How to hire a clinical pharmacist

How to hire a clinical pharmacist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step clinical pharmacist hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a clinical pharmacist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new clinical pharmacist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a clinical pharmacist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The clinical pharmacist hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A clinical pharmacist's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, clinical pharmacists from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of clinical pharmacist salaries for various roles:

   Type of Clinical Pharmacist	Description	Hourly rate
   Clinical Pharmacist	Pharmacists dispense prescription medications to patients and offer expertise in the safe use of prescriptions. They also may conduct health and wellness screenings, provide immunizations, oversee the medications given to patients, and provide advice on healthy lifestyles.	$27-73
   Pharmacy Internship	When it comes to a pharmacy internship, one of the primary responsibilities is to observe pharmacy operations and develop efficient communication skills as most of the tasks will revolve around customer service, such as providing instructions on when to take medications and what could be the side effects. Moreover, working as a pharmacist requires excellent attention to detail, ensuring that all customers receive the correct type and amount according to their prescriptions... Show more	$21-66
   Pharmacist Consultant	A pharmacist consultant specializes in providing advice to patients regarding their medication, discussing benefits, and recommending other services as necessary. They usually work at pharmacies, where they are also in charge of tasks, such as conducting research and assessments, maintaining records, utilizing tools and software to develop organized reports and information databases, and generating sales forecasts for different medications... Show more	$21-67

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Patient Care
   • PharmD
   • Medication Orders
   • Pharmaceutical Care
   • Drug Therapy
   • Pharmacokinetics
   • Oncology
   • IV
   • Medication Reconciliation
   • Patient Outcomes
   • Allergies
   • Patient Safety
   • Clinical Pharmacy Services

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Train, manage and instruct pharmacy technicians, interns, and PharmD candidates on clinical rotations.
   • Dose and manage all Vancomycin and Aminoglycoside antibiotics throughout the entire hospital including overseeing, evaluating, and ordering antibiotic labs.
   • Receive and verify drug orders from physicians using computerize physician order entry system, including cancer chemotherapy orders.
   • Implement updated pediatric chemotherapy-induce nausea and vomiting (CINV) guidelines and policy for use in all pediatric patients receiving chemotherapy.
   • Provide clinical assistance to the RPh staff in addition to case processing.
   • Maintain sterile product manufacturing processes to comply with federal, state and local regulations and JCAHO standards.

   More clinical pharmacist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the clinical pharmacist job description is a good way to get more applicants. A clinical pharmacist salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a clinical pharmacist in Arkansas may be lower than in California, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level clinical pharmacist. Additionally, a clinical pharmacist with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average clinical pharmacist salary

   $94,705yearly

   $45.53 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level clinical pharmacist salary

   $58,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 18, 2026

   Average clinical pharmacist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$125,657	$60
   2	Nevada	$99,095	$48
   3	Arizona	$93,989	$45
   4	Florida	$90,782	$44
   5	Texas	$89,403	$43
   6	Oregon	$85,993	$41
   7	Louisiana	$79,425	$38
   8	Washington	$78,108	$38
   9	Colorado	$73,176	$35
   10	Utah	$69,993	$34
   11	Maryland	$67,745	$33
   12	Georgia	$67,213	$32
   13	District of Columbia	$66,939	$32
   14	New York	$66,395	$32
   15	North Carolina	$66,385	$32
   16	Rhode Island	$62,733	$30
   17	Tennessee	$62,554	$30
   18	Pennsylvania	$60,348	$29
   19	Massachusetts	$59,973	$29
   20	Virginia	$59,014	$28

   Average clinical pharmacist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	East Tennessee Children's Hospital	$133,110	$64.00	4
   2	University of Maryland Medical System	$132,895	$63.89	84
   3	Stanford Health Care	$131,112	$63.03	98
   4	Driscoll Children's Hospital	$129,890	$62.45	5
   5	Carle Foundation	$129,565	$62.29	53
   6	Cedars-Sinai	$129,542	$62.28	209
   7	CHKD Thrift Store	$127,645	$61.37
   8	Nicklaus Children's Hospital	$127,396	$61.25	10
   9	University Health	$126,829	$60.98	13
   10	Montefiore Mount Vernon Hospital	$126,176	$60.66	4
   11	Baystate Health	$125,843	$60.50	12
   12	Oroville Hospital	$125,711	$60.44
   13	University Hospitals	$125,704	$60.43	7
   14	Berkshire Medical Center	$125,116	$60.15	6
   15	Mid-Columbia Medical Center	$124,649	$59.93
   16	Northwell Health	$124,476	$59.84	126
   17	Cottage Health	$124,123	$59.67	39
   18	Memorial Healthcare System	$123,978	$59.60	6
   19	Union Health	$123,908	$59.57
   20	Phoenix Children's	$123,764	$59.50	18

4. Writing a clinical pharmacist job description

   A clinical pharmacist job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a clinical pharmacist job description:

   Clinical pharmacist job description example

   • 5 years experience in-patient, out-patient, or clinical pharmacy.
   • 5 years experience with IBM, windows-based software

   
   SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

   • Demonstrated competency to advance strategic goals and lead multi-disciplinary, multi-organizational teams to foster collaboration and build consensus, within a diverse, integrated, matrix management style healthcare system.
   • Position requires organizational, teamwork, interpersonal, time management, written and verbal communication skills. position requires the capability to set priorities amongst a series of competing clinical and operational priorities and to effectively coordinate and direct the work of others to meet specified deadlines.
   • Extensive clinical knowledge of medical and pharmacy practice issues and demonstrated proficiency in the evaluation of clinical evidence and development of evidence-based drug monographs, therapeutic class reviews, medication and disease management guidelines.
   • Effective written and oral presentation of clinical evidence reviews, clinical initiative proposals, presentation of research findings, and recommendations to administrators, clinicians, and committees.
   • Ability to engage and build consensus among pharmacy, nursing and medical staff in support of organizational goals for medication safety and stewardship.
   • Proficiency with MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
   • Reliable transportation with appropriate insurance required; travel expenses are reimbursed.
   • Supported attendance at one to two professional pharmacy conferences annually.

   
   
   

   Job Shift :

   Days

   Schedule :

   Full Time

   Shift Hours:

   8

   Days of the Week:

   Friday, Monday, Thursday, Tuesday, Wednesday

   Weekend Requirements:

   None

   Benefits:

   Yes

   Unions:

   No

   This position is work from home eligible.

   Position Status:

   Exempt

   Weekly Hours:

   40

   Employee Status:

   Regular

   Number of Openings:

   1

   Sutter Health Affiliates are equal opportunity employers EOE/M/F/Disability/Veterans.

   Schedule/Shift: Regular/ Days

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find clinical pharmacists for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your clinical pharmacist job on Zippia to find and attract quality clinical pharmacist candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit clinical pharmacists, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new clinical pharmacist

   Once you've found the clinical pharmacist candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new clinical pharmacist first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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