Pharmacists are licensed professionals who provide essential medical products and equipment to customers based on prescriptions.
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According to The Bureau of Labor Standard, the average annual wage for pharmacists was $128,570 in May 2021.
And it's projected to generate around 11,300 pharmacist job openings each year over the decade.
If you are considering a pharmacy management career, it is important that your resume properly reflects your skills, experience, education, and accomplishments.
In this guide, we'll tell you everything you need to know about writing an effective Pharmacist resume.
Table of Content:
- What does a pharmacist do?
- What are the sections to use in a pharmacist resume?
- How to write the pharmacist resume header section?
- How to create a professional summary for pharmacist resume
- How to add key skills in the pharmacist resume?
- How to write a professional experience section of the pharmacist resume?
- How to add education experience to the pharmacist resume?
- How to add certification to the pharmacist resume?
- How to add the additional experience to the pharmacist resume?
What Does a Pharmacist Do?
A pharmacist is a healthcare professional specializing in providing medicines to customers based on prescriptions.
They are also experts on drugs and give instructions to patients so that patients can get the best possible results.
To become a pharmacist, you need to get an undergraduate degree in pharmacy from an accredited school. After earning your degree, you'll need to pass two exams: one for your license and one for your state board of pharmacy. In most states, you must be licensed before practicing as a pharmacist.
A licensed pharmacist has many responsibilities, including:
- Dispensing drugs prescribed by doctors or other health care providers
- Providing education about medications and their side effects
- Managing drug inventory
- Providing information about insurance coverage for prescription drugs
Pharmacist Job Description for Resume
A pharmacist might be entrusted with the following responsibilities:
- Medication dispensation according to prescriptions written by doctors.
- Counsel customers, steer them towards the right medications, and resolve their queries & doubts regarding medications.
- Manage drug inventory.
- Advise patients on the appropriate dosage and proper storage of medications after they are discharged.
- Network with physicians to increase customer base.
Pharmacist Salary
Following are the salaries quoted by some of the major websites for a pharmacist:
- PayScale: $113,347 / year
- Indeed: $52.23 / hour
- salary.com: $126,581 to $143,079 / year
Pharmacist Resume Sections
Follow a tried and tested method of crafting resumes by crafting these standard functional sections:
- Header
- Personal Information
- Profile Title
- Summary/Objective
- Key Skills
- Professional Experience
- Education
- Certifications (if any)
- Awards & Recognition (if any)
- Additional Information (if any)
Also Read: What are the different sections to add to a resume?.
Pharmacist Resume: Header
Do not mistake labeling your resume 'CV' or 'Resume.' The header gives a unique identity to your resume, so always use your full name to achieve this goal.
Following are some tips that will help you frame the ideal header for your pharmacy resume:
- Write your name at the top of your resume.
- Use 16-20 font size.
- If you have a middle name, initialize it.
Our dispensary resume examples will guide you in building an effective resume. Find below one such example of curating the perfect resume header.
Also Read: How to write a perfect resume header in 2022?
Pharmacist Resume: Personal Information
This section should hold the information that your potential employer will use to contact you if your application is shortlisted. Hence, you should provide accurate contact details.
This is the contact information that should be listed in the personal information section:
- Your functional mobile number
- Your professional email ID
- Your current location of residence
Another thing to be mindful of is not providing details such as your marital status, religious affiliation, etc., in your resume unless explicitly asked for.
Updated Mobile Number
There is a possibility that your first round of interviews might take place over the phone, or you might even be contacted to schedule an interview. Therefore, it is imperative that you only provide an active number.
Do not make typing mistakes, and re-check to ensure that there are absolutely no mistakes.
Use the following tips to draft the updated mobile number in the correct format:
- Use your country's ISD code as a prefix before your phone number
- Put a plus sign (+) before the ISD code
- Write your updated mobile number after the ISD code
- Eg: +1 42695 82170
Professional Email Address
Emails are convenient, and the recruiters will most likely use this platform to get in touch with you.
Create an email ID exclusively for official purposes. That means no silly names or the email address you created as a high schooler. Use your real name to create one, for example, firstname_lastname@xyz.com.
Current Location of Residence
Following are some tips that will help you draft your current location in the right format:
- Mention the city and state of your residence in the resume if you are looking for a job in your own country. On the other hand, if you are applying for a job in another country, mention your city and country of residence.
