Secrets to Negotiating the Highest Salary

How do you know if you’ve done what you could to negotiate for the highest salary? A PGY2 oncology resident I’m working with has a dilemma about whether to stay on at the hospital where she’s doing her current residency at a salary that is around $30,000 lower than another offer she has.  She would rather stay at the hospital she’s currently at, but the salary difference is so significant that he was bummed.  She didn’t think it was possible for them to come back with an offer that he could accept.

What to do in this scenario?

Let me peel back the curtains and share with you a few tips I gave her to use as her personal arsenal during negotiations at the hospital she wanted to stay at.  These valuable tips are centered on a mindset shift that can inspire a pharmacy hiring manager to give you more money (or an offer package) than you would’ve imagined.

#1  It’s not all about the money. Approach the conversation with the mindset of partnership. I remember growing up watching my dad negotiate.  He had a specific style of negotiating–Hardball.  He always started with what someone else offered for the same product or service…”they are doing this for me…so it would make sense for you to do this for me.”  I remember thinking that it didn’t “feel good”, even though it seemed to work for him.

That style of negotiating doesn’t work for me, although I mimicked it for years until  I discovered it was possible to get the outcome I was looking for while having it feel good.

Negotiation is not just about getting your way. It’s about putting things on the table to come up with the best possible scenario for both of you.  For example, you may want 14 additional vacation days and your employer may be ok with this if you agree to work weekends for half the year.  You may not come to discover that this kind of exchange would work for both of you until you put things out on the table & brainstorm on how to make it work .

#2  Appeal to the pharmacy hiring manager (HR or pharmacy director)’s perspective and focus on what you can do for them. Help them to see what would it mean for them if they were to hire you over someone else.  Will you be saving them time or money by avoiding a hiring decision that doesn’t work out?

For the oncology pharmacy resident I was helping, if she stayed at the same hospital she was doing his residency at, she would be reducing the employer’s risk of hiring a new pharmacist who might not be a fit for the hospital.  Plus, since she is already working there, the initial training process would be minimal.  Hiring managers know that no matter how diligently they screen during the interview process, they are taking on a risk by hiring someone new.

The cost of turnover is high. Show that your pharmacist experience demonstrates a proven record of excellence that aligns with the hospital’s culture and team, and hiring managers will love knowing that you won’t be a high risk to them.

The reason why going into negotiations with this simple mindset shift is so effective is because it changes the tone of the conversation from “how can I get what I want” to “how can we make this benefit both of us?”  Once negotiations are over, the tone you set during the negotiation process can carry over to your working relationship.  This will help you start off in the spirit of partnership.

Try using the simple mindset shift above the next time you negotiate for a higher salary/offer. Comment below on what happened before in your previous negotiations that didn’t work for you, so we can all learn from it.

Are you an experienced hospital pharmacist and want access to unadvertised jobs before they come out?  Get access here.

After you’ve internalized this mindset shift, check back here later for tips on what to do or say during negotiations so that you get the best offer.  Plus, stay tuned to hear what happened to the PGY2 oncology resident’s negotiation in a future article.

Pharmacist Salary Trends – What Pharmacists Are Getting Paid the Most?



Are pharmacist salaries going down?   What kind of pharmacist is getting paid the most in this current pharmacy job market?

Based on comparing pharmacist salary surveys (compiled by Mercer) taken between the spring 2010 and fall 2011 survey edition, pharmacist salaries have increased.  Pharmacy managers who manage the day-to-day operations of hospital pharmacies make the most, even compared to retail pharmacy managers.

Hospital staff pharmacists experienced the smallest increase compared to the other pharmacy positions surveyed.  Retail pharmacists and hospital retail/outpatient pharmacists seem to have the highest % increase in salary from the previous year, compared to pharmacists in other positions.

A few things to note when interpreting the survey results:  salaries are based on 77 organizations participating in the survey and the # of organizations participating in the survey seemed to have decreased from spring 2010’s pharmacist salary survey.  The # of organizations participating in the survey who reported hospital staff pharmacist salary surveys decreased in half.  Keep in mind that the results were compiled in middle of the year in 2011 for the fall survey publication.

