Pharmacy Assistant Review

Working at Boots my day to day tasks included working at the medicinal section of the store and helping to find the right medicine to give to people with prescriptions. Also to restock the shelves with the medicine available to buy over the counter and other accessories available to but aswell. I also had to help the manager with the occasional paper work that needed to be filled in. It was a good experience.

I learnt a huge amount of new skills including the uses and properties of different medicines, this was useful as I may want to go into medicine in the future and become a pharmacist. I also learnt how to work independently and improve my confidence by talking to customers and staff. I learnt to be punctual and get the work on time and also how to plan my time.

I enjoyed the programme quite a bit as it was a new and different experience to what I normally do at college. It was an insightful look into being a pharmacist as I worked in the medicinal section for a little bit. However, I was disappointed that most of the time they had me simply stocking shelves and doing paperwork rather than helping with the medicinal section more as when i applied I was sure that Boots being a pharmacy in a sense would let me handle the medicine more but it’s ok as it was still enjoyable.

I felt valued by Boots as the staff often told me that I was a hard worker however the staff did treat me like a child almost and had me doing all of the work that they didn’t want to do or the work that was too boring for them. This wasn’t really a good sign of appreciation and I was disappointed however it didn’t take away too much from the work experience.

The programme was quite well structured, the programme was designed to give us a sense of what working at Boots is like by letting us try all the different jobs available. However this may not have been as enjoyable if you wanted to specialise in a particular area of work at Boots this may not be as enjoyable so the could have may let you choose if you wanted it more generalised.

The support received by the training provider was great, they helped me a lot getting started by telling me where the different areas are. How to use certain programmes on the computers, how to fill in the paperwork etc. They were also there to help me whenever I needed the help and asked for it.

The employer also gave me lots of support, they mainly helped me before I got started. They helped me through the online application and also the paper work that I needed to complete before I started. They also showed me a video on the first day detailing what they expected from me and the other students doing the work experience and a guide to talking to customers and assisting them. They also gave me access to the building and also any money for the transport.

This was work experience so it was for free, this was completely voluntary and I’d decided to apply so that I could get a feel of what working in a pharmacy is like and help guide me in the future as I may want to go into pharmacy in the future. I also went to gain skills needed for the industry and also to get a good reference for my future job and university applications. They did give me some vouchers and gift cards towards he end of my work experience however which was very good.

There were lots of opportunities outside of work for us to develop our understanding of what working in the pharmaceutical industry is like. These included events at the store for us and other students looking to work in pharmacy, they also gave us advice on what to put on our university applications and the top universities for pharmaceutical students. These were great and was impressed by them.

Yes

Even though I didn’t get much time at the medicinal part of the store, the little time I did get reaffirmed that I probably want to go into pharmacy or a similar field in the near future. I also met some really noce people while working there and gained a large amount of new skills and developed old ones aswell. It’s good for any relevant job interviews and CV’s in the future aswell. You should do it if you get the chance.

I’d say to make sure that you don’t want to only do the medicinal part, of you go another pharmacy may be better. But if you want a general overview of what working at a pharmacy involves then definitely do the course and make the most of it as it is a good asset to put on future applications.