A good pharmacist can make all the difference in what your company’s reputation is like among the community. Hiring the wrong person can be severely detrimental in the long run even if you end up having to fire that person. However, you can save yourself a lot of hassle by writing a great job description at the beginning of the hiring process. By clearly stating upfront what the pharmacist will be responsible for and what skills are vital, you will attract talent that possesses those traits. Job candidates will know exactly what they are getting into, and your ultimate hire will likely prove to be an invaluable asset. If you want a few guidelines for what direction you should take your own description in, then you should read this pharmacist job description sample below.
Pharmacist Job Summary
The pharmacist will need to prepare medications for patients and inform them of any special procedures that should be followed. You will be working as part of a team in order to ensure all daily tasks within the pharmacy are complete.
Pharmacist Job Responsibilities and Duties
- Label, package and compound pharmaceuticals so that all medications are properly dispensed
- Review physician orders and prepare medications accordingly
- Monitor patients’ drug therapies
- Train additional staff within the pharmacy, including interns, students and residents
- Make sure all federal and state drug laws are followed, which involves removing expired drugs from the premises, maintaining records of all controlled substances and informing management of any changes that need to be made
- Ensure a safe environment is maintained within the pharmacy
- Attend workshops and review pharmaceutical publications in order to keep knowledge of practices up-to-date
Pharmacist Skills and Qualifications
- Master of Pharmacy degree
- Completion of a one-year pharmaceutical training course
- Excellent math skills
- Interest in serving the community and helping others
- Effective verbal communication skills
- Able to prioritize work
- Able to train individuals
Company Profile
McClaren Pharmacy works hard to ensure everyone in the city has access to the medication they need. Since 1989, we have taken great pride in hiring the best, most personable pharmacists around to help everyone who walks through our doors. We have developed long-lasting relationships with a number of our customers, and many people who first saw us back in 1989 still see us to this very day.
Writing a Job Description Best Practices
- This outline should give you a good idea of what direction you should take your own job description in. However, there are still more ways to write a superb job listing. The next time you are looking to hire a new pharmacist, read through these helpful tips.
- Do focus on the most important tasks the pharmacist will be doing. While there may be smaller tasks that will need to get done every so often, you should do your best to conserve space.
- Do try to capture your organization’s personality. A stuffy, overly corporate tone can get a little boring to read, so try to add some energy to the description.
- Do try to put yourself in the mindset of job seekers. People who are actively looking for a new job will want certain opportunities, responsibilities and benefits. If you have nothing to offer these individuals, then they may not apply at all. Give people a reason to want to work for you.
- Do not brag about your company. While it is acceptable to mention any awards you have earned or the great reviews you have gotten on Yelp, you do not want to talk about how much better you are than other pharmacies in the area. This will leave job hunters with a bad taste in their mouths, and they may be skeptical to work with you.
- Do use keywords responsibly. Incorporating keywords that job seekers are likely to search for on Google can be incredibly beneficial, but if you stuff your description to the brim with these words, then you may get penalized by search engines.
- Do make the application process as simple as can be. You generally do not want to send applicants to a link where they have to fill out a bunch of fields. It is preferable to include an email address where people can send you their resumes, cover letters and anything else.
The best talent should be working for you. In order to draw people in, follow the principles given above so that job seekers will be begging to work for you.
Pharmacist Job Responsibilities
It may be intimidating to write a pharmacist job description, particularly when you consider the fact that the job responsibilities section is the first area of the document that will draw the attention of those looking for employment. It’s their first impression of the day-to-day responsibilities of the position and, therefore, you should write it in clear and succinct language so as to avoid any misunderstanding.
Handling the format of this section is as simple as following the tip given earlier on this page and that is to use a bulleted format. Bullets make skimming easy, which is important when you’re writing a document that contains so much information. With that in mind, make sure this section of your pharmacist job description is thorough but not exhaustive. Jobseekers need to know the important daily tasks of the position, not how often they should check their emails. You should stick to no more than eight bullets and no less than four, and begin each one with a verb to help applicants visualize themselves performing the tasks.
Here are a few examples of pharmacist job responsibilities:
- Evaluate the strength, purity or identity of medications
- Maintain pharmacy records, such as patient profiles, inventories, poison and narcotics registries and other important files
- Refer patients to other agencies or other health professionals if necessary
- Order and purchase medical supplies, pharmaceutical supplies or drugs as needed
Pharmacist Job Specifications
As opposed to the job responsibilities section, writing the job qualifications and skills section of your pharmacist job description can look like a breeze at first glance. It’s the shortest section of them all and only contains a list of basic requirements for application, such as education and prior experience.
Don’t give in to this first impression of the job qualifications and skills section though. In reality, it’s just as critical to the success of your document as the rest. One reason is because it’s your email inbox’s last bastion against the inevitable onslaught of underqualified candidates’ resumes a poorly written job qualifications and skills section invites.
To prevent this situation, a detailed conversation with your senior leadership is in your best interest. This provides multiple benefits to writing your pharmacist job description, and one of those is that you have a firmer grasp of what their expectations are. This in turn makes writing the document simpler and also makes the terms for application very clear to jobseekers.
Check out these well-written pharmacist job specifications:
- Doctoral or professional degree
- A minimum of five years’ experience in pharmacy
- A firm knowledge and understanding of clerical principles, such as organization and documentation of important files and records
- Expert knowledge of chemical compounds and drug compositions