Without doing research on statistical significance and a more detailed analytical comparison from year-to-year, my observations are that the salaries are increasing.

As far as what I’m observing in pharmacist salary trends right now, salaries appear to stay in a similar trend.  My projections are that until we make ourselves more valuable (aka make more money for the pharmacy or demonstrate in a hospital setting for example that we save healthcare costs) to warrant an increase in salary, the salaries will stay similar for now.

What about temp pharmacist jobs? Look out for the update on that in an article coming soon.

How do the salary trends affect you, even if you have a job? Use the information to get a raise. Make yourself valuable.  It goes back to the basics of any business.  The more value you provide to the business (aka pharmacy), the greater asset you will be and you may ask for a raise.  Not sure what the best way is to ask for a raise, or to ask for the fairest compensation when you are looking for a new job?  Stay tuned in an upcoming article on tips to ask for a raise/fair compensation and get it.  You will also find out what pharmacist jobs have more negotiating power.

If you qualify for a recruiter to network on your behalf, use your recruiter to help you negotiate a fair compensation for you.  Remember, it’s not all about the salary—it’s the whole package.

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.


2011 Pharmacy Compensation Survey – Fall 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 63 28,953 61.89 128.7
200 Staff Pharmacist – Retail 18 57,374 57.08 118.7
205 Staff Pharmacist – Hospital 45 3,823 53.83 112.0
210 Staff Pharmacist (Healthcare Retail/Satellite) 12 381 54.78 113.9
220 Staff Pharmacist (Mail-order/Online) 9 2,141 53.92 112.2
250 Clinical Pharmacist 43 898 55.41 115.3
270 Nuclear Pharmacist 5 375 55.54 115.5
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 77 64,992 54.84 114.1
300 Lead Pharmacy Tech 52 25,231 18.60 38.7
310 Pharmacy Tech 75 122,454 15.39 32.0
300
310
Lead Pharmacy Tech, Pharmacy Tech 76 147,685 15.76 32.8

*Annualized Weighted Mean reported in thousands.

This data provides reasonable estimates of market rates in the Pharmacy industry. However, many factors contribute to the final determination of pay rates, including company philosophy and the influences of each individual incumbent. For that reason, Mercer, Pharmacy OneSource, and PharmacyWeek suggest that you use multiple resources in the development of a total compensation program.

The New Year Phenomenon


My husband likes to work out at the gym. He went the other day and couldn’t believe how packed it was. The New Year’s Resolution phenomenon in full swing. Ben (my husband) said to me, “Give it another month, and the gym will be back to normal”. I guess he doesn’t have much faith in all the people there excited about their new founded habit to get their butts out the door and to the gym a month from now.

As we start the New Year, many of us take this step into a new year as a symbolic opportunity to step into doing things differently. The key is whether we can sustain that new commitment to ourselves to make a lasting difference on the way we choose to live. This applies to any intention you set for yourself, like getting yourself a new fit body, a new job, or a new habit (like never being late again).

The first step is recognizing what didn’t serve you.

It might have been bubbling up inside you…a knowing that something didn’t work for you.   For example, in the past, when you searched for jobs, did you mostly search online (isn’t that what everyone does these days to find a job)? What about blasting out your resume to many places online and not hear back from the ones you really wanted to hear from? Did you use the same resume for every application?

Maybe it didn’t work that well, or maybe it worked ok, but boy was it a lot of work. You had a feeling that surely there must be a different less time consuming way.

All those people at the gym recognized the first step.  But why isn’t it always lasting? How can it be different this year with your resolution?

The second step is deciding what you want to commit to.  Commit to it, and then never look back.

Don’t bring any misery of regret, beating yourself up, or memory of your previous habit (or way of doing things) that didn’t serve you before along with you as you create your new habit or new mindset.

