Whenever I’m going through the job search process, a dedicated LinkedIn tab was always open on my MacBook as I networked and applied for open positions daily. In addition to networking and expanding my career, I also enjoy using LinkedIn to share my own blog posts about pharmacy and work-life balance. It’s a great platform for anyone looking to grow their career and increase their network if you know how to use it appropriately. Instead of spending hours connecting with random people on LinkedIn, here are 8 ways to use LinkedIn more effectively.

Make a compelling and effective profile

This may seem obvious, but your profile is your digital resume 2.0. It’s your profile that tells a recruiter or future colleague everything that they need to know about you professionally, which means that its arguably the most important thing you can improve on LinkedIn.

Two easy ways to improve your profile immediately is to add a professional photo and a banner image. For your professional photo, you’ll want to make your image showcases you at your best. Good lightening, a clear background, and a genuine smile will do wonders for your page. Even adding a banner image that showcases either your passion or profession will help you stand out among the crowd.

Post updates that your audience would appreciate

Build quality relationships within the pharmacy profession starts by being an active contributor and voice in the community. Consider posting relevant content that your network would find useful or valuable. This could include a new study or drug that was released, an engaging story, a quote that resonated with you, and updates on your journey. By being active on the platform, you’ll not only increase your visibility, but you’ll also gain some new friends along the way.

Network

The unique part about LinkedIn is the opportunity that you have to connect and network with people you wouldn’t normally get a chance to. You can connect with industry leaders, potential mentors, and even people with unique career paths. But before you add a ton of random strangers on the platform, try to only connect with people who you have a genuine interest in.

The goal isn’t to have the biggest network on the app. It’s to build a meaningful network that pushes you to grow in your career and to find people that inspire you. To get started, try reaching out to a few people that you’re interested in within the profession and ask them for a virtual coffee date or a quick phone call. You’d be surprised with how much you’ll learn from others, and you might even find a new aspect of pharmacy that you had no idea even existed. I’ve found some really great mentors by doing this!

Use LinkedIn courses to expand your knowledge

A hidden gem that many LinkedIn users miss is the opportunity to take some of the courses that LinkedIn offers on its website. If you take a look, there’s a good mix of both free and paid courses available to expand your knowledge in just about anything you could imagine, such as digital marketing, excel, and even cyber security.  The different courses vary in length, but once completed, those certificates can be added to your profile for everyone to see.

Write an informative summary

Probably the hardest part about perfecting your LinkedIn profile is the part where you have to write a successful and informative summary. It can be hard to narrow down what you should include in your summary while proving your point. Do you include things such as your current role, how long you’ve been there, and where you hope to go?

While there is no right answer, I think it depends on the goal that you have for your summary section. Are you trying to level up in your career or are you happy in your current position? With the summary section, focus on telling your story, what makes you different, where you want to go, and a few fun facts about your life outside of work. I love sharing that I love to travel, blog, and anything pitbull related!

Add rich multimedia

The really nice part about LinkedIn is the ability to make your resume come alive with the addition of multimedia. Under each of your job descriptions, you can opt to add samples of your work. This is such an easy way to use LinkedIn more effectively, but don’t go crazy with this section by adding every project you’ve ever worked on. I would only include the projects or work that you are particularly proud of or that show your work abilities.

For an example, I’ve included some marketing campaigns that I’ve worked on through my blog as well as articles that I’ve been included in. By adding in multimedia to your digital resume, you’ll give the hiring manager or recruiter to see a visual representation of the quality of the work you provide as well as the extent of your skillset.

Ask for recommendations

Similar to multimedia, recommendations provide an additional layer of creditability to your LinkedIn profile. Recommendations are statements or testimony from people you are connected with on LinkedIn that can showcase more about your professional work ethic. It’s a great place for a former boss or co-worker to explain why they enjoyed working with you in detail, such as why you were a great leader or how you improved the team dynamic. Don’t forget that you can also leave recommendations on other people’s profiles, which is a double win-win for you. You get to increase your profile’s visibility and help boost a co-worker’s career too.

