The all-important rose ceremony, where the path of love (or lust?) is being determined…and your all-important job search, where you next career move is being carved out…

In a job search where you are not getting the results you want  (just like men & women on The Bachelorette or The Bachelor not hearing what they want to hear), you experience some level of rejection.  People deal with rejection in different ways.   I have seen some pharmacists recognize that the job was not a good fit for some reason;  others look at it as a way to learn from it, and still others sabotage themselves because they become angry and start blaming others for it.

If someone pushes your hot buttons because they rejected you and your self-esteem has taken a punch, look at why you are reacting the way you are. Is the rejection reminding you of a time in the past when something important to you was lost because you were rejected?  Are you experiencing the rejection in a way that doesn’t allow you to see the unchanged beauty and competency in you, regardless of any rejection?

The reality of it is that you will not be a fit for every place you apply for.  It may not be a match for you, nor may it be a match for the pharmacy.  Look at the gift of the rejection and the discovery process it takes you through.  As in dating, your initial reaction can be a downer, especially if you really wanted the job, however, it opens you up to get closer to the  job you want.

Assess the situation and see if you can gather more information about why you were rejected.  Learn from feedback, and then focus on what can move you forward to the next step of what you want.  If your energy is focused on bashing and justifying why the pharmacy/company that rejected you is sub-par, blind, or discriminating, the person you hurt the most is yourself.  The quicker you are able to move from a negative emotional energy state to move forward with what feels good, you will pave the way for clarity.  You will then tap into the intelligence and right resources to get the job you want.  Read more to find out what The Bachelorette did.

Ok, you probably came here looking for some gossip about what Ali did. Sorry to disappoint you and tell you what you may have already heard, but Ali Fedotowsky got rejected by Jake Pavelka in a previous season’s The Bachelor.  She may have regretted losing Jake to Vienna Girardi momentarily, but she moved on, got her own Bachelorette show, and has had 25 guys of all types chasing after her.  Whether she ends up with one of them for good or not, she has had another shot at love on the show, and I’m sure will have more chances through her new connections and friends if things don’t end up working out.  Learn from Ali and all the previous rejected men & women on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette show.  This too shall pass.

You know, I used to be horrible with rejection.  I was always a people-pleaser and wanted to be liked.  Depending on the situation, I would sometimes take rejection by thinking, this is my chance to do the impossible.  Other times, I felt self-defeated and wondered what was wrong with me.  Sometimes, I would spend too much time justifying that I was right.  Acceptance and giving thanks to the rejection was not always easy for me.

I find it funny that I am now in a business where every day is full of rejections–rejections from pharmacists who changed their mind, or are not ready for my help with their next career move yet because the timing is not right, rejections from pharmacies not wanting to talk to me right now because they are swamped.  Rejections ranging from polite ones to hang ups, to being yelled at.  I view rejections so differently now than before.

Every rejection takes me a step closer to the pharmacists who are thankful for us getting them the job they want (or teaching them secrets of what works/doesn’t when they job search on their own),  or the pharmacies who can’t wait to work with us because they’ve heard about our reputation of presenting  top-notch pharmacists and not wasting their time.

As long as you are on the path to making peace with rejection, you will grow and be led to the place where you are meant to be.

The Bachelorette AND you–you both have the last laugh.

Q:  Should I leave out employment dates from my resume?

A:  I have seen different advice given on this, including those given by resume writers who suggest that a candidate leave dates of employment off a resume if there is a lot of job hopping, or when showcasing the depth of experience in a particular area.  This type of resume is called a “functional” resume, listing responsibilities and achievements under some of your main areas of qualifications.  It is not necessarily chronological.

My advice to you as a pharmacist job market expert who has seen thousands of resumes (not from just writing resumes that work for my private resume makeover pharmacist clients, but from seeing actual resumes that impress hiring managers) is this:  put employment dates on your resume under your Experience section.

Why?  If you leave out dates of employment, it can be a red flag to a pharmacy hiring manager right away.  Even if it does not come across as a red flag, it leaves them to wonder about when you actually worked at a particular place.  And it takes additional time for a hiring manager to find this out from you.  Remember, you have 10 seconds for a hiring manager to glance at your resume and be impressed with it.  If there are 30 other pharmacist job applications, and yours is the only one that requires additional detective work to find the information they are looking for, chances are that the hiring manager will look at the other ones first.