When looking for jobs, decide that you will only apply for a few jobs that you are most interested in, and put most of your efforts there. This allows you to take the time to understand the role, get to know the pharmacy or hospital you are most interested in (their vision, leadership, work environment, etc), and highlight yourself in a way that makes them want to chase you.  It also gives you an advantage because knowing this in detail will help you make an impression that other “spray & pray” candidates won’t have a chance in making.  Be committed to doing things differently with your job search & don’t look back.

This year, I’m taking my own medicine. In reflecting about what frustrated me about our company in 2011, this is what came to me…

What didn’t serve us: not being able to serve the pharmacists in our community the way we wanted.  Many pharmacists contacting us for our help, and not enough people/resources to serve them in an effective way that solved their problems/challenges in a timely manner.

What we decide to commit to & never look back from: Pharmacist Job Connection (which was trying to be too many things to too many pharmacists) is getting a facelift.

Pharmacist Job Connection is going to be about helping pharmacists learn how to stand out in their job search to beat their competition for interviews & offers.

RPh Temp Service (our temp division specializing in Indian Health Service travel assignments) will continue to be the most requested temp agency serving Native American pharmacies (IHS/tribal).

Now here’s the exciting news…

Hospital Pharmacist Job Connection is a fresh face in our family…it will exclusively help experienced hospital pharmacists get introduced directly to hiring decision-makers and access jobs before they’re advertised.

If you are a hospital experienced pharmacist (ie, clinical coordinator, clinical pharmacy specialist, informatics pharmacist, PGY2 residency-trained, or pharmacy director/manager), click here to be kept in the loop about how to cut down on your time consuming job-seeking process.

If you are a hospital pharmacy director/hiring manager tired of sifting through hundreds of resumes & getting backed up with your workload, be the first to hear about 1) secrets on how to hire “The One”, or 2) options to hand off searching, finding, & hiring “The One” to experts.

Pharmacists: Give Your Greatest Gift in 2012

As the year comes to a close, acknowledge yourself for the gift you’ve given your patients and colleagues this year-maybe your clinical intervention saved someone from a serious adverse effect, what you said brightened up someone’s day, or just being you was an inspiration to your co-worker/pharmacy staff even when you didn’t realize it.

As we enter into the new year, I challenge you to join me in taking this on for the next 48 days: decide every moment that you’ll give without bothering how the other person is responding or reciprocating (including in your job)…go to your extreme of giving.  See yourself explode in intelligence & energy.  Be your own source of inspiration to live & expand in every dimension of your life (-inspiration from Paramahamsa Nithyananda).

On the one hand, you can resolve to do just the minimum because you may decide that you don’t like your job or your boss. You may decide to give only how much you feel you are receiving.  But you’ll end up stunting your own creativity, and the person who will suffer the most from it is you.

You have the capacity to be an inspiring leader regardless of what role you play...an inspiration to others while giving your greatest gift.  Your gift may not be the same as those around you (so drop all comparison!)…your gift is unique & can only be expressed by you.

Have a wonderful holiday—may those of you who choose to be inspired share bliss and joy with everyone around youEmail me & share your reflections with me in your 48-day journey.  I’ll be thinking of you with love and inspiration as we enter the New Year!

3 Things to Say in a Pharmacist Job Interview to Make a Pharmacy Director Yawn

In the spirit of ASHP Midyear meeting coming up, some of you are sure to be interviewing there (or maybe being the interviewer). Here are some surefire ways to make a potential pharmacy employer yawn in an interview:

1.  Tell them what you’ve done and never talk about the reasons why it would benefit them. A lot of pharmacists are really good at doing this.  They describe their job responsibilities….and then end there.  The average pharmacy job seeker describes their experience in a typical way & expects that the employer will think they walk on water, because they do the same things as everyone else who has similar experience.

If you want to stand out from your competition, go one step further.  Describe what that would mean for the employer. For example, if you’re a pharmacy manager, instead of saying “I manage 14 pharmacists”, say:

“I manage 14 pharmacists and have built a loyal pharmacy staff with the highest retention the pharmacy has seen in the last 10 yrs during my employment there.”

