3 Interview Tips from Pharmacy Leaders
Are you a pharmacy professional that has been looking for a new pharmacy position, or found yourself stuck between jobs longer than you thought you would be? Finding a new pharmacy job can be difficult, which is why Indispensable Health happily to provides pharmacy professionals free tools like our resume review, resume tips, and interview tips in an effort to support our fellow pharmacy colleagues land their next pharmacy role.
There are many general job interview tips online, however, pharmacy is a specialized field, therefore, we specifically reached out to several Pharmacy Managers and Directors of Pharmacy (DOP) regarding what they look for in an applicant, and how those being interviewed can make a positive lasting impression during the course of the interview. Within the rest of this blog are three simple tactics a pharmacy applicant can implement during their interview pharmacy managers and pharmacy directors are looking for in the individual they want to hire in their pharmacy.
Be on Time
Something that is basic and simple, yet mentioned by every Pharmacy Manager and DOP, is to make sure to be on time for the interview. If you are late for the interview, your manager will expect you will be late for work too. Therefore they most likely won't hire you and you will have lost the opportunity for the job before sitting down for the interview.
A further caveat of being on time for the job interview is to fully be present for the interview. For example, a Pharmacy Director in Michigan interviewed a Pharmacy Technician who looked and acted as though they had just woken up. Regardless of how the rest of the interview went the Pharmacy Director could not help but conclude that if this Pharmacy Technician looked like they had rolled out of bed for a job interview they also would not present themselves professionally on the job. Plan the interview for when you know you will have had an adequate amount of sleep. Consider the work schedule you currently have, for night shift employees, for example, it is not ideal to schedule an interview after just working an 8 to 12-hour shift.
Be Prepared
Another overriding theme described by our pharmacy leaders is to simply be prepared prior to interview for the pharmacy position - know the facility, know what they do. If the pharmacy opening is one located in a hospital, look into if that hospital has a specialty. Long Term Acute Care (LTAC) hospitals, hospitals that specialize in a particular type of surgery, and so on will not only mean different things for the requirements and responsibilities of any open pharmacy role within the pharmacy department the hospital type as a whole will greatly impact everything. For a retail facility and pharmacy, there could also be a 340B component within the pharmacy. Wherever the interview is, ensure to research what the facility does.
As another example, a DOP in Ohio asked an interviewee, "Have you seen our website"? Questions such as these are designed to see if the candidate has done basic research on the company they are applying to work for. When an applicant has thoughts and comments about the website, the Pharmacy Director knows the individual they’re interviewing has done some homework about the facility. On the other hand, if the interviewee has not seen the website, there is no way to fake it, and the Pharmacy Director will think that you are not very interested in working at his pharmacy, nor cares about the facility as a while. For competitive pharmacy positions there will be many candidates - your direct competition - many of them will have taken the time to review and become familiar with the pharmacy and facility, the DOP with recognize that and appreciate those who have made this effort and the pharmacy position will likely go to one of them.
Do not forget being prepared also includes being well dressed, organized, and even arriving early to the interview.
Do Not Speak Poorly About Prior Positions
Speaking poorly about the prior position(s) reflects on you individually and professionally, even if it was the worst imaginable job. Prior to the interview work to reframe a negative work experience in a positive light to determine what to say if questioned about it. Some of the most important lessons we learn in life come from negative experiences, what was learned while working at that prior job, how did you go above and beyond to help in a particular circumstance, and if you do mention anything relating to trouble it should be regarding how you professionally overcame that hurdle - such as helping fellow coworkers or working as a team to prepare for a joint commission review.
Those interviewing for the same position are likely speaking well of their past employment experiences. It is wise to do the same.
Remember, Pharmacy Directors and Pharmacy Managers are looking to hire an employee for the long term, keep this in mind and position yourself to be that pharmacy professional. In summary, be early to your interview (or at the very least on time), look into the pharmacy position and the type of facility being interviewed at, dress professionally, come to the interview organized, and reframe negative job history within a positive light. Following these simple interview tips will help pharmacy professionals have a great job interview.
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This is the third in a series of short videos on pre-interview tips for pharmacy positions. Today’s Tip: Focus on Details. Your resume looks great. You nailed the cover letter and hit “send” to reply to that ad for a potential new job. Now what? Make sure you are prepared for when the phone rings!