What do pharmacy technicians get paid? Thinking of a change of career from mental health nursing!?

Feeling a bit burnt out by mental health nursing after having done it for over 15 years, fancy a change whilst remaining in the health care field. Don't want to work shifts, or weekends, I have 2 small children. Can't find any payscales for pharmacy technician and I have an interview tommorrow afternoon for one - PLEASE HELP!!!

I started in a retail pharmacy at $8.50/hour, and it took so much fighting to get raises that I was supposed to be given. After working for almost 2 1/2 years, I was finally making $10.00/hour.

The pay will be depend on where you work-hospitals pay the best, but 99% of the time, you need to be nationally certified to work in a hospital. Private pharmacies may pay a decent amount, but your benefits might not be that good. Retail pharmacies vary so much depending on which one you choose, but you can get fairly decent benefits.

If you don't want weekends, I would suggest a hospital. Going into any public setting, the last person hired gets the bad shifts!

If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask!

Generally, a new uncertified tech starts at about $8 per hour, and a new, certified tech starts at about $10 per hour. I've never heard of a tech making more than $15 per hour.
You will have to work nights and weekends, even at hospitals. The only place where you might not is mail-order pharmacies.

Hi there,

I think the best way for you to get a realistic figure is to check out the website below, it will show you the salary, benefits, bonus, etc for this position - results based on many others currently in that job.

Good luck