You may incorporate a “functional” resume format into your resume, but when you do so, include the dates of employment so that following the chronological flow of your career path is easy.

The dates of employment may be expressed by the year, or month and year.

Does this mean you should include all dates of employment? The answer to this is situational based.  In general, it is not necessary on a resume, but is recommended on a CV.  Your resume is a place for someone to look for your direct relevant experience to a particular position and does not need to include all of your work history.  Including your most recent experience is also important.

If you are concerned that a pharmacy hiring manager may think you’ve been job hopping recently, there are other ways to get over that objection.  This and other ways to overcome objections about you are taught in my programs for pharmacists wanting to get noticed in this competitive job market, so you get interviews and offers faster.

*Scroll down to the bottom to see what experts say about strengthening your strengths vs. strengthening your weaknesses.  Find out why it matters to the success of your pharmacy after you hire.*

Now…read about a common mistake that pharmacy directors make when hiring a pharmacist.

Hiring based on emotions or your rapport with someone is a common mistake hiring managers make.  You go through your screening process, but end up hiring someone you like rather than the most suitable person for the role.  It is important to like whom you work with, but taking emotion out of the picture will allow you to make sound final decisions.  Go through a set system that takes emotion out of the decision.  Emotion can be triggered by your need to hire someone right away, or your hoping that a candidate you like will work out because you like him/her, and you hire them despite red flags showing up.

Try to involve other people and your pharmacy staff in the decision-making process at some point.  They may be able to identify your blind spots preventing you from seeing the whole picture of the candidate.  Use a set system and include your intuition to help you make a final decision.

One overlooked mistake is hiring someone who is similar to you in the way they process the world.  The problem is that you may actually be looking for them to fulfill a role that does not require the similar type of excellent that your role does.

Many times, the way someone processes the world is tied to the type of role they are well suited in.  For example, someone who is introverted, structured & organized, systematic, analytical, detail-oriented will be more likely to be in the role of a bookkeeper than an entertainer (who may be more extraverted, sociable, and right-brained).

Pharmacists typically have a strong analytical and detail-oriented side to them, which makes them more prone to being accurate and perhaps enjoy reading journal articles.  But they may not like counseling patients because they are an introvert.  Even though they may appear sociable, their true preference is being an introvert.  Others may thrive on counseling patients.

Each person has traits that allow them to be strong in other areas, whether they are traits that allow them to be a strong leader, the ability to make others feel comfortable and welcoming, or being a supportive type of person who doesn’t mind being conforming and likes to avoid confrontation.

Although some pharmacists can accomplish the analytical side of things, they would thrive even more if placed in a role (or add-on to their current role) that allows their creativity to come through, such as creating ways to improve patient satisfaction.  Or engaging in a role that requires thinking outside the box.  Maybe they would be better at re-designing pharmacy workflow to its optimal efficiency rather than analyzing journal articles, reviewing patient records, or making sure everything is entered in the computer exactly as requested.

When you hire pharmacists without conducting behavioral assessments, chances are that you are not utilizing their best talent, because you haven’t taken the time to truly understand their strengths and how they process the world.

Identify your team’s strengths and strengthen their strengths.  It is more effective than identifying weaknesses and improving on their weaknesses.  That is a concept explored in “Strengths Finder” by Tom Rath.  The Strengths Finder assessment is something you can incorporate in your hiring process to understand someone’s true strengths, and identify ways to magnify those strengths.

Other assessment tools can help with determining work style preferences.  Stay tuned–in a future article, you will find out how to move someone a seemingly low achiever to a high level of performance.

The time to start assessing and understanding your pharmacy staff’s strengths is during the hiring process, even before they start.

If your career path has crossed working with the Indian Health Service at some point in time, whether as a pharmacist or student completing a rotation, chances are that you will work with the IHS at another point in your career in some capacity down the road.

For pharmacists who are waiting for their Commissioned Corps call to active duty right now, an option available to you is working temporary pharmacist assignments through a pharmacist staffing agency that offers Indian Health Service assignments.  This allows you to work in the IHS setting without losing out on experience and pay, while waiting for your paperwork to come through.

If you are recently retired from the Indian Health Service and wanting to do some relief work, travel assignments can be a great way for you to stay connected with the IHS, make money to supplement your retirement, and work when you want to.

If you are currently working for a relief agency and working in the IHS setting, but want to have more desirable work environments and locations to choose from, do research on how you can get the opportunity to do IHS assignments in desirable settings.