- Avoid mentioning details such as your house number, street number, locality name, etc.
Take a look at the pharmacist resume examples we have scattered throughout this guide, and use them to navigate your resume-writing process.
Also Read: How to write the contact information in resume in 2022?
Pharmacist Resume: Profile Title
Profile titles reflect your current designation in your functional industry. Thus, tell the recruiter your level of seniority.
Follow these tips to write your profile title in the correct format:
- It should be the second-largest text in your resume after the resume header.
- It should ideally be written in the font size range of 14-16 points.
We advise you not to exaggerate your profile title as it will be considered fraudulent. You may lose your chance of getting the job, but it may also result in your application being blacklisted.
Let our dispensary resume examples guide you:
Pharmacist Resume Summary
A resume summary is a brief statement of your skills and achievements, which gives the recruiter an overview of your professional history.
As recruiters have a limited amount of time to look at a single resume, they might first go through the summary section to see if the candidate is experienced enough for the job.
So, you need to highlight your most important achievements here so that the recruiter knows that you will be a valuable addition to their team.
Follow the tips below to write the perfect resume summary:
- Write your summary at the end.
- Start by stating the years of experience you have in this industry and then include your career highlights.
- Try to include the keywords used by the recruiter in the job description.
- Do not let it exceed 3-5 lines.
- Write a resume summary only if you have an experience of over 3 years.
Here is a snap of our pharmacist resume example showing an ideal resume summary:
Also Read: How to write a resume summary in 2022?
Pharmacist Resume Objective
If you are an inexperienced professional or a fresh graduate, your pharmacy student resume does not hold much meat.
You can, however, impress the recruiters by showing them what you can do for their organization by curating the perfect pharmacist resume objective section.
Focus on your education, internships, volunteering experience, and certifications, and show your potential in the right way in your pharmacy student resume.
An objective should be framed in the pharmacy student resume if you have no work experience or have very limited work experience of fewer than 3 years.
Also Read: How to write a resume objective in 2022?
Pharmacist Resume: Key Skills
The main motive behind writing a resume is to convince the recruiters that you are the ideal candidate for the job.
So, a resume without the key skills section would be incomplete as by listing your skills, you attract the employer's attention and tell him your eligibility at first glance.
Always include the keywords that the recruiters have used in the job description of your target job profile, although ensure that these are justified by your professional experience section.
List of Key Skills for Pharmacist Resume
Here's the list of key skills on a pharmacist's resume:
- Pharmacy Services
- Patient Care
- Medication Orders
- Inventory Management
- Hipaa
- Pharmaceutical Care
- Medication USE
- Physician Orders
- Federal Regulations
- Order Entry
- Medication Reconciliation
- Inventory Control
Take a look at our pharmacist resume sample to have a visual understanding of what your key skills section should look like:
Also Read: How to write the key skills section of a resume in 2022?
Pharmacist Resume: Professional Experience
Your professional experience takes up most of your resume and should be paid extra attention to.
When writing a resume for a pharmacy, you want to make sure that you can showcase your achievements and what you have learned while working as a pharmacist.
This can be achieved by using a work experience section that highlights the following:
- Position name
- Company Name
- Employment Dates
- Responsibilities & Achievements
Tips to craft the professional experience section of a Pharmacist resume:
- Always keep your recent work experience on the top
- List your achievements in single-line bullet points
- Bold key statistics and important terms to highlight in the work experience section
- Use the STAR format to structure the bullet points
- Make sure to start all the bullet points with a power verb
List of Action Words for Pharmacist Resume
These are the power words you can use in the Pharmacist resume:
- Improved
- Coordinated
- Integrated
- Documented
- Inventoried
- Converted
- Studied
- Analyzed
- Tested
STAR Format to Write Pharmacist Resume
The ideal pharmacist resume format is the STAR format, as it follows the cause-effect relationship to enhance your professional experience section.
STAR stands for:
- S: Situation - The situation that led to your contributions.
- T: Task - A task that was assigned to you.
- A: Action - What action you take to fulfill the assigned task.
- R: Result - What were the results of this action in the form of an achievement figure.
When using the STAR format to frame your points, try to mention as many performance figures as possible.