To impress the employer even more, take it a step further & describe the reasons why doing what you did would benefit them:

“I manage 14 pharmacists and have built a loyal pharmacy staff that has seen the highest retention in the last 10 yrs, saving my current employer over $XXX/yr in turnover costs.”

——————-
If you’re a clinical coordinator, instead of just listing your job responsibilities”:  “I have been a clinical coordinator for 7 years.  I’ve been involved with rounding, developing clinical protocols, & medication safety initiatives”,

describe your accomplishments in a nutshell right away: “…..I’ve been involved with medication safety initiatives that have reduced medication errors each year by XX%.  I’ve also helped establish a residency program.”

describe the reasons why doing what you did would benefit them: “….made the pharmacy department look good by reducing medication errors each year by X%” and “increased the amount of visibility & interest pharmacists had in our institution from establishing a residency program”.  Are you starting to see the power in that?  Change this one thing about the way you interview, and you will leave impressing the interviewer and increase your chances for getting a job you want, vs. someone else who didn’t know better.

——————–

Are you starting to see the power in that?  Change this one thing about the way you interview, and you will leave impressing the interviewer and increase your chances for getting a job you want, vs. someone else who didn’t know better.

2.  Say trite things that other pharmacist job applicants will most likely say. Tell them how you work well with others and that you are hard working.  Be like a broken record that a pharmacy director or hiring manager will have likely heard a million times before.  You can bet that your interviewer will tune out when you say trite things.

Instead, try to describe yourself in a way that relates to the job you will be doing.  Perhaps you could describe your strengths in being a creative thinker who likes to explore alternative solutions to solve problems.  Here’s the key: Back it up with an example, or a story.  When a potential employer hears a story of you doing the great things you’ve done, they can relate to it.  They can think about how that situation can apply to their needs.

3. When asked by your interviewer, “Do you have any questions?”, you say, “No, you went over everything.” Hmm..boring.  Non-creative person.  Probably not really that interested in the job to even have any questions! Hiring managers want to know that you are just as invested in choosing the right job as they are in choosing the right candidate.  By saying that you have no questions about the position, you raise a red flag about your level of interest.  Have some sincere questions ready for when you are asked, such as:

“What are the qualities of people who are very successful in your pharmacy?” (Use this to respond with the similar qualities you have)

“Can you tell me a bit about the long-term advancement opportunities at this hospital?” (This shows your interest in long-term growth and not just “a job”)

“What projects/initiatives are being implemented that I will have a part in if I am accepted for the job?”

The interviewer will be impressed by the questions you ask, and he or she can learn a lot about you by what you bring up during the interview.

Use these valuable strategies in your next interview–stop boring your potential employer(s), keep their eyes wide open & get the job!

Comment below on what you learned from these strategies & what mistakes you’ve made in the past but now you’ve realized.  If you have been an interviewer before, comment on how frequently you hear boring things from pharmacist applicants.

If you’re going to ASHP Midyear, email me–I’m gifting mini resume and interview assessments to PGY2 pharmacy residents and hospital-experienced pharmacists in my community (everything’s confidential).   Apply here for limited available spots. Or if you just want to meet up, email me.  Have a good recruiter know you personally and they’ll put more attention on looking out for opportunities for you.

#1 Reason for Communication Challenges in a Pharmacy

The #1 communication method that causes misunderstandings in pharmacies is….

You voted & the results are in from last month’s poll of pharmacy residency directors and pharmacy managers. The most popular answer was email.  Face-to-face communication is currently in 2nd place.  Do you agree?

What method of communication has caused you the most misunderstandings? If you haven’t voted yet, vote here & see the latest tally so your input is counted.

Tired of emails causing you frustrations with miscommunication? Here are 7 ways to prevent this issue from happening, including when & when not to use email.

