PharmaCareers

Pharmacist - iPhone Apps

Love your iPhone? Who doesn't? Here are a couple new iPhone apps designed for pharmacy students and veterans alike....

 Medscape is one of the latest iPhone apps made by the famous online medical resource WebMD. The app provides comprehensive drug information, clinical reference tools, medical news, and continued medical education. This application targets physicians, pharmacists, medical/pharmacy students, as well as smart patients and medical enthusiasts, of course. It also includes an extensive directory of physicians, hospitals, and pharmacies. There are tons more features, you can check it out at iTunes. Please note: you need a free Medscape account to use the app - FREE

Drug Pronunciation is a simple application that will play back audio of the correct pronunciations of over 2500 drugs used in medicine today (which includes the top 200 drugs) First impressions are everything, and nothing screams out inexperience and incompetence like butchering the pronunciation of drugs! Be confident when pronouncing drugs by knowing how to pronounce them properly beforehand. Physicians, pharmacists, medical students, nursing students, physician assistants, medical techs, pre-med students, foreign health professionals… Virtually anyone in, or interested in the health professional field will benefit from this application - $ 2.99 from the iTunes Store.

For a comprehensive review of iPhone apps for pharmacists visit our good friend The Digital Pharmacist.

Pharmacist - The #1 Most Successful Job Seeking Strategy

What if there was a silver bullet for job searching? What if you could do one thing that would increase your chances of finding your dream job exponentially? Fortunately, you can.

Richard N. Bolles, author of the best-selling career book of all time (What Color Is Your Parachute) has done the heavy lifting for us. Based on decades of experience counseling job seekers and studying the employment market he has determined the least successful and most successful strategies.

Least Productive Ways to Find a Job

1. Mailing resumes to employers (7%  success rate)
2. Responding to ads in professional or trade journals (7%) 
3. Using the internet to look for employer job postings (10%)
4. Answering local newspaper ads (5-24%)
5. Seeking an employment agency or search firm (5-28%)

Most Productive Ways to Find a Job

1. Networking (33%)
2. Door Knocking (47%)
3. Personal Research (69%)

But the absolutely most successful job hunting strategy  with an 86% success rate is (#4) DO HOMEWORK ON YOURSELF. This is 12x more effective than sending out resumes. Bolles says this is so because of a UNIVERSAL TRUTH: "You must keep your eyes always on the target you are trying to reach. And the more detailed your picture of that target, the more likely you are to reach it. Vision is everything. The vision of who you are and what you want to do for the rest of your life."

In conjunction with Essentials, One Source Health Careers has developed a cutting edge tool to help you do just this - get a grip on yourself. Our simple, but comprehensive psychological profile surfaces your key performance motivators, strengths, and weaknesses even providing you with recommendations for greater success. You can read more about it and check out a sample profile here.

Then, why not try it out yourself?

Pharmacist Interviews: It All Happens in the First 60 Seconds

"A hiring manager makes a decisive qualification of a job candidate within the first 60 second of the time they meet."

60 Seconds, a long time:

While the first sixty seconds can't replace the hard work of preparation prior to the interview, a lot can be accomplished in 60 seconds.

The time has come to meet your prospective employer, and if he or she is going to make a decision in the first 60 seconds of your first meeting you will want to influence that decision. You have the ability to determine the outcome of the first minute, and there is a lot of preparation to be done!

What can be accomplished in 60 seconds:

 You can...

• Convey an impressive "look." Strive to exceed all of his or her expectations and leave long-standing first impressions

• Exhibit your positive interpersonal skills. You want your interviewer to see you as the polite, professional, and confident person you are

• Make a connection. You will attempt to make a personal connection with your interviewer that will facilitate a comfortable, positive, and advantageous interaction.

The Objective:

The objective of the first look is to elicit a remarkable response from the interviewer, something on the order of - Wow! Yes! Whew!

• Wow, this person looks even better than I had imagined.
• Yes, I made a great decision bringing this person in for an interview (and I think I'm going to have a great new employee soon).
• Whew, I may not have been absolutely sure before, but I am now; this is exactly the type of person I want on my team.

 

For more on how to ace the interview and make a  great first  impression, see  The First 60 Seconds

 

The 100 Best Blogs For Pharmacy Students

PharmaCareers was recently named one of the 100 Best Blogs for Pharmacy Students, Category: Blogs about Getting Jobs in the Pharmaceutical Game. Check it out.....

The 100 Best Blogs For Pharmacy Students Shared via AddThis

Hottest HC Job in 2010!

President Obama's  health care reform strategy may be responsible for creating the biggest boom in health care jobs during the fourth quarter of 2010. The 2007 bill "Wired for Health Care Quality Act" co-sponsored by then Senator Obama along with three other Democrats and twelve (count 'em) Republicans never reached a Senate vote. But Obama has been unrelenting in his commitment to support a comprehensive health care technology bill.

