Common Pharmacy Technician Interview Questions

In the fight against disease, especially in the current complicated situation of the Covid-19 epidemic, pills are the most powerful weapon that can repel and prevent unwanted diseases. Therefore, a pharmacy technician is a noble profession that is respected by everyone.

Usually, pharmacy technician interview questions will focus on two skill areas, including profession and knowledge about the pharmaceutical industry. People’s demand to buy medicinal products is increasing, the opening of pharmacies has also increased, so most of the fresh graduates with no experience can still get a job. To be able to grasp the attractive job opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry, we will suggest a number of questions and answers.

Pharmacy technician job interview questions and answers

 

In your opinion, what are your strengths and weaknesses?

This is a question that employers want to know more about their candidates. Because they only know you through a few details on your CV, so this is an opportunity for you to let the employer know your capabilities.

State clearly but without rambling about your strengths and weaknesses. Try to highlight the experiences and experiences you have gained through those strengths. You can give a few specific examples so that employers can better understand and understand your capabilities. In addition, there will be a few small questions about professional ethics and issues surrounding yourself. Please cleverly give information and answers to make yourself stand out more.

What do you think stands out about yourself?

This is one of the issues that are focused and cared about when participating in the medical and pharmaceutical industry interviews. Interview questions similar to self-assessment are a way for employers to determine if a candidate is worthy of the position. The distinguishing feature is the difference and the balance between you and others. Revealing for you, the characteristics you give will definitely be a good highlight in the eyes of the employer.

This is also an opportunity for you to reiterate and further affirm your strengths. Show the employer that you have had internship experience at good agencies, studied with leading experts in the industry, and ensure that you have the ability to improvise quickly in any case.

What qualities do you have that are suitable for the pharmaceutical industry?

This question is asked by the employer to see how the candidate thinks about the job and whether their ability is worthy of this position. With this question, being different is the key to impressing the employer, so try to come up with answers that help you make your own point.

To answer this question well, you need to highlight your experience, skills, and abilities in the job. Again, state your strengths, but just enough for the employer to know that these are your qualities and that it is very suitable for the position. If you have ever been interned at good, reputable companies and agencies and had the opportunity to work with experts, please show that. This is your advantage.

What will you do to convince customers when they compare your product with the competition?

Hypothetical situations will often be presented with pharmacy candidates. Through some of these specific situations, employers want to know the candidate’s ability to handle situations as well as thinking and thinking.

At this point, you need to give the answer the employer wants to hear the most, because there is no right or wrong answer, only appropriate or inappropriate. In the above case, you need to emphasize the foundation of product quality, effectiveness in use, and product safety. Besides, use your creativity to convince doctors or customers to trust the product. Avoid going head-to-head with your competitors in areas that are their strengths such as pricing, discounts, or other customer support services. They are the core value that your product or company wants to bring to users.

What do you understand about the job and the benefits you get in this position?

In the pharmaceutical industry, there will be many jobs in different positions. Asking this question lets the recruiter know what you think and how you understand your responsibilities for the position you’re applying for. Job responsibilities are always an important factor and should be put on top.

Give an answer that emphasizes how well you understand your job responsibilities and what you will do to be able to do them well. In addition, cleverly give answers that show that no matter what your rights are, you will still try to do your job right and help those around you to create public results. 

As a pharmacy technician, how do you stay up to date with new trends in the pharmacy industry?

Unlike many other professions, pharmacy technician requires people to constantly learn, accumulate, progress, and innovate to find new drugs or use and manage drugs more effectively. A pharmacy technician career focused on applied science and constantly improving. When it comes to this question, the employer wants to assess what the candidate’s goal is and what the candidate does to achieve it. The answer should show determination, love for the profession, respect for the profession, and can talk about the kinds of scientific journals you often read, professional groups you join, …

Suggested answer: “One of the reasons why I was determined to enter the Pharmaceutical industry is because I want to contribute my strength to create new drugs and pharmaceuticals to protect people’s health. Since I was still at home, I was interested in research and as mentioned in my CV, I have participated in many projects such as [list 1, 2 of your projects]. I have trained myself in the habit of reading scientific journals. After that, when I went to work, I also joined a number of specialized groups to get more information about research directions.”

What method do you use to make sure that the combination of drugs is compatible?

For this question, the only way for candidates to respond is to draw on their industry knowledge. As a pharmacy technician, you definitely have to know well about drugs, their ingredients, and how they are compatible with each other or vice versa. Employers want to hear answers in a professional, clear, and precise way because this helps them assess your qualifications.

Suggested answer: “It is very important to analyze the ingredients of medicines to make sure they are compatible with each other. In order to prescribe correctly, it is very important to analyze the ingredients and make sure they are compatible. Although the prescription is usually prescribed by a doctor, in some cases I will recommend another prescription or change 1 or 2 drugs in the prescription for patients on the principle of keeping the same effect. My professional knowledge base helps me to assess drug compatibility accurately and quickly.

What would you consider when evaluating a clinically significant drug interaction?

This case is like the question above, the answer must be based on the candidate’s professional qualifications and specialized knowledge. A clinically significant drug interaction is one that alters the therapeutic effect or toxicity of a drug, necessitating medical intervention or dosage adjustment.

Suggested answer: “When evaluating clinically significant drug interactions, I pay attention to the key factors that are composition, suggested treatments, and potential for dose adjustment.”

As a pharmacy technician, what do you think is the difficulty that pharmacy technician encounters every day?

The work of a pharmacy technician is very stressful and busy. You are not allowed to make mistakes in the process of working with patients. Pharmacy technician challenges include: taking in too many prescriptions in one day; difficulty in the process of communicating and explaining to the patient; complicated record-keeping process, etc.

