Your steps to apply
Pharmacy Technician (Outpatient-Controlled Substances)
Veterans Health Administration · Hines, Illinois · Closes in 6 days
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1 Check you can apply You are here
Who can apply: The public.
This job is open to the public. The job page lists U.S. citizens, nationals, and people who owe allegiance to the U.S., but the conditions of employment say you must be a U.S. citizen to apply.
Experience: You need one year of experience at the GS-7 level in the federal service, working on your own with independent judgment and training lower-graded pharmacy technicians. The job is GS-8. Preferred experience includes working as an outpatient pharmacy technician or as a lead technician or lead controlled substance technician.
Education: No education is required for this job.
Licenses and certifications:
- Active national certification as a Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT) from PTCB, or Certified Pharmacy Technician (ExCPT) from NHA
Experience can be paid or unpaid, volunteer work included: if it matches the duties, it counts. The full rules are in the announcement.
2 Resume and documents
Write a federal resume for this job. For each job you held, give the month and year you started and ended, your hours per week and what you did, using the words of the experience the announcement asks for. Many announcements accept resumes of up to 2 pages: check this one.
3 Apply on USAJOBS
Closes in 6 days (November 9, until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time).
You sign in to USAJOBS with a Login.gov account, answer the questionnaire and upload your documents, then you submit. Answer the questionnaire honestly: your resume must show what you claim.
How they rate you: You are rated on how well you meet the qualifications. Your application, resume, and documents will be verified. Errors or missing information may lower your rating or make you ineligible.
4 After you apply
In USAJOBS, under Applications, you can see where your application stands: received, reviewed, referred to the hiring manager or not, then selected or not. It can take a few weeks.
For the interview, prepare three examples with the STAR method: the Situation, the Task, what you did (Action) and the Result.
If they choose you: a tentative offer, then a background check, then the final offer with your start date.
Tips for this job:
- Upload a copy of your PTCB or NHA certification, because the application is incomplete without it.
- Use a long-form resume or CV. The two-page resume limit does not apply to this job.
- Submit your full application package by 11:59 PM ET on 11/09/2026.
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