In his December 5, 2008 weekly radio address, President-Elect Barak Obama outlined the main features of his  Economic Recovery Plan a key plank of which is improving the information superhighway. He said  "we must also ensure that our hospitals are connected to each other through the internet. That is why the economic recovery plan I’m proposing will help modernize our health care system – and that won’t just save jobs, it will save lives. We will make sure that every doctor’s office and hospital in this country is using cutting edge technology and electronic medical records so that we can cut red tape, prevent medical mistakes, and help save billions of dollars each year."

True to his promise, on February 17th the President signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act  that will invest billions of dollars in physician, hospitals, information exchanges, universities, and other institutions and programs in order to accelerate the adoption and use of health IT.  This package includes $87 billion for helping with Medicaid costs and $20 billion for health information technology and another $20 billion for SCHIP projects related to health IT. This bill has been described by eHealth Initiative as the "most significant legislation ever to address health information technology."

The Office of Health & Human Services estimates a projected 244,000 jobs created in health IT by the end of the 4th quarter of 2010 and 821,000 jobs created through the aid to the States.

One health care chief information officer blogging on this subject in December 2008 tallied the jobs created when his hospital, Beth Israel Deaconness, recently computerized it health records department. Twenty-two new jobs were created in his facility. Extrapolated over the nation's health care providers he estimated tens of thousands of new jobs would be created by the stimulus package nationwide.

Simply Stated - All of a sudden health informatics will be HOT!

Pharmacist - Strategies to Increase Your Value

For the first time in a long time, as mentioned last week, some pharmacists are being laid off. I have been suggesting that  important job strategies during tough economic times include: (1) adding to your skill set, (2) increasing your value to the organization, and (3) going beyond your job description.

In his excellent book, How to Keep Your Job in a Tough Competitive Market, Michael Kitson provides some very specific suggestions for accomplishing these goals (see the sidebar for book details), such as this one:

Volunteer to Oversee New Hire Orientation for Your Company: This will...

1. Take a load off your supervisor, making you his favorite employee!
2. Gain you another loyal friend in the company
3. Improve the on-boarding process of your company (enhancing retention)
4. Present you as a company-oriented team player (getting you noticed)

Getting Started Developing a New Hire Orientation Process: First, seek the support and  input of your supervisor as to the timeline, topics to cover with a new hire, goals and objectives for the process, etc... Then, with his or her approval, begin engaging immediately with new hires and preparing on-boarding materials for them such as:

• Company organizational chart
• Office directions
• Important phone numbers
• Procedures manual
• Schedule for the first day

Be there when they arrive to make introductions and to make them feel welcome on their first day. Do a wrap up and debrief with them once the orientation is over. Report back to your supervisor once the process is complete.

Check out the 100 additional strategies in MIchael's book. You may also want to read this article on How to Determine Your Value to Your Company.

Pharmacist - Can't Find a Job?

    For the first time in a long time we occasionally talk to unemployed pharmacists who describe their present circumstances with the words, "down-sized." Since the economic tsunami late last year there has been significant knee-jerk slash & burn going on at the corporate level. In fact, according to the global consulting firm Watson Wyatt, 3/4 of U.S. companies have instituted a hiring freeze. A recent article in The Economist captured this phenomena with the title "You're HIred....Next Year." Not only are some companies in the pharma sector (most notably Big Pharma for entirely other reasons) downsizing, most are hiring sluggishly or not at all.
    Smart employers would be wise to take the advice of Allan McKisson of Manpower: "Companies should be adopting a 'ramp up' plan and hiring talent now to ensure that they are firing on all cylinders when the economy rebounds." CEO's should be carefully considering that across the board budget cuts fail to distinguish between ancillary and mission-critical (even profitable) programs.
    Pharmacists that are temporarily unemployed should take advantage of the opportunity to seize personal responsibility for their career and their personal brand rather than passively submitting to dependent employment model of the past. A professional career agent can help in the following ways:

• We are aware of jobs that are not advertised so that your relationship with us gives you a clear edge in the market
• We specialize in personal branding and can assist you in developing and marketing your brand
• We are aware of opportunities that will enable you to expand your skill set so that you have more options when jobs are more scarce
• We present you directly to the hiring authority like a well-prepared meal ensuring that you stand out from the crowd.

    Why not give us a call. We'd love to hear your story and to help you write the next chapter. Meanwhile don't take your lay-off too personally, even Playboy Bunnies are getting laid off.

Pharmacist Surplus? Is the shortage over?

