I have been a pharmacy technician for 10 years and I love it! I work in retail, currently with Walmart, but I've worked as a technician for 4 different companies in 4 different states, all retail. I worked for Walmart, Walgreen's, Albertson's, and Haggen's Grocery in Utah, Washington, California, and now Texas. I went to a technical college in Utah for training.
I feel like it really works with my Asperger's. I worked for a temp agency in my early 20s and liked the factory position the best, but I wasn't fast enough to keep the job I liked. With pharmacy, I get to count pills all day and I don't have to be particularly fast. For me, the level of customer interaction at the Walmart Supercenter was ideal. They have cashiers that deal with the worst interactions, in my opinion. I currently live in Texas, working at the Walmart Neighborhood Markets and don't love all the drive-thrus and lack of cashiers.
I also like that it is in a high demand profession and I can get a job anywhere I want. I tend to move a lot. Everywhere I've worked, I've gotten along well with my coworkers. They usually let me fill prescriptions (count pills) all day if I'm having a bad day. It surprises me how many people don't like counting pills.
I'm also surprised that my lack of empathy hasn't been a problem, but no one seems to mind that I don't actually care about our patients lives. They like that I work really well with the systems and since all the conversations with patients are related to pharmacy, I am just social enough.
I think it's a great career choice for Aspies. I'm pretty set with retail pharmacy, but I've thought mail order would be even better. Even if I'm replaced by a counting robot, someone still has to fill the machine and read doctor's handwriting. I hope you do well in your classes!
01 Sep 2020, 7:38 pm
