Boots pharmacy dispenser job?

[ScottishHaggis85]

Has anyone worked at this job before and can tell me their experience please? I have an interview upcoming

Go to a large branch of Boots (ideally a different one) and observe.

I regularly have to pick up medication at one, (have done for years) and the desk staff's ability to deal with queues is woeful (so it'll probably be easy to observe discreetly). You could probably gain some brownie points for suggesting some efficiency improvements!

It seems like a major issue is safely looking after older people and their carers with multiple prescriptions, distressed people who don't really know what they want, and I imagine safety and security as pharmacies are prone to theft.

You could probably gain some brownie points for suggesting some efficiency improvements!

Do not do this... Unless you've worked the job, you have no idea the number of tasks the staff are juggling. Basically ignore everything @Phineyj said, especially as she's describing a counter assistant's job, not a dispenser's.

I worked this job (sort of) as a student. What specifically do you want to know? Why do you want this job? What previous experience do you have, and what research have you already done?

Go prepared with an anecdote about good customer service as that usually comes up with this sort of job

@owlpassport thank you for confirming how unimportant the patients are in the process.

I also meant to ask is there any progression with this post or wage rise after time?

Are they offering a dispensing assistant job or training to be a pharmacy technician? Different levels of training and responsibility. The technician qualifications mean you can Register with the GPhC and is transferable to NHS and elsewhere.
Community Pharmacy is hard work, seems to be never ending , on your feet all day with brain fully engaged, barely time to go to the loo. Patients can be pretty demanding (rude), phone never stops. There are lots of medicines shortages at the moment and you take the flack.
i don’t think its particularly well paid, but I haven’t worked for Boots since my pharmacy student holiday jobs and I’m long retired now. When I interviewed ex Boots technicians I was quite surprised by their pay for the responsibility they were given.
Having said all that, I was a pharmacist for 40+ years and loved it.

Find out if you will gain a qualification that is externally recognised. If you can qualify eventually as a Pharmacy Technician, that opens up better paid options in hospitals/ GPs and nhs management.

Here's an overview https://cpe.org.uk/learn-more-about-community-pharmacy/pharmacy-teams/

Hi it’s a trainee pharmacy dispenser job just above minimum wage

Are they offering NVQ level 2 or just an inhouse qualification? If level 2 is there a possibility of converting to level 3 later- dependant on how you do?
Going back a long time the Boots in house qualification wasn't accepted by hospitals. It might be worth checking if a Boots qualification is acceptable for registration- it wasn't at one time. I know things have changed in terms of training.
Other thing worth checking is study time. When we had student pharmacy technicians they had either a half day a week or an hour a day for independent study. We were unusual.

She's not saying patients aren't important but the job you're describing isn't the job the op is applying for. A trainee dispenser is largely behind the scenes.