Along with fifteen other new schools, the University of New England plans to welcome 100 pharmacy students to its inaugural program this fall. The only real question is whether these fresh recruits will be able to find jobs four years from now when they graduate. The U.S. Government Health Work Force Department recently downgraded the pharmacist vacancy crisis from "dynamic" to "moderate." A number of factors may have contributed to this improvement:

• Rising pharmacist salaries
• Dramatic growth in the number of pharmacy schools 
• Increased use of technicians and automation
• Closing of pharmacies and slow-down of expansion due to economic conditions
• Re-Entry of some RPh retirees whose 401ks tanked in the last six months

However, after years in the industry I find this to be a familiar springtime refrain. Every Spring when the new grads flood the market it appears that there is an abundance. Hiring managers hold off new hires to see where the fresh coats land. However, the brute realities are these:

• Walgreens still plans to open 347 new stores in 2009
• Prescription use is still on the rise due to an aging population
• Record numbers of pharmacists will be retiring during the next decade
• The number of pharmacists needed is still expected to increase by 22% over the next 10 years

Furthermore, the same report that downgraded the pharmacy shortage crisis concludes: "Supply is projected to be 260,000  pharmacists, resulting in a shortfall of  29,000 pharmacists (10 percent). By 2030 demand is projected to be 357,000; supply is expected to be 319,000 resulting in a  shortage of 38,000 pharmacists (11 percent)."  ("The Adequacy of Pharmacist Supply," December 2008, HRSA Report)

Conclusion: Baring any complelely unforseen circumstances, the job market for pharmacists will continue to be HOT for the next two decades.

Pharmacy Job Hunting - How Employers Fill Jobs

 Many if not most employers prefer to fill vacancies in exactly the opposite way most job seekers hunt for them....

The Way a Typical Employer Fills a Vacancy

1. From Within - Promotion of a full or part-time employee, or hiring a former consultant
or temporary worker (Employer's thoughts: "I want to hire a known quantity") Low Risk

2. Using Proof - Hiring an unknown job-seeker who brings proof of what he or she can do.

3. Using a Best Friend or Business Colleague - Hiring someone whose work a trusted
friend or colleague of your has seen.

4. Using an Agency They Trust - This may be a recruiter or search firm that checks you
out on behalf of the employer

5. Using an Ad They Have Placed - whether online or in newsprint media.

6. Using a Resume - Even if the resume was unsolicited (if the employer is desperate)

Implications for Job Hunters:

• Get your foot in the door with the company you want to work for by doing temporary work for them
• Use well-defined and documented performance metrics to provide proof of your value
• Use a trusted professional search firm to get a well-placed introduction

Adapted from What Color is Your Parachute 2009, by Richard Nelson Bolles

Pharmacy - Adopt the Most Durable Career Tactic

Since marketable skills are the only job security you can count on and pharmacists are in high demand, it would seem that you are sitting pretty if you hold a pharmacy license. However, two things are already impinging on that security: (1) Pharmacy failures. In the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul a chain recently closed 21 pharmacies leaving about 55 pharmacists scrambling for jobs - more the market could really absorb. Likely we will see more closing and consolidation in the coming months as the economy struggles to right itself. (2) Advancing Technology. If pharmacy futurists and pharmacy systems experts like John Hammergren, CEO of McKesson, are successful fewer and fewer humans will be necessary to the dispensing process in the future. He suggests that "the process of distributing pills does not require the human touch and is in constant peril of failure due to human error." Bar code scanning and automated counting machines are already challenging the FTE in most pharmacies.

Arthur Rosenberg, in his book 101 Ways to Stand Out at Work, suggests that "the most durable career tactic is to develop special skills and knowledge that would cost your employer a lot of time and money to replace." And since according to experts half your skills become obsolete every 4-6 years and the clock is ticking it sounds like good advice. Four kinds of skills should be developed:

1. Technical Skills - The more specialties you acquire the greater control you'll have over your career. This might include becoming a specialist in counting technology (Pyxis, PharmAssist, etc...), or becoming certified in anticoagulation therapy or Board Certified in Pharmacotherapy.
2. Funtional Skills - include communication skills, management and computer literacy (which are the most universally functional abilities in today's marketplace). Management is an acquired skill with very specific competencies - not merely a title and two dollars more an hour. If you are a manager or aspire to be one (another sound career tactic since management avoidance is epidemic) than upgrade your skills and finish that M.B.A.
3. Organizational Skills - are those skills that enable you to plan and get things done efficiently, on time, and with available resources. When was the last time you read a book by organizational guru David Allen or Stephanie Winston?
4. Job Winning Skills - Smart pharmacists make sure that their resume is relevant and up to date (you wouldn't believe how many we run across who don't have one!) and are conversant with the concept of personal branding and networking - not to mention interviewing skills. Look for resume tools and a personal branding process on our website in the coming weeks.

Find more ways to stand out at work in Rosenberg's book.