending on what is important to you. This job has been evolving, too, so now you may discover that you have more autonomy and much more potential for career growth and advancement.

Your career as a pharmacy technician can change over time, giving you the chance to refresh your outlook on your career. You don’t have to stay within one setting and you may find that you have a desire to learn new skills. You may shift from a role focused on patient care to one in a laboratory, for example. Pharmacy technicians have several different opportunities to specialize that may increase your desirability in the eyes of recruiters. 

You may focus on one of the following to add to your skill-set:

  • Compounding (preparing medicine in a sterile environment to avoid contamination)
  • Sterile products (intravenous solutions)
  • HIV treatment or solution agents
  • Chemotherapy drugs
  • Vaccines and immunizations

Pharmacy technician job outlook

The pharmacy technician’s market grew quickly, in the early 2010s, but growth is expected to level off at about 5 percent through 2031. 

Although the growth in demand for pharmacy technicians has slowed, you will still have many opportunities in your job search. The unemployment rate for technicians is a mere 0.7 percent, well below the national unemployment rate. Your career may not be completely recession-proof, but the chances that demand will drop dramatically are slim. 

Your work as a pharmacy technician can change over time, giving you the chance to refresh your outlook on your career. You don’t have to stay within one setting and you may find that you have a desire to learn new skills. You may shift from a role focused on patient care to one in a laboratory, for example. Pharmacy technicians have several different opportunities to specialize that may increase your desirability in the eyes of recruiters. 

You may focus on one of the following to add to your skill set:

  • Compounding (preparing medicine in a sterile environment to avoid contamination)
  • Sterile products (intravenous solutions)
  • HIV treatment or solution agents
  • Chemotherapy drugs
  • Vaccines and immunizations

Although you may think first of retail pharmacies within drugstores, grocery stores, and big-box chains, technicians also work in hospitals, long-term care facilities, out-patient clinics, research labs, health insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies or even for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or in another military department. You also may have the option to work full time or part time.

Statistical insight

The median pay for a pharmacy technician in 2021 was $36,740, according to the US Labor Bureau.

So how do you show hiring managers that you have what it takes to maintain your calm in this stressful profession?

How to write a pharmacy technician resume

What should a pharmacy technician put on a resume? The basic structure does not differ from any other resume. It should follow a standard format with the following sections:

  • The resume header
  • The resume summary (aka profile or personal statement)
  • The employment history section
  • The resume skills section
  • The education section

Most of our recruiter-approved free resume examples are built on this structure. Of course, the content will be different, but the primary purpose is the same. Your job is to convince hiring managers that you are the right person for the job. Not only is your focus laser-eyed, but you are personable and stay calm in times of trouble. How do you convince a hiring manager that’s true? By using examples from your work history and strong descriptive language, without crossing the line into bragging territory.

Choosing the best format for your pharmacy technician resume 

Choosing the best CV format for a pharmacy technician includes considering two main meaning of the term "resume format":

  • The resume type you're going to use: reverse chronological, functional, hybrid
  • What type of design and formatting rules to consider

When it comes to resume type (one of the meanings of resume format), reverse chronological is the most common category for 90 percent of candidates and professions. This category places the most emphasis on your past jobs, listing them from most recent to oldest. This format makes the employment history the most robust and largest section, describing your achievements and milestones in each past workplace and role. The functional format is used by rare specialists whose skills are more important than their experience (or by people whose skills exceed their career history). Based on the realities of the job market, most of our resume examples are designed in the reverse chronological CV format.

Resume summary example

What is a resume summary and what’s the difference between that and a profile? What about the objective in my pharmacy technician resume? First, in most cases, you don’t need an objective. Recruiters will rightly assume that your objective is to get a job with their company. 

Second, there’s a difference in the way you think about a profile and a summary. Typically, this section a summary, you need to look at it as a summary of your very best, not a recitation of your career moves. Remember, you are trying to show recruiters that you should get the interview (and the job). That means selling yourself.

So what makes a standout resume summary and how do you create one? This section is your one chance to get a little creative in describing your successes, the way you relate to coworkers and patients, and your best attributes, so take advantage of it!

