How to Transition From Retail to Consultant Pharmacist
Q: Chen, I wanted to look into being a consultant pharmacist for nursing homes but I don’t know how to go about doing that or what the requirements are. It’s been about 2 years since I have graduated and I currently work for CVS and have not done any residency. Any advice?
A: The best way to approach this would be to first connect with any current contacts with pharmacists in the long-term care setting, or contacts from your rotations, ie: if you did a long-term care rotation during pharmacy school.
Making those connections is going to be instrumental in helping you get into long-term care consulting. What you do with the connections is a longer conversation. Just knowing people is not enough. How you approach them and how you convey why you are the best pharmacist for the position is equally as important. I coach pharmacists on a regular basis on how to approach connections or network beyond current contacts to get the job they want.
Next, we need to look at your skill set & experience. What is your experience with long-term care consulting? If you have only been working for CVS, then chances are you have not done any nursing home consulting. If you don’t have experience, you can still get into the role, but you would need to overcome hurdles of convincing the pharmacy hiring manager that you are the best pharmacist for the role.
This may mean persuading them that you review charts easily to make interventions, you work closely with geriatric patients and counseling them on their medications, and that you have worked with nursing home providers. This can be tough if you live in a geographic area with other pharmacists you’re competing with in this tight job market who are more experienced than you and who have direct experience in the long-term care setting.
You could also look into getting your Certified Geriatric Pharmacist (CGP) certification and be board-certified in geriatrics. The next testing window is July 1-Aug 31 and the deadline to sign up is June 15: http://www.ccgp.org. Here is the review information: http://www.geriatricpharmacyreview.com
Depending on where you live, you may also need a separate license to practice consultant pharmacy. Arkansas, for example, requires an “at large consultant pharmacist” permit. Check into your state license requirements. FL requires a that you finish a consultant course sponsored by the FL Board of Pharmacy and get a special license. During your certification process, you will need to have a consultant pharmacist preceptor. Get to know your preceptor well and who may be able to refer you to a facility if they are impressed with your skill set.
An easier way to get into a consultant pharmacist position without prior experience is to get your foot in the door first. Get a position as a staff pharmacist servicing nursing homes and get to understand the inner workings of a nursing home pharmacy . Impress your boss working in that role, get clear about the requirements they look for in order for you to become a consultant pharmacist at the pharmacy, and then create a plan for moving into that role down the road.
For more guidance on how to transition into a consultant pharmacist job in this job market, stay tuned for expert interviews of pharmacists who are already in these positions and advice from them about how to get into the positions. You will get the scoop on getting access to these live interviews if you are a part of our community. To become a part of our community & stay connected on events offered first to our community, click here to get access to unadvertised jobs. To book your free 20-minute “Get the Job” Strategy Session, click on the link.
If you have experience transitioning into a long-term care consulting position from another practice setting, share your experience below.
Should I Write a CV or Resume?
Q: Chen, should I write a CV or a resume?
A: It depends on several factors unique to you, your work history, and the position you are applying for. To answer the question, let me explain the difference between a CV and a resume. A CV includes a full history of your experience. A CV may include your a summary of publications, research, presentations, but a resume doesn’t. A resume is often a 2-3 page summary of your experience, highlighting the most relevant experience to the position that you are applying for.
Typically, a resume would highlight recent experience. It is concise, and a perfect way to market yourself for many pharmacist positions. Look at your resume as a “marketing piece” and a first introduction of yourself to a potential employer. A pharmacy hiring manager often doesn’t have a lot of time to look at an initial application. When you express your direct relevant experience to the position you are interested in, it can be more powerful than having a lengthy CV that may end up showing a lot of irrelevant experience. This may be the case especially when you’ve had varied experience throughout your pharmacy career and it’s hard to scan to find the relevant experience.
However, a CV can be useful also. It is appropriate when applying for pharmacy residencies, as well as for opportunities in research and academia. If you have extensive experience and it has primarily been in one practice setting of pharmacy, writing a CV can do the job. It can also do the job when it shows your breadth of experience well.
