Career Development

Advance Your Career

Advancement opportunities are evolving in pharmacies and health-systems where pharmacy technicians with significant training or experience can be promoted to supervisory positions. Some may advance into specialty positions such as chemotherapy technician or nuclear pharmacy technician. Others may move into sales. Some technicians may choose to attend pharmacy school and go on to become pharmacists.

Resume/Curriculum Vitae (CV)

Whether you are a new or seasoned pharmacy technician seeking tips to refine your current resume or CV, or you are a pharmacy technician student beginning to develop your resume or CV, the following tools can help you through the process. Your resume or CV should showcase your experience, education, skills, knowledge, accomplishments, and professional engagement. It is important to update your resume or CV on a regular basis.

• Resume vs. Curriculum Vitae
• Preparing a Resume
• Resume template examples
• Review Rubric PDF

Transform Your Resume into a CV

A CV is a more detailed document than a resume. In addition to showcasing your work experience and educational background, a CV also can highlight your awards, research efforts, and professional engagement.

Preparing a CV

A resume/CV is an organized listing of one‘s achievements and experiences in the areas of education, professional experience, organizational membership, presentations and publications, honors and awards, and community service.

The Latin words “curriculum vitae” literally mean “the course or outline of [your] life.” A CV, sometimes called a “long resume,” is longer and more detailed than resumes prepared for most job interviews.

A well-composed resume/CV is easy to read and contains information about your strongest attributes and experiences. Remember that a resume/CV is a living document and that dates are very important. Start with the most recent information and work backward. The following sections should be included:

• Education, Training, and Certifications;
• Work experience;
• Clerkship rotations (if a current student);
• Presentations and publications;
• Honors and awards;
• Membership in organizations (include offices held);
• Professional and community service;
• Other special experiences or skills

Cover Letter

When applying for a position, it is typical to add a brief cover letter to your resume/CV. This letter should be specific to the position or program for which you are applying and should include both why this particular position or program appeals to you and the special interests or skills that make you a strong candidate.

Resume/CV Dos

✓	Do focus on professional information. Pharmacy-related information should precede all other topics (such as hobbies and community service activities).
✓	Do include everything positive about your achievements that you can honestly state.
✓	Do describe offices held or professional/community service activities. Go beyond naming the office or service and briefly describe the scope of responsibility and/or impact (e.g., how many people in the organization/committee, how many attended the event, size of the budget, funds raised, etc.).
✓	Do prepare your resume/CV on a computer.
✓	Do update your resume/CV regularly to reflect work experience, publications, and presentations.
✓	Do check your resume/CV carefully for spelling and grammatical errors.
✓	Do use resume or business paper, conservative paper color, and simple fonts.
✓	Do identify your preceptors, work supervisors, and/or references by title (PharmD, PhD, RPh, etc.).

 

Resume/CV Don’ts

✕	Don’t include personal, demographic information such as age, height, or weight.
✕	Don’t include a photograph.
✕	Don’t include information that predates pharmacy technician school or work experience except for education (e.g., previous degrees) or unique achievements (e.g., National Merit Scholar).

 

Credentialing

Advanced certifications and credentials demonstrate your commitment to ongoing professional growth and your expertise within your field, which can make you a more attractive candidate to potential employers and open new career advancement opportunities, whether you're looking to progress within your current organization or explore new job opportunities.

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Advanced Pharmacy Technician Roles

Explore case studies of advanced technician roles that demonstrate the critical and innovative responsibilities pharmacy technicians perform in patient care.

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Advanced Pharmacy Technician Toolkits

View advanced pharmacy technician toolkits to assist you in developing advanced pharmacy technician roles at your institution.

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