If you have worked for the Indian Health Service at some point in time, whether as a pharmacist or had exposure as a JRCOSTEP or during a rotation, doing contract pharmacist work in between jobs or as a career can be options to consider.  One IHS-experienced pharmacist, for example, was most recently working for the Veteran’s Affairs as a full-time clinical pharmacist.  In between transitioning from the VA to her next job,  she did temporary Indian Health Service travel assignments before settling in a permanent position.  It offered her time and flexibility to figure out her next career move, while allowing her to use her clinical knowledge in the meantime.  Other pharmacists step into temp pharmacist work with the Indian Health Service as an interim plan, but then eventually continue contracting for the flexibility and rewarding practice opportunity it offers.

When selecting a relief agency to connect you with Indian Health Service travel assignments, see if the company specializes in Indian Health Service and in pharmacy.  Some companies offer temporary pharmacist opportunities, but IHS ones are not their primary connections.   This means that they may not have as good connections that will result in options to choose from.

Find out how they select the IHS sites they work with. Some agencies will send contract pharmacists to work at any site that has an opening, whether or not the work environment is desirable.

Also, ask the temporary pharmacist staffing company whether they have minimum length assignment requirements. Some companies require minimum of 13-week assignments with no flexibility.  Others are open to you completing variable length assignments, accomodating your schedule needs.

Find out what the staffing company does to address what’s important to you and meet those needs of yours before, during, and after the assignment.  This is where many temp agencies differ.  Some make it a point to make you a priority.  Others are focused on getting you to take any assignment they have an opening in, and may not give you the level of service you deserve.

The pharmacists who find the most joy working Indian Health Service travel assignments are ones who are adaptable, have an interest in Native American culture, and appreciate working in an ambulatory care setting in close collaboration with providers.

If you are either recently retired from Indian Health Service, are in the process of waiting for Commissioned Corps call to active duty, or have experience or interest working in the IHS setting as a pharmacist, find out the options available to you.

One of the biggest mistakes hiring managers & pharmacy directors make during the hiring process is writing a vague or incomplete job description. From the thousands of job descriptions I have seen, many are vague.  Some job descriptions don’t even convey clearly whether it’s an inpatient or outpatient position.  As a result, an HR/pharmacy department is flooded with a large percentage of unqualified candidates that waste their time.

A well-written job description is key to attracting the right pharmacist candidates to you.  This is a potential candidate’s first impression of what it is like to work at your facility.

Start with writing down values that are important to your pharmacy & facility.  For example, “Strong work ethics” or  “professional growth”.  You will incorporate these values within the job description.  Next, write down the purpose of the role.  This helps both you get grounded about what to write in the job description, and conveys to a potential applicant how he/she would fit in to the rest of the organization.

As you are writing this, set the intention to paint a strong picture of what it is like to work at your pharmacy.  If you keep this in mind as you write the job description, it will be more powerful than a job description that just follows a typical job description format.

Next, start with the main responsibilities and key aspects that are important in the role. Main responsibilities could include reviewing patient records and labs, preparing IVs, and counseling patients.  Key aspects could include teamwork, problem-solving skills, clinical skills, computer skills, and the attitude you want your pharmacist to have.

The size and pace of your pharmacy can be acknowledged. For example, you could mention that the pharmacy current fills on average 800-1000 Rxs/day.  Mention any pharmacy-run clinical programs unique to your facility or on-the-job training unique to your facility.  Be clear about the schedule expectations.

Describe the technical ability of the pharmacist you are looking for. Example: the ability to process prescriptions with the support of Script Pro Central.  Experience with CPOE, McKesson, and bedside coding.

The clearer you are about your ideal candidate not just from the perspective of responsibilities, the more likely you will attract the right pharmacist. You may even wish to incorporate a separate paragraph in your job description describing your ideal candidate.  The ideal candidate’s attitude, skills, experience level can be summarized in this paragraph titled “Ideal Pharmacist for this Position”.  Phrases like the following can be used: “Self starter”, “Positive attitude”, “being a part of a high-functioning fast-paced environment”, or “handles miscommunication in a professional and direct manner.”

An effective job description also takes a paragraph to express what is unique about the facility. For example, if your pharmacy has been recognized by the hospital for an award, this is attractive to a potential new hire because it shows that the pharmacy focuses on excellence.  Highlight strong management support and leadership, if you have it.  Pharmacists like to work under a well-supported management.

