The Pharmacy Recruiter - The HDRx Blog

Resume Tips—A Pharmacy Recruiters Perspective

Taken from my article published on ASHP's Career Pharm site, click over to read more on how to make your resume/CV stand out:

http://www.careerpharm.com/ResumeTips.aspx

Been too long....how I've missed you blog

Wow, hard to believe that it's been almost a month since my last post.  It's been a busy month and difficult at the same time.  It's not that I met someone else, blog, it's just....well....it's not you, it's me.  OK, ok a little fun for a Friday. 

I do have a point from that though.  We all get caught up in some much of the every day busy-ness of business that we do forget and neglect to reflect.  My best advice to anyone I meet is the take time to sit down and note your successes and challenges on a regular basis.  I do it daily at best, and every few days at worst. It gives you an opportunity to sort out your thoughts and many times you'll feel different than your original perception once you start writing. 

We make fun and think it's childish to have a diary, but quite the contrary.  I know for a fact that some of the most successful people of all time had journals.  Call it what you want, and keep it where ever you want but do it.

The big decision, deciding on an offer and your future

I just finished reading Who written by Geoff Smart and Randy Street, part of the same team that brought about the Topgrading methodology of hiring.  In Who, they close the book by telling hiring authorities about the importance of selling the opportunity the candidate.  I thought it was such a great section that I am going to try to translate the five "F's" they talk about but more on the candidate side as you are deciding on whether to take a job or interivew.

1.  Fit.  Make sure that the total company gives you a "fit" both with the people you will be working with and the company as a whole.  Get to know the Missions, Values, and what they company stands for and how they operate. 

2.  Family.  Both inside the company and outside with you personally.  Do other employees have things like pictures of their family on the desk, or when was the last time they had a company social event?  These things are important because we spend the majority of our best years at work.  Make sure it is supportive of your work family and you home life.

3.  Freedom.  Will you have the ability to be your own person, and manage yourself independently? How does your future boss operate and what do other people say about their style?  Look at the company reviews, are they based on what you accomplish in a year or just getting by?

4.  Fortune.  Not necessarily the most important thing but is the company stable and do you feel comfortable with the offer?  It doesn't have to be 50% higher than your current offer, but just good enough to make you feel that it's worth the change.  Don't forget to be realistic, especially with the current economy.

5.  Fun.  What do they do to have fun?  Big and small things.  Are the people around the office or facility fun to be around in the interview or are they always tired and running somewhere to put out a fire?

Think about these things the next time you're deciding about making a change.

And CLICK HERE FOR A LINK TO BUY THE BOOK FROM AMAZON.

5th Annual HDRx Braves Pharmacy Appreciation and Loyalty Event

It's that time again! 

5th Annual Pharmacy Appreciation Day

Sunday, August 23rd at 11:30 AM

Cost: FREE for Pharmacists, additional tickets available for $35 each (includes ticket and food)

Turner Field, Atlanta, GA

Program Details

• 11:30 AM Pharmacy Party-Rightfield Patio, Turner Field
• 11:30-12:30 Braves Mascot Visit
• 1:30 PM Game Starts

Food, beer and refreshments will be served at the Pharmacy Appreciation Party prior to the Game.

Please make sure you also stop by the party for your chance to win some fabulous prizes!

ALL TICKETS WILL BE HELD AT WILL-CALL!

Click Here to Register: http://hdrxbraves-fbnews.eventbrite.com/

If you have any questions about the event, including hotel information and other Atlanta activities please contact Christy Campbell at 404.451.5143 or campbellmck@yahoo.com

www.hiredynamicsrx.com

Upcoming Event: SCPhA - Myrtle Beach, SC Friday 6/26/09

We'll be exhibiting at the SC Pharmacy Association Annual Meeting and Convention in sunny Myrtle Beach, SC on Friday!  Come by and see us if you're attending!

Link to SCPhA: http://www.scrx.org/

Link to register: http://www.scrx.org/displayconvregister.cfm?convnbr=6385

Hope to see you there!

Research on the value of pharmacists

Lately, I've been conducting my own preliminary research on the quantifiable value of a pharmacist to a facility or employer.  Most of the information I've found has been eye opening, to say the least.  Current information supports that pharmacists' true value to their organization comes from their role in a risk management position.  Stopping or minimizing medication errors and making clinical interventions on behalf of the patient to improve outcomes and reduce cost.  As for how that affects the facility on a monetary basis, some facilities have these numbers and some are just now starting to track this. 

OK, so that's not news - that's stuff most informed pharmacists know right?

From a recruiting perspective, I want to offer the thought that an A-level pharmacist employee can outperform a B or C level employee over time 80% of the time.  I would also venture to propose that 80% of the clinical interventions are done primarily by the top 20% of the pharmacy staff - the A level employees.  That hypothesis means that the more A-level talent an employer has on staff the higher the value is of the pharmacy staff to the facility.  Over the course of the next 6 months, I will be conducting informal interviews with clients and facilities to determine if this is true.  (Contact me if you would like to help contribute)

If this does hold true, facilities should look to upgrade staff and reallocate B and C level employees to other roles or help them find a more suitable situation. That may be harsh, but in the current economy value is created on a daily basis starting with 1 person.  And the more A-level employees an organization has the higher the value to cost benefit is. 

