Create The Perfect Pharmacist CV: Template & Writing Guide

You’re the customer-facing link in the health profession chain. From dispensing medicines to dispensing advice, you play a pivotal role in keeping the nation healthy. But dealing with the complexities of modern pharmaceuticals can seem like a breeze compared to planning your next career move.

Thankfully we’ve got an easy prescription for a UK pharmacist CV and you won’t even have to translate doctors’ handwriting to fill it.

Read on and you’ll see a pharmacist CV example that you can use as a guide to write your own. You’ll also learn a simple formula for writing a CV for pharmacist jobs that’ll get you more interviews than any CV you’ve written previously. 

Let’s begin with a pharmacist CV sample made using our builder.

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Sample Pharmacist CV Template

And now the formula for your job-winning pharmacy CV.

1. Prescribe the Best Format for Your Pharmacist CV

A pharmacist is a healthcare professional who ensures medications are dispensed to patients in a safe and effective manner. The purpose of your pharmacist CV is to show you have an extensive knowledge of pharmaceuticals, can advise on their side effects and ensure that the supply of medicines is in keeping with legal requirements.

The problem is, the average recruiter spends less than half a minute reviewing your job application. So how can you convince them to take their medicine? The answer is simple, get your pharmacist CV format right. Here’s what to do.

• Use chronological format. It’s the one recruiters and hiring managers know and love. So-called because it focuses on your work experience, which you enter in reverse chronological order.
• Create an easy to skim CV layout. Have your page margins set to one inch on all four sides, double space between your CV sections and left-align your text. The end result is lots of white space, a nifty design element that makes your CV easy on the eye and easy to read.
• Choose an easy to read font. The best fonts for a CV include Arial, Trebuchet and Calibri. 
• Save your finished pharmacist CV as a PDF. It’ll keep your hard-won layout intact.
• And don’t include personal information like your photo, date of birth or marital status.

Read more: How to Create a Professional CV Layout

2. Write a Pharmacy Personal Statement

You’d never give a patient a prescription without a pharmacy label. Its instructions form a vital summary of how the patient should use the product. And your CV personal statement has a similar function. It’s a 3–4 line summary of the rest of your CV, designed to catch the recruiter’s attention and make them hungry for more.

The best pharmacy personal statement examples are based on these three questions.

1. Who are you? 
2. What can you offer as an employee? 
3. What career goals do you have? 

And you’ll answer those questions differently depending on how experienced you are. If you’re writing an experienced professional pharmacist CV then do this.

• Write down all of your skills, experience and strengths as a pharmacist. Note everything that makes you good at your job.
• Next, write down all of the experience and skills that are mentioned in the job advert.
• Then write a personal profile tailored to the job by incorporating 3–4 points from your own list of abilities that match up with the requirements in the job description

If you’re writing a newly-qualified pharmacist CV your approach will change slightly. Here’s how to do it if you’re just starting out in your pharmacy career.

• Write down all the skills and knowledge you already possess. Consider your education in particular as you’ll need to prove you’re knowledgeable and fully trained.
• Then match these up with the job requirements, inject some passion for the job, and mix it all together into a personal statement that proves you’re ready to make a strong start to your career.

And in both cases, the trick is to leave this section until last. Having your experience, skills and education written out in front of you will be a great help in jogging your memory.

Read more: 10+ Examples of How to Write Your CV Summary

3. Create a Well-Written Pharmacist CV Work Experience Section 

Your work experience section is the main active ingredient of your CV, it just won’t function without it. Here’s how to make sure you prescribe the optimum dose.

• Use reverse-chronological order, listing your current or most recent employer first.
• Then label each entry with the following key information. Your full job title, name of the employer and your dates of employment. Then write 4–6 bullet points describing each job.
• But— don’t just write a boring list of duties, that’ll put the recruiter to sleep more quickly than a double dose of Temazepam. Mention achievements that are quantified with numbers to show not just what you did, but how well you did it.
• You can also add extra energy by starting each bullet point with a CV action word and use accomplishment statements to add structure. 
• And write a fresh work experience section for every new job application. Note the skills and experience mentioned in the job description and tailor your work experience section to match.