A paragraph about this may look like “We are a facility recognized as one of the top 100 hospitals to work in the US.  Services include….”

Run your job description by the person in the current role or by someone else in your pharmacy. Ask them if it gives them a strong sense of what the responsibilities entail.

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. You can share job description ideas among other facilities that have similar roles, however, definitely add in the essence of what makes working at your facility unique.

When you work with a recruiting firm to find the right pharmacist to hire, use the recruiter to take your job description to life. An independent recruiter can paint a picture of what it’s like to work there to a candidate and serves as a walking & talking ambassador for your facility.  Use this to your advantage.  Although a recruiter can save you time by networking with pharmacists who fit your criteria, assessing a candidate’s honest answers about what he/she really wants in a job, and determining whether the position is a true fit, the important step of creating a well-written job description is not to be skipped.  It can be highly supportive to a walking & talking ambassador for your facility.  It will lead to  finding the right pharmacist for your facility.

I am often asked when the worst time is to apply for a pharmacist job.  Let me start with the best time frames.

The best time frame to apply for a job is typically when companies are ready to hire and make decisions.  When are they?  Mid-to late spring is one good time frame.  Also, traditionally, there is movement of hiring decision-making before existing budgets will close out at the end of a fiscal year.  End of December and end of September are the most common end dates of a company’s fiscal year.  Sometimes pharmacies hire because they are coming to the end of their fiscal year, and have some money in their budget left over that they need to spend or lose.  Hiring can pick up a few months leading to that, because companies have a sense of their remaining budget for the year.

Even if companies are ready to spend, expect the process to take longer during holidays like Thanksgiving & Christmas towards the end of the year.   Hiring managers and pharmacy directors  may be out of the office during that time, and not as ready to make decisions.

Over the past year and a half, many pharmacies (big & small) have held on to their hiring money because of an uncertain economy.  Last year, fall and winter were slow time frames for hiring pharmacists despite traditionally being a time frame with increased hiring.  Some pharmacies ran out of money early, or were worried due to uncertainty of the future.  Fortunately, I have noticed more companies feeling a bit more encouraged with what lays ahead, and are willing to now go ahead and spend those dollars on hiring.  But read my article on the recent pharmacist job market if you haven’t yet.  It doesn’t mean that you can expect to get hired like before.

For positions that don’t require as much experience, summer months can be the worst time to apply, because new pharmacy grads flood the market then, so you will have more competition than usual for those types of positions.  For clinical specialist positions, specialists can expect to apply along with new pharmacy residents also.  This may or may not be a huge disadvantage, depending on the level of experience you carry and where you are interested in going.

Late summertime traditionally is a slower time period when hires happen.

For temp opportunities, summer months can be good because permanent employees are going on vacation during that time.  Of course, if you are willing to where no one else is willing to go, ie: Alaska in the dead of winter, the road can be paved for you.

The reality of it is that there is usually some kind of hiring of pharmacists going on in the country.  Even when it’s the worst time to apply, as long as you are prepared with your job search strategy (most pharmacists have no idea what this is about—hint, it’s not about applying everywhere online that you can find), know how to get your application noticed & write a resume that stands out, and have confidence to ace the interview from your competition…you can get the job you want.

Stay tuned for the answer to a commonly asked question:  “When is it too early to apply for a job?” (ie, 3 mo before I want to make a change?)  Get the next article in your inbox.  Click here to get the RSS Feed.  What does that mean?  Get new pharmacist job market updates and answers to job search & workplace changes as I post these relevant articles on the blog.

Q: Chen, I wanted to look into being a consultant pharmacist for nursing homes but I don’t know how to go about doing that or what the requirements are.  It’s been about 2 years since I have graduated and I currently work for CVS and have not done any residency.  Any advice?

A: The best way to approach this would be to first connect with any current contacts with pharmacists in the long-term care setting, or contacts from your rotations, ie: if you did a long-term care rotation during pharmacy school.

Making those connections is going to be instrumental in helping you get into long-term care consulting. What you do with the connections is a longer conversation.  Just knowing people is not enough.  How you approach them and how you convey why you are the best pharmacist for the position is equally as important.  I coach pharmacists on a regular basis on how to approach connections or network beyond current contacts to get the job they want.

