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Staff pharmacist skills for your resume and career

Q: What hard/technical skills are most important for Staff Pharmacists?

First, a strong clinical knowledge base is essential for the health and safety of the patient. Second, knowledge of electronic medical record systems (EMR) is important. The specific EMR or database is not important, but the basic skills of finding pertinent patient information within a database are crucial to day-to-day tasks. Third, you need to know how to find answers to questions. I appreciate candidates that will admit they don't know an answer to a question but will then explain how they would find the answer.

Q: What skills stand out on Staff Pharmacist resumes?

On paper, the skills that stand out the most are leadership positions. These can be officer positions in school organizations, committee chair positions, head of a project at work, or a leadership position in a professional organization. Anything that shows that you, as a staff pharmacist, can lead a team. Leading a group of people, regardless of the specific situation, is challenging. Quickly, you learn that it is nearly impossible to please everyone all at once, and you need to balance fairness and compassion to best serve your team and your customers/patients.

Q: What skills will help Staff Pharmacists earn the most?

Flexibility and adaptability. The days of standing or sitting in front of one station in the pharmacy with technicians handing you work while you stay in one place are gone. The modern pharmacy has pharmacists completing technical tasks like prescription verification and patient counseling, but now they are expected to complete medication therapy management (MTM) calls, assess a patient's immunization needs, potentially complete point of care testing for disease state management or pharmacy-based prescribing through a collaborative practice agreement. If you show an ability to be flexible and adaptable in the skills you practice, you will be able to earn more in the long term. If COVID-19 has taught us anything, adapting to the ever-changing healthcare field can make or break a pharmacy.

Q: What soft skills should all Staff Pharmacists possess?

Basic conversation/communication skills along with problem-solving skills are crucial for a successful pharmacist. One of the most basic questions I ask myself about a candidate is, "can I see myself working next to this candidate? Also, could I go to work every day and have this person as my partner?" To find the answer to my questions, I typically rank how well a conversation went during the interview. I try to get a sense of the candidate's personality and start thinking about where this candidate could fit into a particular team. Without basic communication skills, you won't be able to succeed in a stressful team environment, and you won't be able to build rapport with your patients. For critical thinking, detailed but succinct answers to situation-based questions are revealing on how a candidate would handle certain situations. Every day in the pharmacy is different from the last. Being able to problem solve critically makes for a strong pharmacist. Patience and empathy are skills every pharmacist must have to help our patients. Many times patients come to the pharmacy sick or short on time. A small problem could easily escalate. The pharmacist does not know what happened to that person during the day. Time, understanding, and a kind word can make that patient feel as if you care only about them at the moment.

Updated January 8, 2025

7 min read

Quoted experts

Rachael Perry,

Vraj Patel

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical staff pharmacist skills. We ranked the top skills for staff pharmacists based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 21.0% of staff pharmacist resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a staff pharmacist needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 staff pharmacist skills for your resume and career

1. Patients

Here's how staff pharmacists use patients:

Provided pharmacological information by answering questions and requests of health care professionals; counseling patients on drug therapies.
Interacted with physicians and patients for verification and dispensing prescriptions, therapeutic interchange and generic substitutions on prescriptions.

2. Patient Care

Patient care entails the diagnosis, recovery, and control of sickness as well as the maintenance of physical and emotional well-being through the use of healthcare providers' services. Patient care is described as services provided to patients by health practitioners or non-professionals under guidance.

Here's how staff pharmacists use patient care:

Complied with all accreditation, legal, regulatory, and safety requirements ensuring quality patient care and inside pharmacy consultant.
Enhanced patient care by working collaboratively with physicians and insurance providers in development of most effective care plans.

3. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how staff pharmacists use customer service:

Managed Pharmaceutical Staff Medical Consultant Ordered Medications/Filled Prescriptions Customer Service Representative
Assisted the pharmacy manager in increasing the prescription count through promoting various initiatives including immunization clinics and providing good customer service.

4. Patient Safety

Here's how staff pharmacists use patient safety:

Consult with 10 or more physicians per shift regarding patient medication reconciliation and recommendations that have resulted in increased patient safety.
Processed prescriptions in high-volume environment and reviewing orders therapeutic drug monitoring and clinical interventions to maximize quality and patient safety.

