Most pharmacists don’t include resume writing in their list of hobbies nor is it their idea of an exciting weekend at home. The problem isn’t having to sit down and actually write out your professional life in 2 pages or less; that’s the easy part. The true challenge is writing the perfect pharmacist resume that captures the hiring manager’s attention in 30 seconds flat. With the number of applicants rising, the whole process of finding and landing a pharmacist job can feel pretty daunting, especially as a new grad pharmacist. Hopefully in today’s post, I can give you some guidance that’ll help calm your nerves even just a little bit. We’re going to be diving into the key sections that you should include in your resume as a new pharmacist.
5 Key Sections To Include on Your First Pharmacist Resume
Professional Summary
While some people may say a professional summary is outdated, I would beg to differ. A professional summary is a great space to really sell yourself and highlight why you would be amazing for the position. You only have a few sentences to showcase your strengths and desires so choose your words wisely and keep things concise. This is also a great space to thrown in some key words that you found on the job application to better improve your chances of getting pass the AI computer system.
Organizations
The second category that you should include in your pharmacist resume is a list of organizations that you are (or were) actively a part of during pharmacy school. This is where you want to share how involved you were in each organization and what role that you played. Even if you were just a member, make sure to include it on your list if you actively attended meetings and events hosted by the organization. Feel free to even include organizations or clubs that you were a part of that are unrelated to pharmacy. You never know what may spark a hiring manager’s interests, and it’s a chance to show your future employer that you have other interests and hobbies outside of pharmacy.
For an example, I included in this section my time spent being an active member with the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA). I was the HIV/AIDS Initiative chair for a year before jumping over to be a fundraising committee member. Since I spent the most of my extra time with SNPhA, I wanted to be sure that it was highlighted in my resume. I also included that I am a member of Phi Lambda Sigma since it’s a prestigious honor to be admitted into the pharmacy leadership organization.
Experience (Clinical & Non)
As you can imagine, your related experiences should be the bulk of your resume. Depending on whether or not you worked during pharmacy school, this section may look a different from your fellow peers. In the experience section, you’ll want to highlight both your clinical and non-clinical work experience. Both of the sections should showcase your skills and experience in a way that makes sense for the job that you are applying for.
On my first pharmacist resume, I had a separate section for rotation experiences, another for my work experience, and another for clinical skills competitions. Feel free to only highlight a few rotations instead of sharing your entire rooster; you could also share a cool rotation that you learned a lot from or a specific rotation that you had to apply for. Either way you’ll want to be selective on this section of your resume.
Presentations and Publications
I know that when I was in pharmacy school, research was highly suggested, and it definitely felt like everyone was a part of a research project at one point or another. If you were one of the lucky ones that decided to give research a try, you should absolutely include that on your resume. Presenting a poster presentation or having an article published in a medical journal is a big achievement that you should not only celebrate in the moment but also highlight on your resume.
Training and Certificates
Throughout pharmacy school, you’re sure to collect a certificate or two that you’ll want to highlight on your resume. From immunization training to a diabetes certificate, nothing is too small or grand to include in the training and certificate portion of your pharmacist resume. Many pharmacy schools even have funding if you want to gain a particular certificate that isn’t offered at your school. Personally, I was really into compounding during pharmacy school so I used every scholarship possible to gain a ton of compounding certificates through the American College of Apothecaries (ACA).
Make sure to include expiration dates if your certificate has one. This includes any diabetic, immunization, CPR or drug therapy-based trainings that change throughout the years. You’ll want to make sure to keep this section up to date and to remove anything that is expired before submitting your resume.
While this is obviously not an all-inclusive resume guide, I wanted to share the sections that I focused on when I was creating my first pharmacist resume after graduation. I know it can be quite daunting at the beginning, but it gets easier with time and you’ll thank yourself later when you land your first job. For those that are struggling to get started, take a look at the Pharmacist CV Template that is perfect for pharmacists and pharmacy students alike. It’ll give you an easy template where you can plug in all of your info and is ready to use. Lastly, remember to keep the information updated and ready to go at a moment’s notice – you never know when someone will ask for a copy of your resume.
You may also enjoy: How to Land Your First Pharmacist Job and the Student’s Guide to Getting Involved in Research