I must say that these are general guidelines. Choosing between a CV or a resume is a case-by-case decision, depending on your breadth of experience, the type of position you’re applying for, how much you’ve transitioned positions (is it frequent that you’ve left positions, or do you typically stay in positions?), when you had your relevant experience to the position, and more. This is something that you can get advice on from an individual basis if you’re a member of the “Get the Job” Membership Program for pharmacists, new pharmacy grads, and residents. You can use your membership benefit to gain direct ongoing access to a pharmacist job market expert for advice and training until you find the right job.
Are Pharmacist Salaries Going Down?
Q: Chen, are pharmacist salaries going down?
A: In any kind of job market, salaries are based on the value you provide and the market supply/demand. Because the economy has led to a tighter pharmacist job market, it is a reality that 1) companies are experiencing budget cuts, 2) pharmacist layoffs lead to increased supply of pharmacists.
I have been waiting to respond to this question because I wanted to observe for a longer period what the pharmacist job market is experiencing and give you my first-hand perspective. I have noticed that pharmacies may be less generous with relocation or sign-on bonuses, but I haven’t necessarily seen salaries decrease significantly. There are hospitals that aren’t paying for pharmacists to travel to interview, because they are on smaller budgets than before.
Pharmacist salaries are stabilizing and don’t seem to be increasing as in previous years. Don’t expect that you have as much negotiating room for salaries as previous years, because the competition is tough out there and there may be someone equally as qualified who will work for a salary that you may think it’s not enough. I know an inpatient pharmacist who took a hiatus in her work for almost a year & is wanting to get back into hospital or home infusion. She had an opportunity that she could get back into but she was out of touch with how the pharmacist job market has shifted, and felt that the salary was not competitive enough. She is still out of a job months later because of this.
If you are a relief pharmacist, you may have noticed that temporary staffing needs have decreased in certain areas (partly because they are being filled by full-time pharmacists more readily in this job market). The pharmacist staffing companies are experiencing a cut in what pharmacies are paying and I have seen some agencies decrease the amount they are paying pharmacists because expenses of the services & costs of doing business of an agency don’t decrease just because it’s a tighter job market.
Comment below (you can keep it anonymous if you wish) about what you’ve seen with salaries at your workplace.
I’ve included the National Results from the 2010 Spring Edition Pharmacist Salary Survey from Mercer Human Resource Consulting. *Keep in mind that there are absolutely variations geographically & you may be compensated differently due to the depth of role that you have.
2010 Pharmacy Compensation Survey – Spring Edition
National Results
| Pos Code(s) | Pos Title(s) | # Orgs | # Obs | $ Hourly Base Pay Wgtd Mean | $ Annualized Base Pay Wgtd Mean* |
| 100 | Pharmacy Team Mgr | 99 | 27,079 | 60.20 | 125.2 |
| 200 | Staff Pharmacist – Retail | 28 | 52,730 | 54.59 | 113.6 |
| 205 | Staff Pharmacist – Hospital | 99 | 3,919 | 53.73 | 111.7 |
| 210 | Staff Pharmacist (Healthcare Retail/Satellite) | 17 | 448 | 51.66 | 107.4 |
| 220 | Staff Pharmacist (Mail-order/Online) | 9 | 2,336 | 52.55 | 109.3 |
| 250 | Clinical Pharmacist | 71 | 1,194 | 54.55 | 113.4 |
| 270 | Nuclear Pharmacist | 2 | 226 | —— | —— |
| 200 205 210 220 250 270 |
Staff Pharmacist – Retail, Staff Pharmacist – Hospital, Staff Pharmacist (Healthcare Retail/Satellite), Staff Pharmacist (Mail-order/Online), Clinical Pharmacist, Nuclear Pharmacist | 147 | 60,853 | 54.07 | 112.5 |
| 300 | Lead Pharmacy Tech | 83 | 24,742 | 17.39 | 36.2 |
| 310 | Pharmacy Tech | 113 | 98,140 | 15.44 | 32.1 |
| 300 310 |
Lead Pharmacy Tech, Pharmacy Tech | 144 | 122,882 | 15.81 | 32.9 |
Are cover letters good for online applying?