Think about your biggest accomplishments and attributes. Your goal is to show off your professional personality and why you will be an asset to the team. You do that by describing your biggest successes with powerful action verbs and job specific information. 

Consider the skills needed to be a pharmacy technician. Are you unflappable under pressure? Do you communicate well with patients? Are you quick yet highly accurate in filling prescriptions? Great! Make sure that comes out in your profile.

Also include one or two of your biggest successes. Did you improve inventory management? Did you create a process that led to more efficiency? How many prescriptions did you process in a shift? Try to get as detailed as you can as you illustrate your professional abilities. Each different environment brings unique benefits and challenges. You need to make sure that hiring managers know you want to work at their pharmacy, so it is in your best interest to tailor your resume for each job. Consider tweaking the adjectives you use to describe yourself.

Expert tip

 Avoid cliches like “team player” or “go-getter.” Instead, describe a situation where you used those attributes to the benefit of your colleagues or company.

Understanding Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)

There’s another reason you should personalize your resume and it’s the least personal reason imaginable: algorithms. Applicant Tracking Systems use algorithms to rank your resume against other candidates, so no matter how great your prose is, if you don’t get past this software, you won’t be seen by a hiring manager.

There are hundreds of different ATS programs and each company may use a different one, so there’s no definitive guide to beating them, but if you take these steps, you will greatly improve your chances of being seen by a recruiter.

  1. Analyze the job listing and compare it to your resume.
  2. Make sure you use the exact wording that you find in the listing
  3. Add any skills you have that are mentioned
  4. List both abbreviations and full words, for example: Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB)
  5. Use standard section headings.

Below you will find a resume example of a pharmacy technician profile. 

Adaptable summary resume sample

Dynamic Pharmacy Technician with experience supporting the day-to-day functions and services of pharmacies. Bringing forth extensive knowledge of pharmacy operations, pharmacy management, and medication management and distribution. Adept in working well with pharmacists and other professionals to ensure pharmacy success and a high level of customer care. 

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Employment history sample

The employment history section of your pharmacy technician resume is the longest of your resume. Of course, as a pharmacy technician, you must be able to ensure the proper running of a pharmacy by offering excellent support to pharmacists and complying with rules and regulations. 

You should highlight your dedication to be compliant with state and federal drug laws as regulated by the state board of pharmacy, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Food and Drug Administration and showcase a clear understanding of pharmacological information and pharmacy procedures.

Your pharmacy technician position also requires fielding phone calls from medical professionals, insurance claims personnel and patients and ensuring all drug labeling is accurate and legible.

But how do you include all that without turning your work experience section into a bullet-point listing of your responsibilities?

Make a listing of all your day-to-day responsibilities, but don’t stop there. Think about how you have completed those tasks. Then ask yourself the following questions:

  • How did I handle my responsibility in a way that brought value to my pharmacy?
    • Did I create a loyal customer base with my friendly and efficient demeanor? Then use an example of that to illustrate your skill.
  • What problems did I solve in the course of my work?
    • Do I have data or details to back it up?
  • Which new skills did I learn at my job?
    • How can I best illustrate them to show that I am willing to learn and grow?
  • How did I safeguard patient profiles and maintain strict confidentiality?
Do

 Use the CAR method to create your bullet points by spelling out a challenge, explaining the action you took to solve it, and using data or details to tell the results you achieved.

Don't

List everything you did at every job and over-explain every duty/achievement.

Your job descriptions should show how you’ve progressed with each professional experience, taking on more autonomy or solving new challenges. Consider listing other jobs you have had in which you used skills valuable to a pharmacy technician. 

Use this adaptable resume sample of a job bullet point list as a jumping-off point.

Adaptable employment history resume example

Pharmacy Technician at Walgreens, Darien, Conn.
October 2014 - Present

  • Fill and distribute prescriptions according to the pharmacist's orders.
  • Treat customers with sensitivity and respect.
  • Verify prescriptions prior to fulfilling orders.
  • Maintain patient records and inventory.
  • Identify and report any illegal or dangerous activity.