To answer this question, you must show the employer that you can withstand pressure, do not back down from difficulties, and you will try to express the complex information on the drug’s packaging in a way that is easy for the audience to understand. 

“I understand that every job has different advantages and disadvantages. For me, becoming a pharmacy technician is a dream and I have done it, so I always try my best. However, no I can’t deny that I feel pressured in this role at times too, especially when I have to explain to patients about the medication and the basic ingredients they don’t understand in technical jargon so I have to try to make complex information easy to understand”.

If you can’t clearly explain the side effects of a medication to your patient, what do you do?

In fact, almost all therapeutic drugs will have some side effects and these side effects can be more or less affected depending on the specific condition of the patient. Pharmacy technicians are responsible for explaining to patients and their families in a clear and understandable way, but if the other party still doesn’t understand, the best way is to stay calm and try changing the wording. You must show the employer that even if the patient does not understand, you must be ready to answer the patient’s question so that the patient understands the problem in a simple and understandable way.

Suggested Answer: “I understand that most patients have no medical background, so it’s difficult for them to absorb or understand issues like medication or side effects properly. no wonder if I have explained but they still don’t understand then maybe the problem is in my language and expression I am willing to change the explanation so that the patient understands the problem in a simple way”.

Some other common interview questions for pharmacy technician

• Tell about a situation in which you used your practical skills to solve a problem.
• Have you ever helped a patient in difficulty? What was the problem and what were the results?
• As a pharmacy technician, what factors do you consider before dispensing prescription drugs to patients?
• Describe how you simplify complex medical information for patients.
• How do you guide patients to administer medication?
• If you find out that a patient is being treated at the hospital and buys medicine from outside, how will you handle it?
• Tell about a situation in which you overcame the difficulty to provide excellent patient care.
• What would you do if you caught another Pharmacist swapping or stealing drugs?
• Are you willing to support colleagues when they have their own businesses?
• In the event that you and a colleague have a conflict of opinion, how do you plan to resolve it?
• What is the record-keeping procedure that a pharmacy technician must follow?
• What are the side effects of Methadone?
• What is the Class of Controlled Drugs? Stored procedures for controlled drugs.
• Is the Pharmacy Technician allowed to provide a copy of the prescription?
• What are the mistakes that pharmacy technicians should avoid when dispensing drugs?
• What is Warfarin and what are some drugs it interacts with and should be avoided?
• Explain why doctors prescribe antibiotics more to patients with viral infections than antivirals?
• What information should be on prescriptions for controlled drugs?
• In your opinion, which quality is the most important for pharmacy technicians?

How to answer pharmacy technician interview questions?

The pharmaceutical industry always requires very strict entry conditions. Therefore, you need to prepare carefully before the interview time so as not to stumble:

• Ask for interview experiences 

The forerunners will give you a lot of support in terms of experience in answering pharmacy technician interview questions. You are not only supported intellectually but also mentally. In addition, you also know the interview questions that employers often ask. Here’s how to get through the interview with ease.

• Practice interviewing fluently

Fluently answering a job interview in the medical industry will make a strong impression on employers. Not only is there confidence, but mainly this skill is formed through practice. Even those who have worked for a long time need to be well-prepared in terms of knowledge and practice answering pharmacy technician interview questions fluently.

• Improve specialized knowledge

Reading books not only helps you have knowledge of Medicine and Pharmacy but also many other interesting things. Therefore, to improve yourself, it is best to study regularly and enhance your knowledge through reading.

• Cultivate self-confidence

Employers will appreciate your confidence. When you go to an interview, look directly at the other person. Avoid looking away or keeping your face down to reduce anxiety. This action will not make a good impression on recruiters and will distract you and be false in your answers.

• Know how to ask the employer

One of the successes when interviewing for a medical job is that you know how to ask questions to the employer. Avoid answering “nothing to ask” when asked by the employer. You can prepare some content at home in advance, such as compensation, overtime or salary of officials… That will make a good impression on employers.

The secret for a successful pharmacy job

In order to successfully apply for any field, you need to be well prepared in terms of both knowledge and skills. This you can completely cultivate and compensate when sitting on the school chair after graduating to get a job. Accordingly, pharmacy technician students can all apply the following tips to be able to score points in the eyes of employers and have a high chance of being recruited.

Read more about What is the Average Pharmacy Technician’s Salary?

• Participate in volunteer activities or interns

This is a simple way for you to practice and build experience while making a good impression in the eyes of employers. When you are still in school, you should participate in volunteer activities or also become an intern. This is the secret that helps you accumulate practical experiences that not everyone can put effort into teaching you.

Aside from the valuable experience, you’re getting, there’s another benefit to volunteering or being an intern that you’ll make new connections. That helps you connect with many other people, build relationships for a better chance of finding a job. Or they can send you job details that you might want to check out. Not only that, this is also a favorable opportunity if the pharmaceutical companies or companies in which you are a volunteer or intern will be able to continue to hire you to work officially for the company.

So for each of you, once you have a degree in College of Pharmacy, it is important that you search, choose, and evaluate the company you are looking for, learn about the company to have consideration, and make reasonable decisions.

• Build your own achievements

The pharmaceutical industry has a special requirement for professional knowledge, so to make a good impression on employers, it is important that you have a good transcript or high academic achievement. So for those of you who have an outstanding transcript or have achievements or awards during your studies, don’t miss the opportunity to mention it in your Pharmacy CV. Pharmacy is a field of study that is directly related to health, even human life. Therefore, you need to be careful and have high accuracy in your work. Therefore, the achievements you build will greatly help the job application process as well as the job later.

Prepare yourself with a solid mentality, confidence, and good knowledge before each interview. Mastering the above sharing about pharmacy technician interview questions, your interview will definitely be successful. Remember, your seniors may not be demanding about your ability, what they care more about is your attitude and how you behave during the interview.

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