To have a Career Coach or not to have....

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If you are reading my post, you are probably debating whether or not having a career development coach is worth the investment.

Well, read on to consider some of the reasons why having a career development coach could be beneficial.

Pharmacists can do so much more

Since we have survived pharmacy school, we know that pharmacists can offer so much; and many of you are aware about different pharmacy settings in addition to community and hospital. After you speak with your career coach, however, you will further realize the existence of so many more opportunities for pharmacists in a variety of settings, such as remote, industry, corrections, informatics, medical information, pharmacy benefit management (PBM), pharmacogenomics (PGx), etc.

The list will seem endless!

Next Steps

With additional discussion with your career coach, you may also realize that practicing as a pharmacist in other settings might be a better fit for you; and your coach might have lists of the variety of companies in specific pharmacy settings. So, you will already know about the companies within your desired settings; and now, you can immediately research them and determine whether or not these companies will help you pursue your professional and personal goals!

Job Search Strategy

So, now that you have decided on a few preferred settings, how do you find pharmacist openings? The job search can actually be a little tricky. How?

Well, one example is the industry setting. If you type “pharmacist” in the careers section of a company within the industry setting, matching positions might not exist. However, there is a trick around this; and your career coach can show you!

Furthermore, there are potentially many job titles for similar positions; and your coach can help you find many of these titles to further expand your search.

Additional Tricks and Tips

As you probably deduced, there are so many tricks and tips that a career coach can share with you; and some of which are:

  • How to appropriately use LinkedIn, other job search agents, and staffing/recruiting companies

  • How to cater your resume and cover letter to a particular position and company

  • How to answer difficult application and interview questions

    • Gaps in employment

    • Skill gaps

    • Salary

  • How to persistently follow up without sounding too pushy

  • How to analyze and negotiate offers

  • More

So, are you ready to pursue and obtain the pharmacy career that aligns with your professional and personal goals? If so, feel free to reach out and know that I will try my best to help you assess your options, move forward, and achieve work-life alignment in a saturated pharmacy job market!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

You know how barriers may sometimes prevent people from meeting their goals? If you have any barriers that are making it difficult to reach your goals, there is a way to overcome these obstacles with personalized consultations and services tailored to your unique needs.

Ross is the founder of Off Script Consults and director of the PharmacyChecker international verification program. She has years of experience practicing pharmacy in various settings, which she uses to help colleagues by offering career coaching and business consulting. She is a board certified clinical pharmacist, who provides personalized health consultations. Ross is also a medical writer for multiple websites and Alphanumeric. To book a discovery meeting, please use her calendar link.