Example of Pharmacist Resume Example
Medication Dispensation
- Distributed medications to 1000+ patients weekly with 100% precision while following doctor's prescriptions
- Retained 80% of customers by gaining their trust through memorizing allergies of repeat customers & steered them towards the right medications
Inventory Management & Training
- Managed drug inventory & restocked supplies whenever necessary leading to 100% employer satisfaction
- Trained 8 Pharmacy Technicians to improve the overall performance of the pharmacy by 40%
Here's a pharmacist resume example made with our online resume builder tool showcasing the perfect professional experience section:
Also Read: How to write the work experience section of a resume in 2022?
Pharmacist Resume: Education
If you want to work as a pharmacist, a degree in pharmacy would be vital, and you should keep up with the latest updates by renewing your license to practice.
Your pharmacy resume should mention the following details about your education:
- Name of your school/university.
- Name of the courses you have pursued.
- The location of your school/university.
- Date of enrolment and graduation from each course (in month and year format).
Here is our efficient sample pharmacist resume showcasing the perfect education section.
Also Read: How to write the education section of a resume in 2022?
Pharmacist Resume: Certifications
Certifications add more value to your resume, showing dedication on your behalf.
Also, as a pharmacist, some certifications might be very important, and recruiters might be specifically looking for someone qualified for this position.
The certifications section of your hospital pharmacist resume should ideally consist of the following details:
- Name of the certification you have pursued.
- Name of the certificate issuing body.
- Location of the certifying body.
- Enrollment and completion date in the month and year format.
These details should be arranged in this format:
{Name of certification} | {Affiliating Institution} | {Location} | {Date} (in month & year format)
Here's a sample pharmacist resume showcasing an ideal certifications section:
Also Read: How to write the certification section on a resume in 2022?
Pharmacist Resume: Additional Information
If you have space left in your resume, you can add some additional sections in your resume. It will help your resume stand apart from other resumes.
Awards & Honors
If you have received any awards or honors in your academic career or previous jobs, you can add them to your resume's Awards & Honors section.
Languages
As a pharmacist, you have to work with customers all the time. And it helps if you know more than one language. So, if you know more languages, add them to your resume.
Hobbies & Interests
If you have some hobbies or interests relevant to the job you're applying for, add them to the Hobbies & Interests section of the Pharmacist resume.
View this pharmacist resume example of the additional information:
## Pharmacist Resume SampleHere's a sample pharmacist resume for you:
- Dispensed medications to 300+ patients daily according to written prescriptions with 100% accuracy
- Memorized allergies of repeat customers & steered them towards the right medications, leading to 80% customer retention
- Managed drug inventory & made purchases for supplies when necessary leading to 100% employer satisfaction
- Trained and mentored 5 Pharmacy Technicians which improved the overall performance of the pharmacy by 30%
- Resolved queries & doubts of customers regarding medications, increasing sales by USD 5K per month
- Advised patients on the appropriate dosage and proper storage of the medications after they are discharged
- Automated data management system, saving 20 hours that were spent on manual data recording per week
- Fostered a network of physicians who referred patients to our pharmacy, increasing customer base by 75%
- Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support Certification | American Heart Association | Dallas, TX, US | Jun '08
Key Takeaways
- Always use the month & year format for writing dates across all sections in your pharmacist resumes.
- Use the reverse chronological format to write your pharmacy resume.
- Avoid giving personal details except for the contact details unless specified.
- Use your full name to label your resume for pharmacists.
- Write your full name as the header of your resume in the largest font size of 16-20 range.
- Use keywords used by the recruiters while framing your pharmacist resume skills.
- Start every bullet point in the professional experience section of your retail pharmacist resume with an action verb. Use it in the past tense for all your former profiles and in the present continuous for the present profile.
- Use bolding to enhance the readability and effectiveness of your resume while framing the bullet points in the professional experience section of your pharmacy resume.
- If you have 3 years and above experience, write a resume summary and an objective if you have less than 3 years of experience.
- Keep your resume summary/objective limited to 3-5 lines.
Now that you have reached the end of this blog, we hope you use the information and the dispensary resume examples provided in this blog to write a kickass resume.
Go to Hiration resume builder and create a professional resume for yourself. Additionally, reach out to us at support@hiration.com, and you can get 24/7 professional assistance with all your job & career-related queries.