Where Every Pharmacist Wants to Work
Wouldn’t it be nice if instead of having to wait for applications when you post a new pharmacist position, that you would already have a network of qualified pharmacists you could call? Could you imagine all the time you would save from having to sift through those piles of resumes and applications?
Be known as the place pharmacists want to work.
When I share new pharmacist job opening with pharmacists, they often ask me where it’s at. And sometimes they’ll tell me right away “I wouldn’t want to work there because they (the pharmacy director) tell you you’d be working one kind of schedule when you interview, and then they make you work other schedules once you’re hired. It’s like bait and switch.” Or the pharmacist I talk to would tell me “I like everything about the job, but not the schedule.”
The biggest complaint pharmacists share with me about why they leave jobs is because of the schedule. The most common issue is being tired of a variable schedule, because it makes it hard for a pharmacist to plan their personal life. It’s harder to plan taking fun classes, organize rides for kids related to school activities, and coordinate time to hang out with a significant other more. Not knowing their schedule far in advance is another issue.
Tip #1: If you can make your pharmacists’ schedules more consistent and give them access as much in advance as possible, you will be known as an employer who has desirable shifts for their pharmacists. You will attract good pharmacists who are good at what they do, but have trouble balancing their life with the rotating & variable shifts in their current job.
Action step to implement: Think about what you can do about the schedule. One hospital pharmacy director saw his retention rates go up significantly when he added a 7 on/7 off staff pharmacist evening shift. The 7 on/7 off evening shift covers the less popular shifts of evening shift & weekend shifts. Plus, his pharmacists love having 7 on/7 off schedule without having to work nights. Contemplate this idea to see if it would help with pharmacist satisfaction at your pharmacy.
Tip #2: Be known as the #1 place pharmacists work at if they want professional growth.
Many pharmacists love the opportunity to grow professionally. This doesn’t mean just clinically, but to develop as a person. Find out what your pharmacists’ strengths are, and foster growth in that area. It is a very individualized plan—it could be related to pharmacy management, clinical projects, coming up with ideas to improve workflow, patient care, or reducing time it takes to dispense medication, etc. Allow them the autonomy of taking on one project at a time. They could be small projects but important ones. They could also be part of a team in your pharmacy that brainstorms & implements that project together.
If you take the time to do this with each of your pharmacists, chances are that you will have pharmacists who stay with you year after year. You develop a relationship with your team and they feel you really care about them. Pharmacists who feel cared for will less likely leave their jobs, even if what seems like a better opportunity comes up.
Even while doing everything to be the best place to work, you may sometimes find yourself having an important job opening you want filled with the right pharmacist as soon as possible. Fortunately, you are in a better position than a pharmacy that doesn’t have as strong reputation than you. But you may still not have enough connections with the most experienced pharmacists to fill your opening. Don’t worry, because there are experienced and qualified pharmacists you can open yourself up to. Find out your options.
Action step to implement to become the place where every pharmacist wants to work: In your next staff meeting, share what your vision is about them growing professionally. Hand out a worksheet for them to fill out that helps them identify and acknowledge their strengths & what they are interested in doing more of professionally. Also during your staff meeting, ask your staff think could be done better about your pharmacy. Pick out the top 3 initiatives to work on in the next quarter.
Being Committed But Not Attached
It used to drive me crazy. I would talk to experienced pharmacists who would tell me about issues they were having with their job search. They would apply to places they wanted to work at and then either 1) not get invited in for an interview, or 2) not understand why they didn’t get the job even after what seemed like a good interview.
After talking to them for a bit, I could see how I could help them. A feeling of excitement and “oh—I could solve your problem!” would bubble up inside me when I knew that some simple (yet not always obvious) changes would have made the difference between getting offered a job or not.
Because of the challenges I saw experienced pharmacists having, I started to teach some underused, yet effective, strategies that can be used to either hear about jobs before they come out, or get noticed when applying for a job. I would tell the frustrated pharmacists about how I taught this in the bootcamps I offered, and that they didn’t need to worry because I could help them. In my excitement, they sometimes got offended because they felt I was “selling” what I had to offer to them. Sometimes they got turned off because they felt I wanted to make money off them.
We would hang up, and then I would see them continue to do what they had always done –making the same mistakes in their job search and missing out on jobs they deserved. Sometimes they would come back to me later when they finally realized the cost of taking time trying to figure it out themselves.
