I passed the state certification test last weekend - I was so surprised when I went on line to register for the test that I could take it on a weekend - the last time I checked the site the only times were mid-week.  But a whole bunch of new locations were added, and the closest one to where I live does testing on weekends, so I signed up for the test.  I was really nervous that I would not pass the test, but it was a lot easier than I expected.  They allow an hour to do the test, but I finished it in twenty minutes.  While I was there I met another pharm tech who had just finished the test and she told me it was easy. 

I asked her where she worked and she told me it was a CVS in a nearby town.  I asked her how much they paid and she didn’t want to tell me (shame.)  I told her how much I had been paid where I WAS working and her eyes bugged out of her head and she told me that was all I could expect to get paid anywhere.  So that was a disappointment - if I had realized that pharm techs were so poorly paid I probably never would have bothered pursuing that job!