 

Pharmacy Technician at CVS, New York
July 2007 - September 2014

  • Worked to promote a smooth-running pharmacy department.
  • Reviewed prescriptions and maintained accurate patient records.
  • Effectively counseled patients on medication use.
  • Processed invoices and handled financial transactions.
  • Maintained the proper storage and security conditions for medications.
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Resume skills example

Your skills section is an overview of the attributes and knowledge you need to do your job. You are working in a highly regulated industry and you cannot make mistakes. Therefore, your attention to detail and focus are key assets. But what other skills do you need to be a successful pharmacy tech?

Let’s start with your hard skills, or the specific industry knowledge you need. Because you are receiving and confirming prescriptions, most of which are electronic, you have to have a basic understanding of the software used in pharmacies. You also need basic math skills to back up the pharmacist when need be and an understanding of pharmacology or the study of how medicines work in the body. You may have to explain to customers how their medication will work and the potential side effects. This leads to the other set of skills you will need: soft skills.

Soft skills are the organization and people skills you need to be a valued employee and coworker. Since you will be working with customers who may be ill or worried about their health, it is important that you have excellent customer service and communication skills. You will also be sharing information with coworkers, insurance companies, and medical personnel when appropriate, 

Another important soft skill is your discretion. You will have access to personal medical information that is covered under HIPAA laws, so you must safeguard it carefully at all times.

Expert tip

Brainstorm all your professional abilities and attributes to create a “Master List” that can be updated as you grow in your career.

You may have other skills and attributes you consider important as well. Try to develop a list of 5-10 of your highest-level skills. Then crosscheck with the job listing to make sure you didn’t omit anything of key importance to you potential employer. Use a mix of hard and soft skills to show you are a well-balanced professional.

See the pharmacy technician resume sample content below.

Adaptable skills section resume example
  • Pharmaceutical Operations
  • Clinical Applications
  • Product Safety
  • Medication Preparation
  • Teamwork Skills
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Resume education example

You can begin your career with a high school diploma and on the job training. That’s great for a start, but you may already have earned a certification or other degrees. Many employers prefer pharmacy technicians who have at least an associate’s degree in a healthcare-related concentration. This is the place to show off your learning.

If you have completed a training program, you may also have earned the title certified pharmacy technician (CPhT) from the PTCB. This is the section to include that education. You may also be first-aid certified. List that and any other healthcare related certifications or classes you have. If you have done any specialized training, make sure you highlight that here.

Below is a resume example for your education section.

Adaptable education resume example

Ashworth College, Pharmacy Technician Program NY, NY
May 2012 - August 2014

 

Hofstra University, Bachelor of Science Hempstead, NY
August 2008 - May 2012

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Resume layout and design

When it comes to visuals, things are a little different. Do you have great experience and a wonderful profile? We bet you do, but it won’t matter unless you have a clean design too. Why?

Because a professional resume has to look as good as sounds otherwise hiring managers may not stop to read it. It is the first impression they will get of you. What do you want them to think?

Think back to your skills. You want your design to reflect those skills. It must look clean,  organized and error-free. Error-free is key in your career since attention to detail is of the utmost importance. If you make errors when you are trying to impress, what would happen after you get the job? Make sure you have a friend or colleague proofread, too, just to be on the safe side. It’s almost impossible to edit your own work.

Expert tip

Here’s the data recruiters will likely search for first:

  • Your contact information (if you are including a LinkedIn profile make sure it matches your resume)
  • Your current job title and employer
  • Your previous job title and employer
  • Your section headings.

Make sure they stand out.

If you choose to use color, keep it to a minimum and do not include a photo or any graphics. 

Peruse our expertly-designed resume templates to find a layout that suits you. 

Key Takeaways

  1. Your resume summary is a 3-5 sentence paragraph of your professional success
  2. You need to create a customizable resume that reflects each job for which you apply
  3. Make sure your employment history shows a progression of career growth
  4. Choose a balance of hard and soft skills to highlight
  5. Design counts: Keep it neat and professional.

 

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