If your teenager is great with mathematics and science at school, then pharmacy tech may be a career option. Especially when your teenager is uncertain what career path they wanted to go, but would like to go onto a more healthcare orientated field in the future. Pharmacy tech or pharmacy aide is generally quite easy to find a job for.
If your teenager is not yet 16 years old, you can encourage him or her to start as a pharmacy aide. They are not yet pharmacy tech, so they are not allowed to be in the dispensary dispensing medicine, but they will get an exposure as to a healthcare orientated environment. Many pharmacies and drug stores quire extra help during the busy holiday season, and that's your teenager's chance of applying for a pharmacy aide.
Once your teenager reached 16 years old, and have had some work experience in the pharmacy, they could apply for a pharmacy tech position. They can start as an uncertified technician, and study while working with a lower wage, or simply enter studying full time.
Unlike many professionals that they had to study for 4 or 5 years before getting a degree, the technician education programs generally range between 6 months to 2 years. So if your child doesn't quite like the academic environment and thrive in real world work, then it is not a too long of a time to ask your child to do.
According to Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median hourly wages for pharmacy technicians were $13.32 in May 2008. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $9.27, so when your teenager just starting out, they'd probably be earning around $9 an hour. In a 40-hour working week, that is $360 before tax. Still pretty good money if they're still living at home.
For the pharmacy aides, the median hourly wages were $9.66, and the lowest 10 percent earned less than $7.69. If they're there for the experience, it's still great as the job outlook is expected to be good, so they should be able to find the job when they persist in looking for one.
Once your teenager has been working as a pharmacy technician for a couple of years, then they will have an understanding whether this career is to their liking. If they do like it, then they can go on and apply to become a licensed pharmacist, and a licensed pharmacist's average earnings are $106,410 a year, that is about $2000 a week before tax.
If your teenager has tried working as a pharmacy tech and decided that it is not for them, then they now also have the contact and the experience to make an informed decision. And you can trust their decision because they've been through the experience themselves.
Janice Chiang is the owner of pharmacy-tech.net where you will learn about pharmacy technician training and how to become certified. To find out more visit: http://pharmacy-tech.net/.
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