Practice consistency

Just like Rome wasn’t built in a day, your network also takes time and consistency to grow. As you get more comfortable being on the platform, create a new habit of checking in once a day to like, comment, and share content from others. If you’re looking to land a new job in the future, you’ll need to be consistent to get noticed by hiring managers and recruiters. While a great profile will help you stand out for sure, the real magic happens when you plug in into the pharmacy community on LinkedIn. Consistency is probably the most important tip or way to use LinkedIn more effectively.

What are some ways that you are using LinkedIn more effectively this year?

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The post How to Use LinkedIn Effectively as a Pharmacist appeared first on Uniquely Mickie.

Why It Matters

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, then you know that right now there are over 15,000 new graduates every year. The pharmacist job market is very competitive right now because essentially everyone looks the same on paper: a decent GPA, organizational involvement, work experience, and maybe even a certificate or two. The only way to stand out in the job application process is to nail a job interview, which can only happen through the proper prep work.

How to Prepare for a Job Interview

Develop Your Narrative

One of the most common mistakes that job candidates do is allow the job interviewer to guide and direct the conversation. While you may think that you only need to answer the questions that you are given, you should be guiding the conversation to showcase why you are the perfect candidate for the role. In order to do that, you need to have a strong grasp of what the role entails and how that role fits within the company. 

Research the company and the position

The first step in preparing for a job interview is to research the company and the position in detail. You’ll want to understand how the role fits into the overall company, what department or specialty you’ll be working in, and other deciding factors. This is also the time to understand the job description, inside and out, so you can understand how your skills correlate to the necessary tasks.

Some of the questions I like to answer before the interview are:

• What kind of company is it? (hospital, clinic, insurance company, etc)
• What is the mission and values of the company?
• What services do they offer?
• What kind of patients do they see? How many beds (if it’s a hospital)?
• Any recent accomplishments or news?

Connect the dots

Once you feel comfortable with the job description and the company, you can now start to understand and connect the dots of what skills you can bring to the table. At this point, print out the job description and write on the side any skills or accomplishments that could relate to what they are asking for. Continue doing this until the sidelines are full with details. Nothing is too small or large to be included in this exercise.

After finishing this up, you’ll start to notice some things standing out and some skills seem to be a better match for the position than others. Turn those accomplishments or skills that you picked out and turn them into stories that your interviewer can understand. Not all interviewers are going to have a background in pharmacy, so you may need to tailor your story to your audience.

Rehearse for common questions

An easy way to prepare for a job interview is to rehearse your answers to common interview questions, such as the dreaded “tell me about yourself” and “tell me about a time when…”. While they may not be your favorite questions to answer, they are highly likely to be asked of you so it’s better to prepare ahead of time.

When answering interview questions, try to utilize the STAR method as much as possible. The STAR method is an interview technique that helps you answer behavioral questions in a way that discusses the specific situation, task, action, and result. Instead of rambling about a story, use the STAR method to structure your story that allows you to get across the point quickly and effectively. Something that I like to do is to is rehearse the different stories that could answer the most common questions that I’ve thought of. An example of this could be practicing a story that showcases your leadership style, a story that showcases how you manage angry customers or even a blurb of how you handle work stress.

Brainstorm your potential questions

When the interviewer asks you if you have any questions at the interview, you should always say “yes”. I say this because your interview is also your opportunity to scope out your potential new employer as well. Whatever questions that you ask should be tailored to the things that matter to you the most, such as PTO, work-life balance, etc. Brainstorming your questions beforehand is such an easy way to prep for a job interview. 

Some good questions that you may want to consider asking are:

• What is your ideal candidate for this role?
• If I were hired, what would a typical day look like?
• What makes someone successful in this position?
• How do you measure success in this role? How often are employees evaluated?
• What are the next steps? When can I expect to hear from you?
• What is the best part of your job and the hardest part?
• What are the opportunities for advancement here?
• What do you love about [Company Name]?