Read more: How to Write Your Work Experience CV Section

4. Include an Education Section in Your Pharmacy CV

Every pharmacist needs a solid education to perform their job safely and effectively. It’s a technically demanding profession that requires a high level of training so your education section is essential. Here’s what you need to include.

• Write the name of your university, the dates you studied there and the name of your degree. If you’ve got post-graduate qualifications then list everything in reverse chronological order.
• Don’t mention honours unless you got a 2:1 or a first.
• Include more detail if you’re still studying or you’ve just graduated, add a bullet point mentioning specific modules or extra-curricular activities if they’re relevant to the job you’re targetting. 

Read more: How to Write Your CV Education Section

5. Demonstrate Your Pharmacist CV Skills

Most people think being a pharmacist is mostly popping out the back of the shop and grabbing the right pills off the shelf. But of course there’s so much more to it than that. It’s not just the hard skills such as detailed knowledge of drug interactions. It’s the soft skills too, like sensitive communication with patients. 

So with such a broad spectrum of skills, how do you choose which ones to include on your pharmacy CV? Here’s how to go about it.

• Re-read the job advert and highlight the skills that are mentioned.
• Now create a list of your own pharmacy skills, referring back to your work experience and education for inspiration.
• Then check what skills you have that match the job requirements and choose 5–10 of those to include on your CV, making sure you include both soft and hard skills.
• And back up each skill with a short sentence that demonstrates your competence. E.g. Initiative. Willingness to question apparent errors in dosage and interaction in prescriptions.

Here are some skills that would look great on your pharmacist CV.

Key Pharmacist Skills

• Verbal communication
• Integrity
• Numeracy
• Accuracy
• Software skills
• Initiative
• Mentoring
• Diplomacy
• Regulatory knowledge
• Analytical skills
• Attention to detail
• POS cash register operation

Read More: Best Skills to Include on Your CV [Top List of Examples]

When making a CV in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building your CV here.

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When you’re done, Zety’s CV builder will score your CV and tell you exactly how to make it better.

6. Add Additional Sections to Your Pharmacist CV

This is a situation where increasing the dose is definitely a good thing. Technically, you could stop writing with your skills section and your CV would be complete. But for maximum effect it’s always better to add something extra. Here are some suggestions for additional sections for your pharmacist CV.

• Volunteering looks great on a CV. According to one study a massive 8 out of 10 hiring managers said they’re more likely to hire candidates with volunteering experience.
• Being bilingual can also boost your employability. So if you can speak a foreign language add a languages section. It’s especially useful in public-facing roles like pharmacy where you deal with culturally diverse patients.
• Hobbies and interests are a useful way of demonstrating skills and experience when you’re just starting out in your career. Projects and awards can work too. As long as it’s relevant and demonstrates you’re a good potential employee it’s worth including.

Read more: Best Hobbies and Interests to Include on Your CV

7. Make Sure You Include a Pharmacist Cover Letter

Cover letters and CVs are like two drugs that interact with each other in synergy to boost their effects. A good pharmacist CV becomes great when you pair it with a cover letter. In fact, more than 50% of managers prefer a job application to include a cover letter. To put it another way, if you don’t write a cover letter you’re effectively cutting your chances in half.

Here’s how to write a cover letter for pharmacist jobs.

• Write the cover letter address correctly and use the correct cover letter format.
• Include a hook in your cover letter introduction. Get the recruiter’s attention with an impressive achievement or skill and a positive, high-energy tone.
• Then in the middle paragraphs, add even more evidence that you’ll be a great employee. Mention more accomplishments and skills and explain why you want to work for this employer in particular.
• Use your cover letter ending to make a call to action. Don’t just say thank you, ask the hiring manager to contact you so you can discuss the role in more detail.
• And make sure the dosage is correct. The maximum length of a cover letter is one page. 

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your CV will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

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See more cover letter templates and start writing.

Thanks for getting this far. Hopefully you found our UK pharmacist CV sample useful. If you’d like to know more then please let me know in the comments section. Perhaps you’re still studying and want to know how to write a pharmacy student CV? Just ask away and I’ll be happy to help.

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Sources

• https://www.winthrop.edu/uploadedFiles/cce/AccomplishmentStatementHandout.pdf
• https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/us-deloitte-impact-survey.pdf
• https://www.uei.edu/blog/can-speaking-two-languages-increase-your-job-prospects/
• https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1080569909334015