Q: Chen, are cover letters good for online applying?
A: Even if the online site just asks for your resume, if you are able effectively to capture a pharmacy hiring manager’s attention with a cover letter, by all means write one. Just make sure that the formatting will come thru properly with your resume underneath it.
Cover letters are good for online & offline applying only if they are truly targeted towards the specific job you are applying for, and ties in nicely to highlight your experience that makes you different from any other pharmacist. It is an introduction to you and is essentially a compelling statement marketing yourself and why you should be considered. It is also an opportunity for your personality to shine through that cannot necessarily be captured in a resume.
If it doesn’t convey anything special or extra from what you put in a resume, then it is a waste of space. This is a common mistake pharmacists make. I frequently see generic cover letters and it is such a turnoff to pharmacy employers. It may be interpreted that you don’t really care about the opportunity enough to put attention to it. Read more
What is Considered Job Hopping in Pharmacy?
Question: Chen, what is considered job hopping in the pharmacy profession? Does it really matter if I leave a job within a year?
Answer: In our parents’ generation, it was common for people to stay in their jobs until they retired. In this generation, people move around jobs more frequently. However, if you leave jobs within 2 years, it is typically considered job hopping, unless you are a relief pharmacist.
Leaving positions frequently before sticking it out for at least 2 years is what you need to be concerned about. This says to a pharmacy employer that you may not be a good investment to them, even if you are great at what you do. It takes time, money, and resources to train someone fully, not to mention the costs of screening & hiring a pharmacist.
What is considered unacceptable? Read more
Did Not Get Official Job Offer After Receiving Offer Verbally. What Can I Do Differently?
Chen, What can I do differently? I did not get the job offer after what was supposed to be the last interview and was assured verbally that an offer will be coming. Happened three times at different interviews.
Answer: There are a few possibilities that you can evaluate, especially if you are well qualified for the position.
1) They did not offer you the opportunity officially because of reasons you cannot control. Maybe they changed their mind on what they had originally decided was important to them. Or maybe they decided that instead of hiring someone, they would just maintain their current staff. Or, perhaps they decided to fill the position internally.
2) You did not “close the job offer” during and after the interview. This is something that pharmacists are not used to doing. It may not come naturally to you, but it is an important step to convincing a potential employer that you are the one for the job. I will share with you a couple of tips.
One tip you can use during the interview: Finish the conversation by sharing how interested you are in the position, why it is a good fit (mention the benefits to them), & that you are looking forward to receiving the offer letter. Ask them what the next step is (including the process they need to go thru before the offer letter is written) and when you will expect to receive the official offer letter. There are additional things that you can do during the interview to “ask for the job” or “close the job offer”. This will make you stand out from the rest of your competition. Read more
I Had Management Experience 5 yrs Ago- How to Convey Experience to Get an Interview?
Chen, Should a resume have an objective or just start with job experience? A recruiter told me that employers scan resumes, looking mostly at the past 5 years experience. I have had management experience about 5 years ago, but purposely stepped down to a staff position to accomodate school work. Now that I have my PharmD degree, I would like a management position, but the last 2 jobs do not reflect management experience…what is the best way to convey this information so I can at least get an initial interview? Thank you.
A: Definitely have an objective in your resume. It is a place where you can boldy express that you want to get back into management. Example, “Seeking to re-engage in a management role in XXX setting after completing my external PharmD cum laude.” This can be refined more, depending on your specific talents & skill sets, but this is a start.
Also, convey your management experience in the body of your resume, even though it was over 5 yrs ago. It is useful to have a concise resume; at the same time, in your specific situation, I would recommend that you include the management experience you had 5 years ago in your resume and to elaborate on it.