5. Compassion

Here's how staff pharmacists use compassion:

Counseled patients on proper use of their medications showing empathy and compassion to establish a positive patient-provider relationship.
Maintained excellent relationship with patients based on consultations, efficacy, and compassion.

6. Immunization

Here's how staff pharmacists use immunization:

Interpreted and dispensed prescribed medications, averaging 200 a day, administered immunizations, conducted off site flu immunization clinics.
Implemented value-added customer service programs including individualized counseling, smoking cessation classes, and flu and pneumonia immunization clinics.

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7. Inventory Management

Here's how staff pharmacists use inventory management:

Shared Responsibility for Simultaneous Multiple Inventory Management
Specialized Inventory Management: Compounded nuclear radioisotopes with their accompanied medications, with isotopes acquired from sources outlined by General Electric.

8. Pharmaceutical Care

Pharmaceutical Care is a medical process in which a pharmaceutical entity or one or more medical professionals craft and employ a drug treatment specific to a singular patient with the goal of alleviating symptoms or ridding the patient entirely of said symptoms. This is done for various diseases, health issues, and symptoms and is not unique to any one specific branch of the medical field. The ultimate goal, no matter the issue at hand, is to improve upon the quality of life of the patient in question.

Here's how staff pharmacists use pharmaceutical care:

Render satisfactory pharmaceutical care by establishing and maintaining positive relationship with each client to gain trust and acquire high-level client satisfaction.
Promoted pharmaceutical care by managing the medication process, identifying and preventing potential drug-related problems, and resolving actual drug-related problems.

9. IV

Here's how staff pharmacists use iv:

Prepared IV admixtures and dispensed unit dose medications for inpatient prescription orders utilizing medical profiles in busy hospital environment.
Provided outpatient pharmacy and OR satellite services * Provided IV admixture services in the Hematology/Oncology Outpatient Clinic.

10. Medication Orders

A medication order is a set of written instructions from a prescribing doctor for the administration of a particular medication to a particular person. A qualified employee, such as a pharmacist, can even be given a prescription order orally by the prescribing physician like a chemist or a nurse.

Here's how staff pharmacists use medication orders:

Evaluated medication orders for accuracy and appropriateness * Facilitated medication delivery to hospital units * Responded to Code 99 emergency situations.
Modify, clarify, and verify medication orders through the interdisciplinary medical team by communicating with practitioners concerning therapy changes.

11. Drug Therapy

Drug therapy is a treatment through the application of drugs. It is a medical process by which the drugs upon interacting with the cells and enzymes of the body, boost the body's healing capacity to cure illnesses.

Here's how staff pharmacists use drug therapy:

Reviewed drug therapy, answered medication questions, resolved patient therapeutic concerns/issues, and provided clinical consultation to improve therapeutic regimens.
Maintain and provide pharmaceutical service to patients through drug information, quality assurance activities, drug therapy review and continuing education.

12. CVS

Here's how staff pharmacists use cvs:

Recognized by CVS Corporate Office after receiving numerous compliments for exceeding customer expectations and providing excellent service.
Complied to all CVS loss/inventory shrink prevention procedures including setting alarms and specific pilfering/shrink investigations.

13. Prescription Orders

A prescription order is an order given or issued by a licensed physician or prescriber for the preparation and administration of a medicine to be dispensed to a patient for assistive or corrective purposes and other treatment.

Here's how staff pharmacists use prescription orders:

Review prescription orders for safety, accuracy, appropriateness, and completeness while taking patient specific data into consideration.
Remained On-Call to receive first day prescription orders arranged delivery service to local convalescent and residential care facilities.

14. Order Entry

Order Entry is the term used to describe and refer to the process of and steps necessary in order to log a customer's order in a company's or organization's order filing systems.

Here's how staff pharmacists use order entry:

Order entry responsibilities involved keying in and verifying prescription information including drug utilization review and third party problem resolution.
Order entry, therapeutic interchange, and drug utilization review of physician prescribed medications including IVIG and chemotherapy agents.

