A Look at Pharmaceutical Jobs

Answer 1

Becoming a pharmacist, a pharmacy technician or, in some states, even a pharmacist's assistant is a little more involved than many job training processes. Even working as an assistant, your duties include a number of tasks that you need to be licensed and certified for, including:

• Dispensing prescription drugs.
• Offering advice to other medical professionals.
• -Educating customers on their prescriptions and the effects thereof.
• Maintaining confidential records.
• Providing specialized attention for patients with Diabetes or Asthma.

These tasks aren't the kind of thing you can do with a high school diploma and a job application, so it's necessary to seek advanced education if you're pursuing such a position. The exact rules and regulations in your state may vary in some small way, but in general, you're going to at least need the following:

• 2 years pre-pharmacy courses
• Pass the PCAT (Pharmacy College Admissions Test)
• Apply to a pharmacy school and pass the interview
• Become a PharmD or Doctor of Pharmacy
• Attain a license by passing the NAPLEX (North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination)

All in all, it's a six year process, so it's not the kind of job you take on a whim or to make ends meet while pursuing some other goal. However, the rewards make the job quite alluring to anyone who's smart enough and responsible enough to handle medicine, dedicated enough to study and hard working enough to maintain a career in a challenging field.

Low end salaries start at around $82,000. This is the bottom ten percent. The bottom ten percent of CEO's don't make $82,000 a year. At the top 10, the number is closer to $138,000. While some people might look at this and see that the salary tops out after awhile, the fact is that somebody who can't live comfortably on $138,000 a year probably can't live comfortably on $1,000,000 a year either.

It's not an easy job and it's not an easy job to qualify for, but helping people, exploring new developments in the medical world and having a specialized skill that qualifies you for a six figure job all make the journey more than worth it for many people.