I learned from my experiences that being more committed to them than they were about turning things around with their job search was not an attractive thing. Aside from that, I think I came across a bit too “salesy.” I was confident in what I offered—I knew they couldn’t learn what I teach anywhere else. I have not seen other pharmacist recruiters willing to teach the secrets they know about how to get your foot into the door. Also very few recruiters are pharmacists themselves. Yet my passion to teach pharmacists how to improve their chances for getting a job actually got in the way of them deciding to learn from me. Although it was hard at first, I eventually let go of being attached to their success.
Now I am committed but not attached. If pharmacists recognize they want expert help in saving them time and lost job opportunities, that’s when I share how they can learn what to do differently. If they choose to figure it out themselves, I completely honor their decision.
As a result, the pharmacists who learn from me are the most committed and often write me, thanking me for shifting their job search approach and helping them get the job they wanted. Many of them are pleasantly surprised with what was taught, especially in the Hidden Job Market Bootcamp, which include strategies they can use throughout their pharmacy career to be in “the know” and hear about jobs before their competition.
You can apply my concept of “being committed but not attached” to your job search. Sometimes you may come across job opportunities that you are excited about, but the employer doesn’t seem to be interested in you because they’re not responding. It might drive you nuts because you know they could be a good match for you, if only they gave you a chance. Sometimes you have the opportunity to influence the decision and you just need to learn how to do it in an elegant way. Rather than writing it off as that it’s simply because of the tough job market that you didn’t get a shot, redirect your energy to figuring out what to do differently to get noticed.
The key is to be totally committed. If you’re half-assing it and sending out resumes to 10 different places just because you need a job, that doesn’t spell commitment. If you say you are committed, but you don’t take the time to get to really know what you’re applying for and to personalize your approach to capture the attention of a hiring manager, then you have a deeper commitment to something else. Your deeper commitment reflects hoping things will turn out, rather than putting your best foot forward and then letting things fall into place for you.
So be committed. After that, don’t be attached to where you end up, because what happens will just be perfect when you know you’ve tried your best. Even if you can’t see it now, when you look back, you will see how it was all an important part of your path. Just as some of you being “turned off” by me was an all- important part of my path to working with those I enjoy most working with.
To learn how to find out about jobs before they come out, listen to the free preview call:
“How to Tap into the Hidden Job Market to Beat Your Competition to the Interview”.
Pharmacists: 10 Questions You Must Ask Before Accepting a Job
It’s a popular time of the year for pharmacists to look for jobs, with many new grads and pharmacy residents finishing up between now and June. Curious about when the best times are to apply for jobs? Click here to read a previous article about this.
Some pharmacists are concerned about not finding the right job in this market and are open to positions outside of what they would normally consider. But being “open to everything” can hurt you when you apply for positions.
Even when the pharmacy job market is tough, having a clear idea about the position you want will help you attract what you want. This will help you target your search and make a positive impression. At the same time, you want to be flexible during the decision-making process, because it is a tough job market, especially if you want to get into a position that leads to your desired career.
A common mistake for new pharmacy grads is primarily considering salary and becoming jaded after a few years. The decisions you make may be influences by the fact that it’s “just your first pharmacist job,” but the decisions you make in the first few years can shape your career path, so it’s worth spending time to pinpoint what’s important to you aside from setting or salar
y.
Before you say “Yes,” to your next position, think about the long-term implications of accepting a position. Here are 10 questions to ask yourself before accepting a position:
- How does the pharmacy/company’s values align with my values?
- Does the geographic area offer me what I enjoy doing in my spare time?
- How is my fit with the management and the pharmacy staff?
- Can I see myself here in 3-5 years?
Here are some insightful questions to ask a pharmacist in the position you will be working in to help you make your decision:
- What’s a typical workday like?
- What do you like best about what you do?
- What do you like least about what you do?
- How independently do you get to make decisions?
- What do you think the pharmacy will be like in one year & five years?
- Does this position set me up for growth in my career the way I want to?BONUS Question to Ask:
What changes would you make about the pharmacy if you could?
Want to find out the best way to approach getting the inside scoop to positions? Learn how to tap into the hidden job market and hear about positions before they come out.
And when you hear about a position, learn how to stand out from other pharmacists with similar background as you.
Listen to the FREE Teleseminar (Instant Access):
“How to Tap into the Hidden Job Market to Beat Your Competition to the Interview” to tap into the hidden job market. This is a prerequisite to the Advanced Hidden Job Market Bootcamp.
NOTE: Even though the live Advanced “Hidden Job Market Bootcamp” dates are over, you may get instant access at the special tuition.