How to Land Your First Job as a New Pharmacist

We’ve all heard it before: the pharmacy market is too saturated to be a worthy career! If you’re a pharmacist or pharmacy student, then I’m sure that you’ve heard this in every step of your journey. While the market continues to be flooded, the key to landing your dream pharmacist job is by standing out among the other applicants.

With the competitiveness of the pharmacist job market, it’s so important to learn how to market yourself and showcase your abilities to the hiring team. A skill that is often overlooked in pharmacy school for whatever reason. In this blog post, we’re going to be discussing some tips on how to stand out and land your first pharmacist job after graduation.

Before we dive right into the meat of this post, let’s first clarify that searching for a job is not only time consuming it’s also emotionally and mentally draining. Make sure to take care of yourself during this tiring time with self care and positive enforcements. Finding your first pharmacy job is going to take a lot out of you, but it’ll be so worth it in the long run.

Practical Tips on Finding Your First Pharmacist Job

Build Your Professional Network

Have you ever heard the saying, “Your network is your net worth”? Turns out that the saying has a lot of truth in it. Networking should always be in your professional plan because it could be the difference between landing your dream job versus not even knowing your dream job even exists.

The rule of thumb that you should follow when it comes to networking is to start building the relationship and trust with your network before you need to use it. If you have no idea how to grow your network, here are some tips to get started:

Use platforms like LinkedIn or Facebook Groups

These are great places to find like-minded people who share similar interests. The goal with social media is to network with others, share your ideas, and to explore emerging fields within the pharmacy profession. When I was on my job hunt, I was able to connect with other pharmacists that were able to give me career advice and guide me into unique fields that could potentially interests me. It’s okay to put yourself out there by messaging people that you admire or who have the pharmacy job that you want for advice. Ask for a zoom meeting to take the conversation even deeper!

Continue the conversation

Once you start building your network, don’t leave them high and dry! Just like real life friendships, you’ll want to check in every few months to keep the relationship strong and healthy. Also don’t forget to connect with your former classmates, alumni groups, and even friends who have their own network that you can tap into.

Research Potential Companies

As you’re considering future employment, take time out to learn all that you can about these potential companies. You’ll want to read reviews, learn about the culture, and anything you can find in the media so you won’t be surprised in the future.

Researching your potential employer also allows you the chance to see what the company is about and tailor your resume to fit the type of person they are hoping to employ. You may also want to consider looking up the company on LinkedIn to see if you are connected with anyone who has worked or currently works for the company. If you are connected with someone, reach out to ask some more questions about the company the position.

Reach Out to Recruiters

If you want to get a leg up on the competition, consider networking with a recruiter that either works with the company that you’re interested in or for a staffing company. Recruiters are paid to find the perfect candidate for a role. So if you can showcase to them why you’re a good fit, you’re can usually get an interview with them and increases your chances of moving to the next round.

If you have no idea what to say to a recruiter, here’s an example that you can work from:

Hey (insert name of recruiter),

I’m (insert your name), a pharmacist based in (City, State). I was reaching out because I think I would be a great fit for the (insert job title), and I would love to chat more about the position if possible. Thank you and have a great day!

Sincerely,

(Your Name)

Gather Relevant Experience

As a new pharmacist grad, you’re likely not going to have the years of experience that many entry-level positions require. Don’t get discouraged by this fact! When applying to positions that aren’t looking for new grads, highlight the skills, experiences, and background that you do have that could help you in the position. Employers may be willing to make an exception if they see you as a good fit for the position and for the team.

If you aren’t lucky enough to land your dream job right out of school, don’t be afraid to take a job that isn’t exactly what you were hoping for. The experience of working at any job as a pharmacist is super valuable and will help you in the future to transition into something that you do want. The best time to look for a new job is when you’re already employed at another. So think about that before turning down any offers that you may receive as a new pharmacist.

Create a Stand Out CV or Resume

Before you begin your job search, the singular most important that you can do is to create a stand out CV or resume that highlights your abilities to the max. You can’t have a good application if you don’t have a good resume that is visually appealing and showcases exactly what you have to offer to the employer. If you need help crafting your CV, you can buy my CV template to help you get started, which is what I still use to this day! Typically you have about 20 seconds to grab the recruiters or hiring manager’s attention and convince them to invite you to an interview. This means that your resume needs to be concise, highly effective, and attractive.

As a guideline, your resume shouldn’t exceed more than 2 pages and should be tailored to each job that you are applying for. You’ll want to only include information and keywords relevant to that pharmacist job position otherwise you risk your resume getting tossed out by the computer system. When you’re going into details about your past jobs, you want to make sure you try to quantify your accomplishments as much as you can. An example of this could be “increased revenue by $5,000 each year through xyz”.

Maximize Your Social Media Prescence

In pharmacy school, students are told to be mindful of your social media presence and to keep it private if you don’t want your college or future employers to see what you post. While this isn’t completely wrong, you lose the benefit of having your employer see what you post and for them to learn more about you as a person. It’s a catch 22 because it could go either way.

Before turning your accounts to private, assess your accounts and see if your online presence could hurt or support your job search. You’ll want to delete any comments or posts that are heavily political or inappropriate. On LinkedIn, choose a professional headshot as your profile picture and make sure your profile includes the same information as your resume. If you need some inspiration, you can check me out and even follow me on LinkedIn and Instagram!

Be Geographically Flexible

Being geographically flexible opens up a lot of doors for job positions, especially as a new grad. Many people, including myself, want to move to bigger cities or cities with pharmacy schools, which can make it harder to find a job. If you are able to move and be more flexible on location, you’ll find yourself in a better chance of landing your dream pharmacist job sooner rather than later. Shoot for small towns that have the role that you want and less competition shooting for it.

Learn How to Market Yourself

The one thing that I wish pharmacy schools focused on more on is teaching students how to market yourself. You may have a good looking resume, a completed application, and an enticing cover letter, but if you don’t know how to market yourself, you won’t get very far in the interview process. Before going into your next interview, get comfortable with talking about your accomplishments, achievements, and the skills that you can bring to the table. While you don’t want to be bashful, you do want to be direct and confident in your skillset.

Prepare For Your Interview

Every successful interview starts with the prep work beforehand. You don’t want to go into an interview without the slightest clue of what job you’ve applied for and what the company is looking for. If you’re confused, then the hiring manager is probably going to be too. A day or two before your interview, spend a few hours researching the company and practice answering commonly asked questions. I like to write down the company’s mission statement, values, specialties/departments, recent media coverage, and other things that may be important for me to know. When you’re practicing your interview answers, try to tailor your answers into the STAR Method, which stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result.

Ask for Feedback if You’re Not Successful

You’re not going to get a job offer for every position that you interview for, but that doesn’t mean that you should take a “No” and leave it be. The best way to improve how you interview is by asking for specific feedback afterwards. Ask them what they liked about your application or resume and what are things that you could improve in the interview. You’ll not only gain valuable feedback but also get to highlight to the hiring manager that you are willing to improve in areas where you may lack.

Next time you have an interview, take a peek at the feedback that you’ve received and use it to improve your technique. You can’t expect to improve in something if you have no idea what you need to focus on. If you want to more of a live action, ask a friend or mentor to do a mock interview where you can practice your skills and tailor your answers to the specific job you’re looking for.

Finding a pharmacist job after graduation won’t be an easy feat for new graduates. It’ll push you to your limits and provide the opportunity for growth, one way or another. Don’t be afraid of taking a job outside of your comfort zones or in something that you may not enjoy. Every job opportunity that comes your way is a chance to gain experience, further your career path, and learn something new about yourself.