15. Allergies

Here's how staff pharmacists use allergies:

Addressed medication allergies, duplication of therapy; suggested monitoring parameters; attended multidisciplinary rounds and participated in therapeutic decision making.
Dictate prescriptions from physicians, drug utilization reviews; contact physicians concerning drug interactions and drug allergies and recommend alternatives.

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What skills help Staff Pharmacists find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on staff pharmacist resumes?

Rachael Perry

Assistant Dean for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs, Binghamton University

I think it is important that graduates are able to articulate their skills to employers beyond just listing them generically on a resume or CV. As a pharmacist, communication skills are essential but listing "strong communication skills" is something everyone can put on their resume. Giving specific examples, numbers, or quantifiable metrics to demonstrate that you actually have those skills is much better. You also want to be sure that your CV/resume and cover letter are pristine, free of grammatical and spelling errors, because that is likely going to be the first impression of your communication skills.

What soft skills should all staff pharmacists possess?

Vraj Patel

Medication Error Pharmacovigilance and Risk Management Fellow, Butler University

-Same as above plus these 2 below:
-Communication skills - learning to have critical conversations with other healthcare professionals, patients, co-workers are vital to be successful
-Personable - very important as a pharmacist as you will be seeing many patients if in a clinical setting, and it is important to be able to connect with your patients

What hard/technical skills are most important for staff pharmacists?

Vraj Patel

Medication Error Pharmacovigilance and Risk Management Fellow, Butler University

-Clinical knowledge - pharmacists will shine in clinical knowledge and can bring a lot about drug knowledge to the table
-Understanding insurances and payer markets - many times, people rely on the pharmacist to understand this confusing world of insurances and a place where pharmacists can shine
Understanding pharmacy law - other healthcare professionals usually do not have to take a law exam, so this is unique to pharmacists within the pharmacy/drug space, especially since the pharmacy laws change in every state.

What staff pharmacist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Lawrence Brown

Professor & Associate Dean of Undergraduate Pharmacy Programs and Partnerships, Chapman University

Direct patient care skills will become more important and prevalent. Specifically, the skill of providing medication therapy management for patients with chronic diseases. In the next 5 years there will be a lot more opportunities for pharmacists to be embedded in a medical group to provide care for patients with chronic diseases. And to be as successful as possible caring for these patients, pharmacists will need to learn and use motivational interviewing skills, since those skills will allow them to establish a rapport with their patients and work with the patient to meet their disease state goals rather than offending the patient or just telling the patient what to do.

What type of skills will young staff pharmacists need?

Dr. Kyle Riding Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, University of Central Florida

They will need to continue to develop strong technical skills to perform the testing required by medical laboratory scientists. Also, they need exceptional critical thinking skills to ensure quality assurance is the underpinning of all the tests they perform. Finally, the need for communication skills is more critical than ever. This is because the profession needs to become more consultative with our healthcare providers in their practices.

Do you want to know more?

List of staff pharmacist skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a staff pharmacist resume and required skills for a staff pharmacist to have include:

Patients
Patient Care
Customer Service
Patient Safety
Compassion
Immunization
Inventory Management
Pharmaceutical Care
IV
Medication Orders
Drug Therapy
CVS
Prescription Orders
Order Entry
Allergies
Federal Laws
Computer System

Physician Orders
Medication Reconciliation
Pharmacy Services
Chemotherapy
Federal Regulations
Disease State Management
Unit Dose
Patient Profiles
State Laws
Patient Education
Dispense Medications
Pyxis
TPN
Therapy Management
Pharmacy Operations
Inventory Control
Drug Utilization Review

Blood Pressure
Disease State
State Regulations
Drug Inventory
RX
Medical Equipment
OTC
USP
Disease Management
Clinical Support
Drug Dispensing
Antibiotics
Pharmacokinetics
Patient Medications
Resuscitation
Pharmacy Inventory

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Staff Pharmacist skills FAQs

What hard/technical skills are most important for Staff Pharmacists?

What skills stand out on Staff Pharmacist resumes?

What skills will help Staff Pharmacists earn the most?

What soft skills should all Staff Pharmacists possess?

Have more questions? See all answers to common healthcare practitioner and technical questions.

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Updated January 8, 2025

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