Read more

Hospital Pharmacists ONLY – Sneak Peek at Our New Website & Get a Complimentary Resume Critique

Get an exclusive sneak peak at our brand new website & critique it!  To thank you for giving us your valuable input on what you like/don’t like, we’d like to give you a complimentary 15-min resume critique.  NOTE: current resume makeover packages with Chen Yen, PharmD, Pharmacist Job Market Expert start at $245, so lock in your complimentary critique now!

Who this is for:  Hospital pharmacists ONLY

How this works: Fill out the form below & attach your resume.  You will be directed to book a session to get your complimentary 15-min resume critique.  You will also be giving your 10-min critique of our brand new website during the session.

If you want to critique our new website, but don’t want a complimentary resume critique, just write “don’t want resume critique” in the My Preferred Job Situation field below.

Lock in your spot! Book your session now!

Full Name *
E-mail Address: *
Current Position Title *
Staff Pharmacist – Inpatient

Clinical Pharmacist or Specialist – Hospital

Clinical Coordinator, Pharmacy Manager, Asst or Pharmacy Director – Hospital

Not a Hospital Pharmacist

My preferred job situation (Describe practice setting & position title, schedule, geographic location) – this helps tailor your resume critique *
Licensed in *
Phone # *
What internet search word/website took you here, or who referred you? *
Attach Your Resume in Word Format

* Required

Frustrations Communicating with Your Pharmacy Staff


Co-mmuni-cat-ion.  Com-munic-at-ion. I started having a good look at my own communication issues recently when I was feeling frustrated with things falling through the cracks in my pharmacist recruiting business.  Some things I envisioned being done a certain way ended up being done a different way.  Recently, an email I sent to a team member about a request was interpreted in a different way than I intended & it got us both extremely frustrated.  My communication challenges were driving me nuts.  There’s nothing I hate more than things impacting the level of service that pharmacists need attention to with their job search.

I was determined to figure out how to solve the challenges I was having. Looking into it, I noticed that sometimes, things I clearly stated one way were being interpreted in another.  Then there were times when things I unclearly said were unclearly getting interpreted (imagine that!).  If I got lucky, sometimes people read my mind just fine.

I tried to figure out how I could solve the problem, and while doing so, I stayed up all night reading about communication one night.  Here are some straight no BS tips I learned (and from my personal experiences) that you can use in your pharmacy/department:

1. Don’t be hard on yourself or on the other person when a communication breakdown happens and you’re frustrated. Realize that communication issues happen when the steps that contribute to communication are skipped.  Also, people interpret you from their own “world”, and even if you communicate clearly and they seem to understand exactly as you said, there is still a chance for miscommunication to happen.  Take a step back and evaluate what you may have contributed to the issue.

2. Communication = someone expressing themselves + someone interpreting that expression. Happiness for communicator= someone communicating + being understood the way they want.  Happiness for recipient= Receiving what was being said + having the info with as little judgment as possible +a way to respond and express their understanding.

3. No BS lessons/tips to make life easier: Read more

Can’t Work on Saturdays. Employer Turned Off-Any Suggestion

Chen, I cannot work on Saturdays for religious reasons.  I offer to work every Sunday and every legal holiday.  As soon as the employer hears this they are no longer interested in offering me the job.  I do not want to mislead the employer by not saying anything about the scheduling issue. For this reason I am forced to think about retraining in a different profession.  I would much rather stay in pharmacy.  Have you any suggestions how I can handle the scheduling issue?

Answer:  Two things come to mind.

1) How is your timing— when do you tell a potential employer that you cannot work Saturdays?  And how are you expressing it?  Without knowing when in the process you pop your schedule requirements, consider when in the process you would tell a potential employer.  Is it after they are attracted to how well you would do the job & may be a fit for the company, or is it early on in a first conversation when they hardly know you?  This is a great example of where you want to liken a job search to dating.  Would you tell someone that you have a requirement that you can’t hang out with them on Saturdays for the rest of their life when you first meet them?  I can think of one pharmacist I helped recently whom an employer just loved and was willing to accommodate the schedule she requested.