Next, we need to look at your skill set & experience. What is your experience with long-term care consulting? If you have only been working for CVS, then chances are you have not done any nursing home consulting.  If you don’t have experience, you can still get into the role, but you would need to overcome hurdles of convincing the pharmacy hiring manager that you are the best pharmacist for the role.

This may mean persuading them that you review charts easily to make interventions, you work closely with geriatric patients and counseling them on their medications, and that you have worked with nursing home providers. This can be tough if you live in a geographic area with other pharmacists you’re competing with in this tight job market who are more experienced than you and who have direct experience in the long-term care setting.

You could also look into getting your Certified Geriatric Pharmacist (CGP) certification and be board-certified in geriatrics.    The next testing window is July 1-Aug 31 and the deadline to sign up is June 15:  http://www.ccgp.org.  Here is the review information:  http://www.geriatricpharmacyreview.com

Depending on where you live, you may also need a separate license to practice consultant pharmacy.  Arkansas, for example, requires an “at large consultant pharmacist” permit.  Check into your state license requirements.  FL requires a that you finish a consultant course sponsored by the FL Board of Pharmacy and get a special license.  During your certification process, you will need to have a consultant pharmacist preceptor.  Get to know your preceptor well and who may be able to refer you to a facility if they are impressed with your skill set.

An easier way to get into a consultant pharmacist position without prior experience is to get your foot in the door first. Get a position as a staff pharmacist servicing nursing homes and get to understand the inner workings of a nursing home pharmacy . Impress your boss working in that role, get clear about the requirements they look for in order for you to become a consultant pharmacist at the pharmacy, and then create a plan for moving into that role down the road.

For more guidance on how to transition into a consultant pharmacist job in this job market, stay tuned for expert interviews of pharmacists who are already in these positions and advice from them about how to get into the positions.  You will get the scoop on getting access to these live interviews if you are a part of our community.  To become a part of our community & stay connected on events offered first to our community, click here to get access to unadvertised jobs.  To book your free 20-minute “Get the Job” Strategy Session, click on the link.

If you have experience transitioning into a long-term care consulting position from another practice setting, share your experience below.

Here’s the latest pharmacist job market update:

More job opportunities are opening up for pharmacists, as pharmacies & companies are more interested in hiring, compared to late 2009.  Positions are getting filled quickly in areas saturated by pharmacists, especially those that are staff level ones with desired shifts.  It is refreshing to see some pharmacies ready to hire and quick to make decisions.  Pharmacists are having to beat other pharmacists to the punch, because once a coveted position becomes available, pharmacies are being flooded with applicants.

On the flip side, I am seeing other pharmacies take extra care in waiting for the right pharmacist, more so than in the past.  I know one hospital that waited 8 months to find the right critical care pharmacist. The pharmacy director chose not to look at critical care trained residents who had only one year of experience beyond residency, nor critical care pharmacists without a residency.  Their minimum requirements were that the pharmacist had to be PGY2 critical care residency-trained and have at least 2 years of critical care experience as a pharmacist.  And the pharmacy director was willing to wait for someone who met that criteria and was the right fit.

I know another hospital that has waited months for the right candidate for a clinical coordinator position.  They have been waiting for someone who is cream of the crop.  Even staff pharmacist roles are not immune to this type of extra selectivity and hiring managers waiting for the right person.  One pharmacy in Northern California has had a staff pharmacist opening for a few months.  Despite receiving many qualified candidates, they have chosen to hold off on hiring until finding someone who is the perfect candidate.

Clinical specialists that are in high demand are oncology pharmacists, and I project that this will continue to be a trend.  Last year’s PGY2 oncology residency programs didn’t have enough residents for the available spots.  Yet companies have a growing need for pharmacists of this specialty.  I’ve had a lot of requests from hospitals for oncology pharmacist positions lately.  If you are an oncology pharmacist, connect with me.  I’m happy to share possible opportunities with you.

Other clinical pharmacy specialists like infectious disease are still in demand, but they may be more limited in terms of geographic areas that you can move into.  Last year, for example, there were several infectious disease pharmacist openings in New York City.  Now, an infectious disease opening is hard to come by.

Pharmacy directors are also sought after.  I suppose not everyone wants to take on the responsibility of a pharmacy director.

Federal pharmacist opportunities such as those with Veteran’s Affairs and Indian Health Service are gaining in popularity, as pharmacists look for stability in this uncertain economy.