Potential reading on this topic:

Topgrading: http://www.topgrading.com/

Performance Based Hiring: http://www.adlerconcepts.com/

Pharmacy: hiring slowly making improvement

I'm definitely encouraged that lately things seem to be getting a little better for pharmacy hiring in the last 60 days.  I've observed,slowly and selectively, that facilities are starting to hire again.  The first of the year was rough for everyone, hospitals and pharmacies included.  I anticipate that things should continue to slowly improve throughout the next quarter. 

In addition, if you've been waiting and "sitting tight" this may now be a better time to consider making a move.  History has shown that the period immediately following a recession and leading out there tends to be a mass exodus of job changers.  These are the folks that endured difficult conditions, burnout, stress and being overworked while facilities tried to do more with less.

By no means do I think that we're out of the woods yet, but these signs should be encouraging for anyone in the profession. 

Dynamic Resume Tips - Get Your Resume Working for You

Lately, I've been working with a few people on their resumes and trying to bring them into the 21st century.  And really each of them began with what Career Services helped them put together in school.  Now, there's nothing wrong with having them help you with putting something together...if you want it to look like a thousand other resumes.  I don't think I have to tell you right now that that is NOT a good thing if you want to get a job in the next 90 days.

I think we need to take more of a cue these days from the resume "portfolios" that marketing and design professionals use.  Make it more DYNAMIC.  Don't just tell me, SHOW me.  I want to see you jump off the page at me.  I don't say this to any one profession.  The tools exist NOW on the web to make even the least web-savvy person capable and an "interesting" candidate. 

Next time you are re-working your resume, or getting ready to send it out remember that the vast majority of people you are sending it to will view it first on their computer.  So let's run with that.  Here's 3 tips to consider:

1.  Use Slideshare.  We've all done presentations over the course of our career or education.  I suggest linking 2-3 of your best and most outstanding presentations to your resume.  Slideshare is easy and free to use.  It can even give you the opportunity to embed the presentation into a page if you like.  I recommend starting just with the link it provides and go from there.  On the resume, include the name of the presentation, the value it created (briefly, please) and the link.  People will be so intrigued that they will have to click. 

2.  References.  You would think people would have picked up on this by now but most have not.  If you are waiting for the company to check your references after they have made an offer to you, you have missed out on a HUGE opportunity to stand out using one of the oldest principles of influence.  This one is easy.  Call your top 3 references and ask them to write you a letter of recommendation and to send it to you in both a MS Word and PDF format (Primo PDF can convert for free if they don't have a way to do that).  Now, follow this format:

COMPANY NAME, Title, Dates
    Accomplishments: blah blah blah....
    Quote from Reference: "John Doe is the greatest employee I've ever had he helped us
    save/make     1     gazillion dollars, and I would have his babies if I could....."
    Experience:......

You get my idea here.  What this does is important, using the principle of "social proof" you create a buzz about you by listing what other people say, and they WANT to read on.  Now, see that I said a QUOTE, not the entire reference letter.  Put that at the end so they can read on later. 

3.  Include links to your Linked In profile  Notice I did not say your Facebook page, assume that they will try to look that up - and adjust accordingly.  By providing links to Linked In, they can see additional recommendations you may not have included and they can see the "company you keep".  They may even see someone they know who they can contact to talk about you.  You may even help them land the next big client, or next big idea. 

All of these are meant to make your resume more dynamic, while still providing the hiring manager with what they need to see.  And remember, the resume ONLY get's you the interview so once your behind those doors it's up to you to prove yourself in person. 

Ease the Pain of Staff Recruitment - Link to article

Here is the link to the article in Pharmacy Purchasing and Proudcts magazine on using Staffing and Recruiting firms for Pharmacy. 

http://www.pppmag.com/pp-p-may-issue-2009/ease-the-pain-of-staff-recruitment.html

Swine Flu: pharmacy curse or opportunity

Lately I've been reading some of the blogs by other pharmacists in retail pharmacies complaining about the hype (just or not) caused by the media and patients around the Swine Flu, sorry the H1N1 virus, and it got me thinking. 

Too often I hear about pharmacists that want to do more, and have closer relationships with their patients and really impact their lives.  I would say that this is a great opportunity to make that happen.  As commonly called "the most accessible health professional" you have the opportunity to assist those who come into the pharmacy seeking help.  This is a great chance to begin conversations with people that otherwise would have looked to you only on a transactional basis before.  Many of these people need to be educated about the truth of what H1N1 really is and how they can prevent it.  For pharmacies, why not hold an H1N1 "clinic" that distributes information on what to look for and what to avoid.  For one, that will get more people in the pharmacy with more of a chance to conduct clinical services like MTM, or diabetes management. 

This is a great chance to develop repeat customers for you business if you're a small independent owner too. 

Stand out, be different and people will remember you for it.

Think of how long pharmacies have been looking for people to come in with questions and actually speak with the pharmacist.  Now they're here, what are you going to do with it?