Pharmacist Resume Examples, Templates and Expert Advice

Everyone turns to a pharmacist at some point in their life.

Pharmacists are the heroes that help people recover from illnesses and injuries - no matter how small or serious.

They help avoid tragedy by educating about adverse drug interactions.

They manage dosages and dispensing of life-saving or life-changing medications.

All while ensuring business runs smoothly and employees are happy.

It’s an important role, and one that requires someone who’s skilled, trustworthy, and caring.

Hiring managers and recruiters take extra care when hiring a new pharmacist. Lives are on the line, and they want to ensure they have the right person in the role.

How do you convince them that this person is you?

With the help of this guide, you will learn how to write a job-winning pharmacist resume that stands out from the rest.

Let’s get started.

What you’ll learn here

• What information is essential for a resume header
• How to make a great first impression with your resume summary or objective
• The difference between a generic and exceptional experience section description
• What skills recruiters are looking for
• How to layout your education, licenses, and certifications

How to write a pharmacist resume

To get hired as a pharmacist, you need to convince the recruiter that you have what it takes to provide excellent patient care, dispense prescriptions accurately, and successfully sell OTC and Rx medications.

You are the key player between doctors, patients, and insurance companies. The attentive care you have for your job directly contributes to the wellbeing of your patients.

Pharmacists are essential, and employers take great care to hire the right person for the role.

Writing a stand-out pharmacist resume is the first step to building trust with the recruiter.

Use a reverse-chronological resume format to emphasize your experience and skills.

Stick to one page and ensure that your resume is well-formatted. The little details go a long way in making a great first impression.

Take a look at the job description first before writing your resume. See what qualifications and skills they’re prioritizing so you can do the same when crafting your summary and experience sections.

Whenever possible, use real data and situations to build credibility.

How many years of experience do you have?

Did you boost revenue for your pharmacy? How?

Were processes improved? What did that result in?

Being specific and using real facts and figures will make your resume stand out from the rest.

, emphasize your education and rotations.

How to Write a Pharmacist Resume Header

Nail the first impression by writing a professional resume header.

The resume header may seem unimportant at first glance – it only contains your contact information and basic details.

But, it’s the first section on your resume. It’s where the recruiter will make their first impression.

It should include:

• Your full name
• Pharmacy title (and whether you work in a retail or clinical setting)
• Location (city & state)
• Email address
• Phone number

Let’s take a look at two resume header examples – one right, and one wrong.

2 pharmacist resume header examples

This example isn’t up to standard.

• The job title isn’t descriptive enough.
• There’s only one contact method included – email.
• It’s missing a great opportunity to expand further with a link.

This header is much better! Here’s why:

• The job title is more descriptive, showing that John is a retail pharmacist.
• There are two contact methods – email and phone.
• It includes a LinkedIn profile URL, giving the recruiter an opportunity to explore further.

Now that the resume header is complete, it’s time to write the summary.

Show That You’re a Skilled Pharmacist In The Resume Summary

Recruiters scan resumes in seconds. Within that time, they’re making a decision about whether they see your potential and want to read further, or move your resume over to the rejected pile.

The resume objective or summary is the first place they’ll really look to get a feel for your experience, accomplishments and/or career goals.

This is where you make your pitch on why you’re the one for the job.

First of all, you may be wondering - which one should you use? Resume objective or summary?

If you’re a recent graduate with minimal experience, opt for the resume objective. It will highlight your career goals.

If you’re an experienced pharmacist, always write a resume summary. This will show off your career accomplishments.

Either way, your resume summary or objective should reflect what the employer is looking for in their ideal pharmacist. Read the job description first and prioritize the skills and qualifications that are important to them. Weave those keywords into your summary, and make them stand out by attaching them to real-life accomplishments.

Let’s see these tips in action with these summary examples:

2 pharmacist resume summary examples

This summary will cause the resume to go straight to the rejection pile. It’s way too vague and doesn’t convince anyone that you’re a trustworthy pharmacist.

Now this summary is worthy of skipping straight ahead to the interview stage. It’s descriptive, name drops notable pharmacies, includes quantifiable achievements, and touches on soft skills too. It also briefly lists out important licenses and certifications that are a necessity for the role.

Moving on to the experience section…

How to highlight your pharmacy experience on your resume

The experience section is where recruiters investigate whether you have the qualifications and skills needed for the role.

Just like with the summary, the experience section should reflect what the employer is specifically looking for. All of this information can be found in the job description.

To stand out and avoid being generic, focus on results and achievements. Bonus points if they’re quantifiable.

For example, did you manage a team? How many people?

Did you improve processes and see a noticeable difference in efficiency?

This is your time to convince the recruiter that you stand apart from the other applicants.

Pharmacist resume experience examples

This experience section is way too vague.

It doesn’t set the candidate apart from any other resume in the pile.

Let’s look at a better example.

This one is much better! It’s specific, highlights real achievements, and showcases a mix of technical and soft skills.

What skills should be included on a pharmacist resume?

Recruiters are looking to hire excellent pharmacists. They want people who can not only dispense medications with the highest accuracy, but also have the interpersonal skills to provide care and education to patients or customers.

And if you’re a pharmacy manager, you also need business know-how too. Running a successful pharmacy involves nailing down processes, making sure revenue is coming in, ensuring top-quality patient care, and hiring and managing a team you can trust.

Needless to say, pharmacists need to show both hard and soft skills on their resumes. Hard skills cover the technical aspects of being a pharmacist - the skills you learned in school and in your rotations.

For example, do you have special expertise or experience in an area of medicine – like nephrology or oncology?

Do you know your way around a specific software or workflow, like Fillware?

Are you injection certified and can comfortably administer immunizations?

On the other hand, soft skills are the personality traits that make you great at patient care and working with a team.

Here’s a list of common skills that pharmacists include on their resumes:

How to write your education section

It’s a given that education is essential as a pharmacist and should have its own dedicated section on your resume.

That being said, it can be confusing to know how much information to include. Are we going all the way back to high school here? Should you include your GPA? What about courses you took?

Well, it depends on if you’re fresh out of college, or an experienced pharmacist looking for a new role.

If you’re entry-level, your education section can and should include more detailed information to make up for lack of experience. In this case, include:

• Your undergraduate degree and college name
• Your PharmaD degree and college name
• Years studied
• GPA
• Any notable coursework, recognition or awards
• Residency rotations

If you’re more experienced, include all of the above, but drop the GPA, notable coursework, recognition or awards, and your rotations. Your actual career accomplishments hold more weight.

Licenses and certificates

Just like with education, a separate licenses and certificates section is essential for pharmacist resumes.

Every job will require you to be licensed with your state or province. List your license name, state or province, license number, and active dates.

Then, review the job description to see what certifications the employer’s looking for. Some will be required and others will be an asset. If you have them, prioritize those ones first before listing out other certifications.

Here’s a list of common certifications and licenses in the pharmaceutical industry:

• Immunization certification
• HIPAA
• Specific certifications the employer requests (eg. MAD-ID or SIDP)
• BCPS/BCGP/BCACP
• MTM
• APhA
• Board Certification, Board of Pharmacy Specialties

Key takeaways

• Read the job description before writing your summary, experience and skills section. Mirror the same language that the employer does, and prioritize the qualifications and responsibilities that they mention.
• Instead of listing role responsibilities, use the experience section to highlight real career achievements. Back it up with data to add more credibility.
• Balance between a mix of technical and soft skills, since they are both essential components of being a successful pharmacist.