Showcase your personality

Don’t forget to showcase your personality despite your nervousness! People want to hire people who they can either relate too, so you’ll want to let your personality shine during the interview. You can easily do this by adding in jokes, smiling during the interview, and being excited about the overall conversation.

Wear the right outfit

Regardless of whether your interview is virtual or in-person, first impressions are very important and can be a deciding factor during the interview process. To leave a good first impression, I would suggest dressing to impress by wearing proper professional attire, such as a blazer and button up. Depending on what kind of role that you’re applying for, you may be able to get away with sprinkling in your personality with accessories or patterns. But be mindful and tasteful so you don’t go overboard.

Practice!

Just like anything, practice makes perfect, and nothing is different when it comes to your interview. Practice answering common interview questions in front of a mirror, a friend, or even a career coach. Because here’s the tea: when you practice enough times, your stories and narratives flow easily, and you end up being more relaxed during the interview. Another side effect of practicing is that instead of worrying about your answers, you can be more engaged in the conversation, which is something that interviewers look for.

As you prepare for a job interview, I hope that these tips help you land your dream job at your dream company. Don’t forget that you deserve happiness in your life, including in your professional career. What is your #1 interview tip that has helped you in landing a new job?

You may also like: How to Survive a 12 Hour Shift, My Favorite Pen for Work, Life, and Business, and finally the Best Mobile Apps for Pharmacists

The post Interview Prep: The Key to A Successful Job Interview appeared first on Uniquely Mickie.

The great part about loving what you do or learn is the ability to show others that passion for your career and to help other people through the same journey you went through. Hence the creation of this blog, but in reality, this isn’t my only goal in life or the finishing touches of my aspirations. It’s only the beginning.  It’s only the tip of the iceberg in the career or dream that I’ve created in my head for myself.

Here are some of my goals that I hope to achieve in less than 4 years…

• Help college students have the best experience while in college and make the journey worth wild
• Help high school and college students learn about pharmacy and get accepted into pharmacy school
• Create a for-profit course that directly outlines how to be the best candidate for a rigorous professional program such as pharmacy school
• Speak around the country at multiple colleges and programs to talk about pharmacy and give some nuggets of knowledge to those future students
• Graduate pharmacy school, pass the NAPLEX exam, and pass the law exam in whatever state that I want to work in
• Become an expert on the NAPLEX so that I could create a course and teach professional students how to pass the NAPLEX as well as understanding the material seen on the test

Dream Career

The best part about pharmacy is the limitless career options that pharmacists can have. Literally if you want to do compounding for a few years, then go to a hospital setting to be a clinical pharmacist, then maybe you quit that job to pursue teaching. The options are limitless, which is why I love pharmacy. Over the course of college, I’ve learned a few things about myself that have changed the way I think of a career.

My dream career would encompass my love of writing, talking, and helping people. Seems like a match made in heaven, right? But wait, I also love compounding (aka making personalized medications for your patients), researching and testing new drugs in clinical trials, and teaching. I also enjoy being my own boss, working on my own time, and making passive income.

Here are the goals that my dream career needs to meet:

• The ability to have multiple sources of income, passive and active
• The ability to teach and make a difference in my community
• The work needs to make me happy and not feel super stressed on a day-to-day basis

Writing down your goals and dreams down on paper or on the internet is more likely to keep you accountable. The main reason for that is because you are putting yourself out there for the world to see and have multiple people supporting you throughout the whole journey. Plus you can then create a game plan of how you are going to achieve those goals you set for yourself. It’s a lot easier to keep those goals in mind when you see them written out daily. 

Now trust me, most of my fellow colleagues in the program think that I’m a little crazy and don’t think that this blog can become something amazing. But I know it can with enough hard work and dedication. I want to create a lifelong community here on my blog of high school students, college students, and anyone interested in professional school (medical or pharmacy).

What are your dreams and aspirations, either for your career or life? Let’s all support one another in our journey towards making our dreams a reality!

The post My Dream Job | A Look into My Goals & Aspirations appeared first on Uniquely Mickie.