Being a pharmacy professional in the demanding healthcare industry is not a minor feat. As a pharmacist, entry-level or mid-level executive, one of the crucial materials that can get you the dream job you desire is a Curriculum Vitae (CV).
Your CV creates the initial idea that a recruiter, hiring manager, or human resources manager has about you and your abilities. With this information, I am sure you will intend on making a memorable first impression with your CV.
For writing a CV for a pharmacist position in Ireland, no law that states its length. However, several companies prefer a cursory CV.
What is a CV?
A Curriculum Vitae, abbreviated as CV, is a job application document that is the layout of your background and experience. A CV is a strategic document that matches the keywords of a company’s or position’s competencies.
The crucial aim of a CV is to persuade a recruiter or hiring manager to invite you for an interview. The CV is like an ad copy that is tailored to a specific target audience—the hiring company. A CV is concise, focused, and uses powerful action words.
Formats of CV for Pharmacists
There are three types of CVs you can use to prepare a pharmacist CV. Selecting the right CV format for your pharmacist CV depends on varying factors. The three types of CVs are chronological, functional/skill-based, and combined.
The chronological CV is the most typical CV format that outlines a prospective candidate’s work experience on an employer-to-employer basis. With the chronological CV, you can list the work experience in reverse chronological order.
A chronological CV also includes succinct accomplishment statements that show the strengths and skills of the prospective candidate.
A functional CV (skill-based) format comes in handy if you need to highlight your skills and personal abilities, instead of focusing on your work experience. A functional CV is useful when you are switching careers and would like to display your transferable skills.
This type of CV also comes in handy when you have unpaid, part-time, and voluntary work experiences or gaps in your employment history.
A combined CV format uses a combination of the chronological and functional CVs, making it a longer version of both the chronological and functional CVs.
How do Hiring Managers/Recruiters use CVs to hire Pharmacists?
Several employing companies in Ireland request a CV and cover letter to evaluate the eligibility of potential candidates for the role.
Your CV provides essential information about personal details, experience, skills, education, and accomplishments.
It is advisable to organise the information on your CV into a quick scannable mode. It allows the recruiter to view all information at a glance.
What should a Pharmacist’s CV contain?
There are various ways to format and present a CV, however, your pharmacist CV must include these key elements.
Follow these guidelines to incorporate job-related key elements into your CV.
- Personal Information
Your personal information should be brief. It is important to include your name, address, email address, contact number, and LinkedIn profile or other social media accounts (optional).
Your name and contact details (phone number and email address) should be at the top of the page. Ensure these details are the first information the recruiter/hiring manager sees. It is appropriate to use only a professional email address as your contact detail for your CV.
- Career aim/Profile Summary
The career aim/profile summary section should contain five to seven significant overviews of your pharmacist’s experience and skills. It should also include concise statements about why you are a great fit for the job.
The section should appear below your name and contact details. Ensure you make use of action keywords to capture the attention of the hiring manager.
- Skills/Competencies
This is the section to inform recruiters or hiring managers about what you can offer the company. It is important to outline your skills and state how these skills will contribute to the company.
There are three types of skills that recruiters/hiring managers pay attention to when perusing a CV. These skills are transferable, adaptive skills, and job-related skills.
- Employment History
Under the employment history section, ensure you begin with your most recent job (if you are working). Start with the name and address of the company and the job title.
Be sure to include experiences that fall under the category of paid work and unpaid work (internships, part-time, voluntary, or summer experience) as prospective employers respond to any experience.
When presenting your employment history, avoid the use of informal language. Give details about what you achieved in each role and the responsibilities you took on.
- Education
As a fresh graduate, it is imperative to include details about your educational qualifications. Using chronological order (from recent), list out the relevant subjects and grades.
Mention the full title of your degree and year of graduation. State the title of your project or thesis in relation to the job. As a recent graduate, list your educational qualifications in the next section after the profile summary section.
If you already have some years of working experience as a pharmacist, it may be irrelevant to include subjects and grades, or the title of the project/thesis. It would be okay to just mention the full title of your degree and year of graduation.
- Accomplishments
Under this section, list the accomplishments you have that relate to the job. Details like your accomplishments will make you stand out by focusing on your employability.
- Hobbies and Interests
This section may seem personal, but some hiring managers like to know that potential candidates have a personal life outside of work.
Although, it is important to take into notice that you can only include hobbies and interests relating to the job. Think of a voluntary experience you have that promotes significant causes.
- References
Do you know anyone who can vouch for you? Correlate your work experience and skills? The “References” section is the perfect layout to include the information.
While some hiring companies do not request references, the company you may apply to may require the information. Ensure you do not list your references in your CV. Simply add on a line stating: “References Available Upon Request.”
If the company you are applying to requests for references, you can provide the details in a separate document.
Writing your CV should not be a whim at the moment. You need to gather some materials before you write your CV.
Six Tips on how to write an Amazing CV for a Pharmacist Position
With many employers, recruiters, or hiring managers getting overwhelmed with CVs, attempt to make your pharmacist CV stand out. Follow these six tips to grab the attention of the hiring manager.
- Customise your CV. Many applicants, especially fresh graduates, make the mistake of not customising their CV to the job position they intend to apply for. Perform research on the company and use the job description to pick out skills you can highlight.
- Make the CV brief. Human Resources professionals recommend a CV should be a maximum of three pages. Keep your CV brief with relevant details.
- Check for spelling, grammar, and typos. Typos are inescapable. Blunders on your CV can do more harm than good. Grammatical errors can give off a negative vibe, which could show a communication issue with the English language. Always crosscheck and read over the content of your CV before sending it out.
- Exceptional Presentation. The layout and format of your CV will make a great impression on hiring managers/recruiters. Create an outstanding CV with the right font and font size. Break up text to produce white space that is easy on the eyes. Increase readability by making use of bullet points.
- Specify your accomplishments. List a detailed summary of your talents with facts and figures. Ensure you make use of action verbs to begin each accomplishment statement.
- Introduce a personal statement into the CV. A summary about yourself will capture the interest of the reader (recruiter or hiring manager).
Mistakes to Avoid on your Pharmacy CV
- Unnecessary personal information like marital status, gender, or date of birth, except as stated otherwise.
- Lack of detailed outline of unique selling points.
- Spelling and grammatical error
- Improper format and layout of the CV
- Employment gaps
Conclusion
Pharmacy recruitment will not be receding soon. One effective way to land a pharmacist job is to write a great CV – check out the suitability of the pharmacist position before creating a customised pharmacy CV.
Place all relevant details in a strategic location to grab the recruiter’s attention. Remember to include a cover letter stating why you are a good fit for the position when sending out your application.
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