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Pharmacist resume example

A resume for a Pharmacist needs to show the work itself: dispense drugs prescribed by physicians and other health practitioners and provide information to patients about medications and their use. Day to day that means work like this: review prescriptions to assure accuracy, to ascertain the needed ingredients, and to evaluate their suitability; assess the identity, strength, or purity of medications. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

  • Clinical Pharmacist
  • Hospital Pharmacist
  • Pharm D
  • Pharmacy Doctor
  • Pharmacist in Charge
  • PIC
  • Informatics Pharmacist
  • Pharmacy Coordinator
  • Pharmacy Informaticist
  • Pharmacy Services Clinical Coordinator
  • Registered Pharmacist
  • Retail Pharmacist
  • Apothecary
  • Druggist
  • Float Pharmacist
  • Industrial Pharmacist
  • Pharmacy Consultant
  • Pharmacy Resident

O*NET records 20 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

  • Review prescriptions to assure accuracy, to ascertain the needed ingredients, and to evaluate their suitability.
  • Assess the identity, strength, or purity of medications.
  • Provide information and advice regarding drug interactions, side effects, dosage, and proper medication storage.
  • Analyze prescribing trends to monitor patient compliance and to prevent excessive usage or harmful interactions.
  • Maintain records, such as pharmacy files, patient profiles, charge system files, inventories, control records for radioactive nuclei, or registries of poisons, narcotics, or controlled drugs.
  • Collaborate with other health care professionals to plan, monitor, review, or evaluate the quality or effectiveness of drugs or drug regimens, providing advice on drug applications or characteristics.
  • Plan, implement, or maintain procedures for mixing, packaging, or labeling pharmaceuticals, according to policy and legal requirements, to ensure quality, security, and proper disposal.
  • Order and purchase pharmaceutical supplies, medical supplies, or drugs, maintaining stock and storing and handling it properly.
  • Compound and dispense medications as prescribed by doctors and dentists, by calculating, weighing, measuring, and mixing ingredients, or oversee these activities.
  • Contact insurance companies to resolve billing issues.
  • Advise customers on the selection of medication brands, medical equipment, or healthcare supplies.
  • Teach pharmacy students serving as interns in preparation for their graduation or licensure.

20 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

  • Review prescriptions to assure accuracy, to ascertain the needed ingredients, and to evaluate their suitability, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Assess the identity, strength, or purity of medications, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Provide information and advice regarding drug interactions, side effects, dosage, and proper medication storage, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Analyze prescribing trends to monitor patient compliance and to prevent excessive usage or harmful interactions, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

  • Computer records systems
  • eClinicalWorks EHR software
  • Epic Systems
  • Freedom MedTEACH
  • Healthprolink MedAtlas
  • Insurance claim processing software
  • Label-making software
  • MEDITECH software
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Microsoft SharePoint
  • Microsoft Word

23 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

  • Ampoule filling machines
  • Area survey meters
  • Automated drug dispensing equipment
  • Barcode scanning/prescription tracking systems
  • Binocular light compound microscopes
  • Capsule counters
  • Electronic blood pressure monitors
  • Electronic toploading balances
  • Filters for glass containers/ampoules
  • Geiger-Muller counters
  • Glucometers
  • Hemacytometers

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

  1. 01Active Listening
  2. 02Reading Comprehension
  3. 03Speaking
  4. 04Critical Thinking
  5. 05Monitoring
  6. 06Writing
  7. 07Judgment and Decision Making
  8. 08Active Learning
  9. 09Complex Problem Solving
  10. 10Service Orientation

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

  • Medicine and Dentistry
  • Mathematics
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • English Language
  • Chemistry
  • Biology
  • Psychology
  • Computers and Electronics

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

  • 78%Doctoral Degree
  • 11%Bachelor's Degree
  • 5%Post-Doctoral Training

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Extensive Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Common questions

What does a Pharmacist do?
Dispense drugs prescribed by physicians and other health practitioners and provide information to patients about medications and their use. Day to day that includes work like review prescriptions to assure accuracy, to ascertain the needed ingredients, and to evaluate their suitability and Assess the identity, strength, or purity of medications.
What skills should a Pharmacist put on a resume?
O*NET rates Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Critical Thinking, and Monitoring among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Pharmacist list?
Software recorded for this occupation includes Computer records systems, eClinicalWorks EHR software, Epic Systems, Freedom MedTEACH, and Healthprolink MedAtlas. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Pharmacist work?
O*NET records 20 titles for this occupation, including Clinical Pharmacist, Hospital Pharmacist, Pharm D, and Pharmacy Doctor. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Pharmacist need?
In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 78% reported their level of education as "Doctoral Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Pharmacist role?
No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

  • No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
  • This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
  • Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.