It seems like you are open to accommodate working on any other day of the week.  Perhaps you could propose an alternative.  Start with the benefit first, ie: “I would be happy to cover every Sunday and holiday.  I have personal commitments where I am unable to work on Saturdays.  Would that be something we can work out?”  You don’t need to bring your specific personal reasons into the conversation & mention religion, unless you really feel compelled.

2) It is important not to mislead the employer.  So, if you know upfront that it is a position that requires Saturdays, and after some fact-finding,  you find out the reason for this requirement is because no one else can cover it currently (or that your working on Sundays or holidays does the place no good, because they aren’t even open on Sundays or holidays) & you know for sure the pharmacy would not accommodate, then look for pharmacist jobs that do not require Saturdays.  There are definitely such positions out there.

Without knowing more about your experience and what you desire, perhaps you need to make concession with the type of setting & geographic location you will accept working in.  Check out some of the jobs we are connected with and see if any suit your needs.  We don’t advertise everything, so feel free to connect with us directly.   Good luck to you!

Pharmacy Job Market Update – Mid-Year 2011

The last few years have been tough for many pharmacists who found themselves in transition to another job. It was more time consuming to find the right pharmacy position, and sometimes extremely frustrating.  Pharmacists went from being spoiled by being frequently called by recruiters about positions, to wondering when the next time a position in their desired role would become available in their preferred geographic area.

Our profession went from being one of the most job secure positions to one that was subject to uncertainty.  Uncertainty of budget cuts, layoffs, overall direction of the pharmacy, and lots of overworked pharmacists was the theme of the last few years.

Here’s the answer to the question many of you have been asking me about.  What direction do I see the pharmacy job market going? What kind of jobs are hot?

Clinical coordinators and overnight shift 7 on/7 off pharmacists (especially in the inpatient pharmacy setting) are in high demand. Specialty areas such as pharmacy informatics, pediatric pharmacist, infectious disease pharmacist, and oncology pharmacist positions are still hot.

If you are planning ahead & deciding whether to do a PGY2 residency, the areas of pediatric infectious disease and pediatric oncology pharmacy seem to be new emerging specialty areas of demand. Also, there aren’t enough pharmacy informatics residency programs to meet the demand for the increasing need for informatics/pharmacy automation pharmacists.  Good field to get into.

Remote order entry pharmacists continue to be increasing in demand, where inpatient experienced pharmacists process/fill orders for hospitals off-site.  This is a cost-saving measure and a growing area of pharmacy.  The majority of these remote order entry positions are still on-site, but there are remote order entry positions where you can work from home also.

I have noticed that new grads are having a harder time finding the right pharmacist position this year than even last year. There are more pharmacists out there looking for work than in the past, and competition is fierce.  For new grads, retail pharmacist positions are still the easiest to get into.  Getting into an inpatient pharmacist position as a new grad, for example, is tough in saturated pharmacy job markets.

One thing I’ve noticed is that new grads are more realistic than they used to be. Sorry, new grads, but your nickname in the recruiting world used to be “divas”.  I used to talk frequently to new grads who expected clinical pharmacist positions without experience or a pharmacy practice residency.  But now, they come to me having a clearer idea of what they are truly qualified for.

For experienced pharmacists who are job hunting, finding the right job quickly is all about marketing yourself well.  I have noticed a higher percentage of experienced pharmacists who are not finding the position they want.  And it’s not because they’re not qualified.  It’s because they don’t know how to market themselves well.  If you’re like most pharmacists, you didn’t go to pharmacy school to learn about marketing.  In fact, you probably cringe at hearing the word “sales”.

Getting the right job quickly in this market is all about tapping into the hidden job market & getting noticed.  If you want someone to be networking on your behalf for unadvertised jobs, find a recruiter you resonate with to keep their eyes open for you.  In this tough job market, you have to be an experienced pharmacist with strong work history (aka no job hopping) in order for a recruiter to represent you.  Otherwise, learn about how to stand out in this competitive market.  Start here with the first step to marketing yourself well.