Is it Aptitude or Attitude that Counts in an Interview?

Aptitude gets you in the door.  Your resume is the place to show off your aptitude.  Are you a pharmacist with relevant experience for the role that they are looking for?  Do you appear to consistently be an overachiever who is loyal (and likely to be a good investment for the company, rather than a job hopper?)

During the interview, you will clarify your aptitude so that a potential pharmacy employer feels confident about your capabilities related to the job.  Your employer is also looking for the right attitude.

I have seen pharmacists who may have been borderline in consideration when it comes to experience, but they were able to stand out from others in a resume and sell themselves so well in an interview that they get the job.  The pharmacy director or hiring manager appreciates the attitude and enthusiasm of the pharmacist, finds it to be a good fit, and wants to offer him/her the job.  That is how important crafting your resume to stand out & acing the interview is.

Be cautious about being overconfident without being able to back it up;  it won’t do you much good.  Saying that “I can learn quickly” is trite to the point that you might as well have not said it at all.  However, if you back it up by examples & tie it in to the specific responsibilities of the job, it makes you stand out.  Example:  “My recent pharmacy manager asked me to start a pharmacy-run smoking cessation program.  Although I didn’t have the experience, I participated in intensive training & created a program that helped 121 patients quit smoking in 6 months;  X % of the patients continued to be non-smokers after 12 months.”  See the difference?

This is something that my students in the Get the Edge program have practiced to get the edge over the competition during the application & interview process.

What do you think–is it aptitude or attitude? Share your thoughts or your own experience where aptitude or attitude seemed to have counted more—comment below.