Are you thinking of a new role in 2022? Great news, the current market for pharmacists is looking extremely positive!
Due to a number of factors, Australia wide we are experiencing shortages of candidates across all sectors of pharmacy, and that looks set to continue for the foreseeable future.
At Raven’s Recruitment we currently have a huge number of opportunities available to both new graduates and anyone looking to make a career change.
We are seeing that not only are there more positions available in the current market, with more employers competing for staff, the opportunities that are on offer are more rewarding financially and professionally.
Read below, for part one of the top tips to help you land that dream job.
Resume - how to make a good first impression?
Many job seekers struggle with putting together a Resume, but it really doesn’t need to be that difficult - you just need to follow a few key steps.
Firstly, length of resume should be between 2-4 pages - two pages is perfect for a graduate, four if you have been working in Pharmacy for some time. Any shorter, and it won’t include enough relevant information, any longer and employers just won’t read it.
Your Resume should be well structured and in a logical order:
At the top, your contact information - phone, email, address. Leave out - any personal information that is not relevant to your application for example, date of birth, marital status, religion.
Next, a career summary can be good to include, but as long as it’s personal to you - it could be the reason you chose to study pharmacy or what you hope to accomplish in your career - but avoid generic statements like “Accomplished professional seeking career growth”.
Education - list your Pharmacy degree first and then other courses you may have studied. There is no need to list your results in subjects studied.
Then work history starting from most recent. Limit your work history to the last 3-5 roles, if you haven’t worked in pharmacy, be sure to include any other paid employment - retail, hospitality - these will be able to demonstrate transferrable skills. Under each role, List accomplishments, achievements rather than just a list of duties. You can also include any volunteer work or leadership roles you have held, both at university or in the community - again demonstrating transferrable skills.
Finally, referees. It is fine to advise that these will be provided upon request, or alternatively you can list 2-3 professional or work referees, and get their permission beforehand. Do not include personal referees such as your family or friends or your bank manager - these are not relevant.
Lastly, and most importantly - it is vital that your Resume does not have any spelling or grammatical errors. We receive hundreds of resumes per week and 4 in 5 would have at least one error.
Making yourself stand out - what makes an employer want to hire you?
If we look at it from the employer perspective, when they are looking for a new staff member - they are looking for two main things:
One, someone who can do the work and deliver great results for their business and secondly, someone that will fit in and be a great addition to their team.
The first will come down to your experience and qualifications, whilst the second will be more about those soft skills - how you communicate with others, how you organise your time, are you flexible and willing to take on feedback and learn from your mistakes.
To stand out in an interview, you need to be able to sell yourself with confidence but not arrogance. When I speak with candidates, prior to interview, I get them to prepare a sales pitch - focusing on 3-4 key qualities that would make some successful in the role, and then provide examples of where they’ve displayed this quality using their background and experience. This experience could be from volunteer work, university or other jobs, anywhere really - and then practice.
Now a common concern for all new graduates, is that they may have limited experience within pharmacy, and this will put them at a disadvantage over other applicants who have more experience. From many years of experience in this industry, I can assure you that pharmacy employers will always prefer to hire someone with a little less experience, but who is driven and motived to learn and succeed.
How Raven’s Recruitment can help you with your career journey
At Raven’s our focus is working with you throughout your whole pharmacy career. We can find you employment right from your internship through until pharmacy management and partnership.
We also work across multiple pharmacy sectors - community, hospital, aged care, and industry and offer both permanent and locum or contract work.
In addition, we also offer Career Consultations. You might not be currently in the job market, but looking for advice on your current role, a career change or just some insight into what is happening in the pharmacy market at the moment, we can help with that.
We also have a variety of helpful resources available on our website:
a dedicated Career resources section specifically for students and early career pharmacists where you can get advice on creating an effective resume and cover letter, interview tips and information on your career options within the pharmacy industry.
‘Your Pharmacy Career podcast’ featuring leaders from the pharmacy profession describing their career journeys and offering advice
Our Annual Pharmacy Market and Salary Report focusing on the current stage of wages and conditions, career opportunities and factors affecting the pharmacy employment market today.
Contact one of our Consultants today on 1800 429 829 or learn more about our people.
