Latest / The Comeback Career Podcast with Fexingo: Returning After a Gap, Stay-at-Home Re-Entry / How One Parent Returned as a Pharmacy Technician After a Gap
Transcript
- Lucas: So we get a lot of emails from listeners who were in a technical or licensed role before their gap — nursing, dental hygiene, lab tech — and they assume that if they've been out for more than a few years, the door is basically closed. Luna: Right, especially in healthcare, where things change fast. New drugs, new software, new protocols. Lucas: Exactly. And today's story is about a woman who was a certified pharmacy technician for about six years before she stepped away to raise twins. Her name is Danielle, and she was out for seven years. Luna: Seven years. That's a long gap for a role that requires a state registration and a national certification. Lucas: It is. And she had let her certification lapse. So when she decided to go back — after a divorce and a move to a new city — she didn't just have a gap on her resume. She had no current credential. And she told us she felt like she was starting from zero. Luna: What was the first thing she did? Did she immediately go back to school? Lucas: She did not. She looked into it, but a full certificate program would have taken a year and cost several thousand dollars. Instead, she found something smarter. A local community college offered a six-week 'Pharmacy Technician Refresher for Returners' course. It was specifically designed for people who already had the foundation but needed to update their knowledge and get current on the new drug classification systems and the latest software. Luna: That's smart. And it sounds like it was cheap, too. Lucas: Three hundred dollars. And it came with a free voucher to retake the national certification exam. So she took the course, studied for a month, and passed the exam. Now she was certified again. But she still had no recent work experience. Luna: Which is the bigger hurdle, honestly. A certification gets you in the door, but employers want to know you can still operate in a fast-paced environment. Lucas: Danielle knew that. So she didn't just apply to every open position. She targeted a specific type of pharmacy: independent, locally owned pharmacies. She told us she deliberately avoided the big chains at first. Luna: Why? The big chains hire more people. Lucas: They do, but they also have very standardized hiring processes. They use automated screening that would have kicked her out for the seven-year gap. An independent pharmacist-owner, though — they read the resume themselves. They might be more open to a story. And she found one who was. A pharmacist named Mark at a small pharmacy in the suburbs. He agreed to let her do a part-time unpaid internship for six weeks, just to prove she could handle the pace. Luna: So she worked for free. That's a tough ask for a single mom. Lucas: It is. But she framed it as a trial period. And she set clear boundaries — twenty hours a week, during school hours, for six weeks. Mark said yes. And she said the first week was brutal. She had forgotten how fast the phone rings, how many insurance rejections you have to handle, how many patients need you to explain their medications in plain English. Luna: But she got through it. Lucas: She did. And at the end of the six weeks, Mark offered her a part-time paid position. But Danielle wanted full-time, with benefits. So she kept looking while working there. Luna: And that's when the hospital came in. Lucas: Right. She applied to a hospital pharmacy that had a posting for a full-time tech. In the interview, she was able to say, 'I'm currently working at a busy independent pharmacy, I've been certified for eight months, and here's what I've done.' That's a much stronger position than 'I've been out of the field for seven years.' Luna: So the internship was a bridge. It gave her current experience and a reference. Lucas: Exactly. And the hospital hired her. She's been there for about a year now. She told us the first ninety days were still tough — hospital inventory systems are different, and the pace is even faster — but she made it. And she said something that stuck with me. She said, 'Parenting twins taught me more about multitasking and crisis management than any pharmacy shift ever could.' Luna: I love that. Because it's true. When you've managed two toddlers at a grocery store, a busy pharmacy counter doesn't scare you. Lucas: Right. And she used that in her interview. She didn't just say 'I'm good with people.' She said, 'In the last seven years, I've managed complex schedules, budgeted for a household on a single income, and handled medical emergencies for my kids. That's the same skill set you need here.' Luna: That's a perfect example of reframing the gap. Lucas: It is. And I think the broader lesson here is that for technical roles, you do need to update your hard skills — the certification, the software, the terminology. But you don't need to start over. You just need a bridge. A refresher course, an internship, a part-time gig at a smaller shop — something that gets that current experience on your resume. Luna: And you need to be strategic about where you apply. Danielle chose independents over chains because she knew they'd be more likely to take a chance. Lucas: Exactly. And she also networked. She went to a local pharmacy association meeting — cost her twenty dollars for a lunch ticket — and met Mark there. That's how she found the internship. Luna: So the gap wasn't a wall. It was just a detour. Lucas: Right. And if you're thinking about returning to a licensed role — whether it's pharmacy tech, dental assistant, or something else — Danielle's story shows that the path exists. It might take six months instead of six weeks, but you can get back. Luna: And speaking of the path, we get asked a lot how we keep making episodes like this, day after day, without running ads. Lucas: We do. And the honest answer is that a small group of listeners supports the show directly. A few hundred people chip in a few dollars each month through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That's it. No sponsors, no banner ads. Just listeners who find value in these conversations and want to keep them coming. Luna: If that's you, or if you've gotten something helpful from the show, you know where to find us. And if not, no worries — the episodes aren't going anywhere. Lucas: Right. So back to Danielle. One thing I didn't mention: she also used the hospital's tuition reimbursement program to start taking pre-requisites for a pharmacy tech to pharmacist bridge program. That's a whole other story. Luna: Wow. So she's not just back — she's moving up. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the thing. Sometimes the gap gives you a perspective shift. Danielle said she never would have considered becoming a pharmacist before. She thought it was too much school. But after seven years away, she realized she could handle it. Luna: That's the comeback. Not just returning to where you were, but going further. Lucas: Yeah. So if you're a pharmacy tech or in a similar field, don't assume the gap kills your chances. Find your bridge. And if you have a story of your own — we'd love to hear it. You can reach us through the show page. Luna: And we'll be back tomorrow with another comeback.