A high school degree is all that is required to be qualified to pursue this healthcare support position. It is advisable that you also have good people skills, listen well and are able to easily comprehend while multitasking and have a good understanding of basic math skills. Pharmacy aides help and support the pharmacist with administrative and customer service tasks that the pharmacist and pharmacy technician are to busy to do. These tasks include checking in drug and merchandise shipments, counting inventory, stocking shelves, clerical activities, answering the phone, acting as the cashier and handling money.

The pharmacy aide performs important duties and tasks that helps the pharmacy continue to work and run as it should. As you work more independently in your job, you may be able to take on more job responsibilities such as setting up and maintaining patient profiles, facilitate insurance claim forms and perform inventory duties of the prescription medications.

Pharmacy aides work varied hours much like the pharmacist. Expect to work nights, weekends and holidays. If the pharmacy stays open 24 hours a day, then you can expect to work different shifts in order to fill the entire work day with staff. The pharmacy aide may also have opportunities to work part time schedules as well. You can expect your work environment to be clean and well organized. You may also be required to lift heavy boxes as well as stock, maintain and retrieve medications and merchandise from high shelves.

Pharmacy aides are usually trained on the job. No formal training is required but a high school education is generally necessary. Most employers look for and prefer prospective aides to have reading and math skills, and to have prior work experience on a computer or as a cashier. To be successful in this support role it is necessary to be friendly, organized and responsible. Importantly, prospective aides can not have any prior legal record of drug or substance abuse. It is also important to have strong people and customer service skills because the pharmacy aide will have a lot of contact with customers and patients.

On the job training is how all pharmacy aides learn their job duties. Usually the aide would begin learning one function and then move on to additional duties and functions as they master the previous ones. The more enthusiastic and able to learn, the faster you will become proficient in your pharmacy support role and duties.

Successful pharmacy aides should possess several skills and abilities in order to have a natural aptitude for this job. The ability to efficiently manage your time, to be organized and structured in your work habits is important to success. The aide will need to be able to follow set procedures, routines and operating standards since most of the work day is filled busily working with details. Other important skills are the ability to listen to what people are saying and take the appropriate actions in response, to be able to speak with clarity and the ability to easily comprehend what they read and hear.

• Supports the Pharmacist and Pharmacy Technician with administrative duties.
• Average job growth in the future.
• Minimum education required is a General High School Degree.
• Training is generally informal on the job training.
• Skills preferred are good listening and speaking abilities, customer service oriented and good comprehension.
• Most of your work day is spent on your feet.
• Yearly earnings average between $20,000 and $25,000.http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos274.htm