Pharmaceutical company layoffs seem to have been slowing down, according to MedZilla Report. But continue to expect layoffs.  For example, Eli Lily plans to cut 5,500 jobs worldwide by the end of 2011.  Two big mergers have called for massive layoffs.  Merck & Schering-Plough merger led to plans for 16,000 job cuts.  Pfizer & Wyeth’s merger called for 20,000 layoffs.

If you are looking for a job right now and are PGY1 residency trained without additional experience, fewer pharmacies (compared to last year) are willing to wait and hire you on before finishing a residency, unless you are already a resident at the facility, have connections, or the position is in a less saturated geographic area.   Many pharmacies are preferring to hire a pharmacist on immediately when they have an opening.  In high-demand areas with many pharmacist applicants, you may still get interviewed, but when it comes down to it, if they have other pharmacist applicants ready to work with equal or more credentials and a similar fit as you, they would hire that person on instead.  If you’re not getting offers right now, that may be the reason why.

If you have something special to offer and are PGY1 residency trained, you can still get offers if what you are pursuing is in alignment with your experience during your residency and you market yourself well to show that off in your application process (including the first impression you make with your resume).

Resumes of new pharmacy grads and residents often look similar.  Every new grad has done rotations.  What is it that’s special about your experience from other new grads?  As a resident, what is it that makes what you learned during your residency or the accomplishments that you had different from other residents?  What is your distinguishing factor & 10-second summary of why you are more deserving than other applicants?

It’s all about how you market yourself to stand out, from the beginning of your application process (not just sending off a resume that stands out) to when you “close on the job” and negotiate the best offer.  There are things you can do which most pharmacists are not doing, and which can give you better results.  Blasting out your resume and “hoping” to hear back is not a strategy working well in this job market.  Marketing yourself to get noticed is something I teach to pharmacists who want to take control back in their job search.  It’s something that if you put the effort to learning, you will get more interviews & offers.

If you are thinking about or ready for a job change right now, book your FREE “Get the Job” Strategy Session.

It is so frustrating to me to see this happen so much right now that I just had to blog about this today. I am seeing pharmacists get passed up by hiring managers because they have not taken the time to market themselves in their resume tailored to the position they’ve asked me to represent them for.

I think a misconception pharmacists have about working with recruiters is that recruiters will be able to get you over the hurdle of being just a resume on someone’s desk because they will be able to verbally tell their contact about why you should be considered for a position, so you don’t need to do much to represent yourself well in a resume.

Recruiters can definitely move you in front of the pile of resumes. However, just as with networking, even if a recruiter provides you with the value of a direct connection and markets you to a decision-maker, the hiring manager still wants to see your strengths and responsibilities relevant to the position backed up by your resume. If you choose to highlight other things instead, or gloss over your related pharmacist experience, you can still be passed up even if you are qualified.

For example, there is one hospital that is looking for a pharmacist who has started up an anticoagulation clinic or set up other pharmacy-run clinics. That is a key responsibility they are looking for.  I know a pharmacist who has had experience setting up pharmacy-run clinics, but she chose to just highlight in her resume all the anticoagulation clinic experience she’s had, not the experience she’s had in setting up a pharmacy-run clinic.  It cost her an interview.

I know another pharmacist who didn’t answer objections upfront about things that a hiring manager could have concerns about within his resume. It was not clear within the resume why he had transitioned positions within a 1.5-2 year period for the last few jobs, all of which were reasonable circumstances. Even though it may be explained to a pharmacy hiring manager by a recruiter, hiring managers are busy and can forget. When the hiring manager gets a chance to look over your resume, he/she passes a judgment based on what they see.

My advice to you is get clear about the responsibilities of the position you’re applying for and take the time to address those specific responsibilities as much as you can.  Also meet potential objections upfront someone may have about why you would be a good fit for the position.

Sometimes you can think you’ve addressed this the best as possible without realizing how 1) you have really undersold yourself, 2) you have not crafted your resume to market yourself to give yourself the best chance possible to be invited in for an interview.  Whether you tap into my expert advice or another expert with my credentials, get a resume critique before you send off your resume/application.  Doing it yourself without expert feedback will only get you so far.  It will cost you interviews.  You have no idea how many times you are getting passed over because of something that you can take control over, if you just took that extra step to get feedback.  You deserve the best shot, especially for positions that you are qualified for.

Remember, if you do the same thing you’ve always done, it’s not going to work in this pharmacist job market where you have lots of competition.  Take what you’ve learned from this and change what you are doing so you get better results.