Interest in health and pleasure in dealing with people are basic requirements for training as a pharmaceutical commercial assistant (PKA).
Supporting pharmacists in the sale of medicines, medical products, dietary supplements or cosmetics as well as advising customers – these are the most important tasks of a PCA. This interesting but often demanding profession can be learned in around 775 pharmacies in Austria. Most training pharmacies are in Vienna, Lower Austria and Upper Austria. 1239 women and men are currently doing an apprenticeship as pharmaceutical commercial assistants. The job is very varied: you not only advise customers, you can also work on the production of medicines and even mix ointments and tinctures in the laboratory, for example. In many pharmacies the PKAs are responsible for marketing and advertising. This includes presenting products and designing shop windows. If the pharmacy has a website or social media profiles, it is possible to host them. Another important task: ordering goods, obtaining offers and also conducting negotiations with representatives. The Krone interviewed Aysegül Özgür, 24 years old, from Klagenfurt. She has completed an apprenticeship as a pharmaceutical commercial assistant.Why did you decide on this apprenticeship in particular?I knew as a child that I wanted to work in the health sector and preferably in a pharmacy. It was my dream to work there. After much deliberation, I decided to do an apprenticeship as a pharmaceutical commercial assistant. After almost three years, I am still very satisfied with this decision. What did you particularly like about the apprenticeship, what was more difficult? I particularly liked the fact that I was able to work in all areas during my apprenticeship and was well prepared for the final apprenticeship exam. I also really appreciated my time at school, I was able to put a lot of it into practice in the pharmacy. The lessons made a lot of things easier for me during the final apprenticeship exam. The only thing I found difficult was botany – I don’t think we’ll ever become really good friends. How do you like working in the pharmacy? What I particularly like about my job is that the work is very varied and you never get bored: the Contact with customers, the commercial area in the background, cosmetics and much more. Every day in the pharmacy is a challenge because you never know what the next customer will come up with.
