Being Committed But Not Attached
It used to drive me crazy. I would talk to experienced pharmacists who would tell me about issues they were having with their job search. They would apply to places they wanted to work at and then either 1) not get invited in for an interview, or 2) not understand why they didn’t get the job even after what seemed like a good interview.
After talking to them for a bit, I could see how I could help them. A feeling of excitement and “oh—I could solve your problem!” would bubble up inside me when I knew that some simple (yet not always obvious) changes would have made the difference between getting offered a job or not.
Because of the challenges I saw experienced pharmacists having, I started to teach some underused, yet effective, strategies that can be used to either hear about jobs before they come out, or get noticed when applying for a job. I would tell the frustrated pharmacists about how I taught this in the bootcamps I offered, and that they didn’t need to worry because I could help them. In my excitement, they sometimes got offended because they felt I was “selling” what I had to offer to them. Sometimes they got turned off because they felt I wanted to make money off them.
We would hang up, and then I would see them continue to do what they had always done –making the same mistakes in their job search and missing out on jobs they deserved. Sometimes they would come back to me later when they finally realized the cost of taking time trying to figure it out themselves.
I learned from my experiences that being more committed to them than they were about turning things around with their job search was not an attractive thing. Aside from that, I think I came across a bit too “salesy.” I was confident in what I offered—I knew they couldn’t learn what I teach anywhere else. I have not seen other pharmacist recruiters willing to teach the secrets they know about how to get your foot into the door. Also very few recruiters are pharmacists themselves. Yet my passion to teach pharmacists how to improve their chances for getting a job actually got in the way of them deciding to learn from me. Although it was hard at first, I eventually let go of being attached to their success.
Now I am committed but not attached. If pharmacists recognize they want expert help in saving them time and lost job opportunities, that’s when I share how they can learn what to do differently. If they choose to figure it out themselves, I completely honor their decision.
As a result, the pharmacists who learn from me are the most committed and often write me, thanking me for shifting their job search approach and helping them get the job they wanted. Many of them are pleasantly surprised with what was taught, especially in the Hidden Job Market Bootcamp, which include strategies they can use throughout their pharmacy career to be in “the know” and hear about jobs before their competition.
You can apply my concept of “being committed but not attached” to your job search. Sometimes you may come across job opportunities that you are excited about, but the employer doesn’t seem to be interested in you because they’re not responding. It might drive you nuts because you know they could be a good match for you, if only they gave you a chance. Sometimes you have the opportunity to influence the decision and you just need to learn how to do it in an elegant way. Rather than writing it off as that it’s simply because of the tough job market that you didn’t get a shot, redirect your energy to figuring out what to do differently to get noticed.
The key is to be totally committed. If you’re half-assing it and sending out resumes to 10 different places just because you need a job, that doesn’t spell commitment. If you say you are committed, but you don’t take the time to get to really know what you’re applying for and to personalize your approach to capture the attention of a hiring manager, then you have a deeper commitment to something else. Your deeper commitment reflects hoping things will turn out, rather than putting your best foot forward and then letting things fall into place for you.
So be committed. After that, don’t be attached to where you end up, because what happens will just be perfect when you know you’ve tried your best. Even if you can’t see it now, when you look back, you will see how it was all an important part of your path. Just as some of you being “turned off” by me was an all- important part of my path to working with those I enjoy most working with.
To learn how to find out about jobs before they come out, listen to the free preview call:
“How to Tap into the Hidden Job Market to Beat Your Competition to the Interview”.
If They Like Me, They’ll Hire Me
Is it true? Sure, it plays an important role in a pharmacy hiring manager’s decision, but why should they pick you out of other interested pharmacist applicants?
I was talking to a pharmacist who wanted to be presented for a management position. I suggested that she highlight any leadership experience, including starting/leading clinical programs or previous leadership experiences during work or in pharmacy school (she had attended pharmacy school within the last 5 years), and her response to me was “I want to keep my resume the way it is. If they like me, they’ll hire me. I don’t want to be giving any false impressions about myself.”
