Pharmacy Technician interview questions and answers
This Pharmacy Technician interview profile brings together a snapshot of what to look for in candidates with a balanced sample of great interview questions.
Pharmacy Technician Interview Questions
The role of pharmacy technicians is likely to change in the future. As pharmacists are more involved in direct patient care, pharmacy technicians will undertake more diverse tasks to support pharmacy operations, whether they’re in hospitals or retail stores. When hiring, try to direct your interview process to the future needs of the pharmacy as well as the current ones.
A postsecondary degree or on-the-job training are both common paths for a job as pharmacy technician. Since the position involves high responsibility, experience is vital in environments when there’s little opportunity for constant supervision. Make sure you check the candidate’s formal credentials as they’ll need to be certified in most cases.
During the interview, ask questions pertaining to three key areas: technical expertise, customer service and attention to detail. Other skills you should look for are organizational ability, aptitude using computers and math. You should only hire someone who has convinced you they can be trusted to hand out the correct doses, spot mistakes in prescriptions and establish good relationships with customers.
Operational and Situational questions
- Imagine a customer wants you to refill a prescription before the appropriate period has passed. After you refuse, they start getting demanding and aggressive. How do you handle it?
- What do you do if you suspect a customer is a drug seeker?
- Walk me through the process of filling a prescription
- How do you deal with a rejected insurance claim?
Role-specific questions
- What does prn/NR/(other sig codes) mean?
- Do you have experience with online prescription systems? What other pharmacy software have you used?
- How do you keep abreast of new medications and pharmacy practices?
- How do you go about verifying whether a prescription is valid?
- What are a pharmacy technician’s duties before the pharmacy opens?
- What challenges do you face as pharmacy technician?
- What does excellent customer service mean for a pharmacy technician?
Behavioral questions
- Have you ever disagreed with a pharmacist’s instructions? What did you do?
- How do you stay motivated when performing routine tasks?
- How do you deal with stress on a busy day?
- Did you ever have to face a customer who didn’t speak the language well? How did you handle it?
- Recall a time when a coworker asked for your help but you couldn’t help them. What happened?