I don’t know how else to say it, but please understand that you may not be used to a pharmacist job market that requires you to not only be a pharmacist who has the skills to get the job you want, but to also convey your skills and passion among other competing pharmacists to get the job.
It’s one thing that you know what you are good at–that your patients love the way you connect with them & physicians listen to your therapeutic suggestions because you are sharp clinically & you collaborate well with others.
It’s another thing to show on a resume (the main thing a potential pharmacist employer sees initially) what it is you have that is directly relevant to the pharmacist position they are trying to fill. A good resume’s purpose is not false impressions. A good resume points your strengths out. It is not about being untruthful. It’s about marketing yourself because that is one of the first key impressions someone will have of you.
If you are untruthful, you will be found out during the interview anyway, so that is dangerous territory to be playing in. The point is to think of what the pharmacist employer wants and tailor your resume uniquely to what they are looking for.
Maybe this will help you understand why it’s important. Why don’t we step back from pharmacy & look at a job for a housekeeper. The qualities of a housekeeper an employer or a client (perhaps you) is looking for is 1) someone who cleans the house in an efficient & detail-oriented manner, 2) someone who has experience doing housekeeping.
Candidate #1:
This housekeeper has the skills mentioned above and the experience, but chooses to write on his/her resume:
Housekeeper. Responsibilities are not elaborated on.
Assessment: You are left wondering what responsibilities he/she had as a housekeeper.
Candidate #2:
This housekeeper has the skills mentioned above and experience housekeeping, but chooses to write on his/her resume: “Experience with scanning & copying”, “Running errands for my clients”, Taking quality photo portraits of people”, “Typing 100 WPM”.
Assessment: Experience with scanning & copying is not relevant to the position. Perhaps running errands is somewhat relevant, but not directly relevant. Taking quality photos & typing 100 WPM is not relevant at all.
Candidate #2:
This housekeeper also has the skills and experience housekeeping, but chooses to write on their resume: “Cleaning 4 houses/day that are 5000 sq ft average size and retaining clients for 3+ years”, “Receiving high compliments from clients (references are available) and consistent referrals”
Assessment: This person seems to 1) clean the house in an efficient & detail-oriented manner, 2) someone who has experience doing housekeeping. This person also has references to back it up.
Who would you choose to interview?
Get your foot in the door first. Once you are interviewing, they will get a better sense of your personality and whether they like you. Keep in mind that you are still highlighting what you have that is directly relevant to the position even when you are interviewing, but at that point they will definitely take into consideration more of your personality fit. When you are at the resume stage, what you point out is all they have to go by. Get your foot in the door first. For other tips useful in your job search, check out the 5 Biggest Mistakes Candidates Make in a Job Search.
What does Tiger Woods have to do with getting an interview for a pharmacist position?
Tiger Woods gets paid $100 million every year to endorse products, because having his name associated with products helps make billions in sales.
His image is no longer the same to those companies. The media now refers to him as “Cheetah”, rather than “Tiger”. It is still possible for him to make a lot of money from endorsements, but they will have to alter the way they promote Tiger Woods’s image with the products. His picture perfect image is no longer the same. I’m sure that when Tiger was not being a “better person and the husband and father that my family deserves”, he wasn’t thinking about the implications of his image if the media got on to him.
Even if you don’t care about Tiger Woods & his image, one lesson to learn from how the media is having a field day about it is to realize that everyone will judge whether you like it or not.
This is the same when you are wanting to get an interview for a pharmacist job you want.
Reputation matters. Impressions count.
Reputation matters. It’s amazing how fast word travels in the pharmacy world. I know someone who applied for a hospital position a few months ago. Someone at the hospital knew him & told the pharmacy director that he’s a bad apple. Now, just because someone doesn’t like you doesn’t mean you won’t get a job, but if someone known and trusted by a pharmacy director shares negative comments about you, those first impressions will hurt you, compared to the first impressions from someone else who doesn’t come with that information tied to them. Read more