Pharmacist Resume Example & Writing Guide

The profession of a pharmacist is not only engaging and rewarding, but it's vital for the well-being of humankind. However, to get the job and start working in this field, you'd need an arresting pharmacist resume.

And while your specialization is patient care, ours is resume building.

We’ve prepared this all-in-one guide that will show you everything related to pharmacist resumes, from which format to use to what optional information can help you wow recruiters.

Let’s not waste any more time—jump right in!

What is the Right Format to Use for a Pharmacist Resume?

The way your resume conveys information is as important as the information itself. That’s why you want to choose an optimal pharmacist resume format.

The three formats listed below have been proven to yield the best results with recruiters:

Resume Layout

A resume layout determines how your pharmacist resume is going to look. In general, you want a clean, readable, and professional resume that has everything on one page. To achieve this, use the guidelines below:

What Sections Should a Pharmacist Resume Contain?

No matter the position or company you’re applying to, your pharmacist resume should always contain the following sections:

Then, there are optional sections that allow you to personalize your resume, add more valuable information, or tailor the document to a specific job. These sections include:

We're about to explore what each of these sections should be like. However, if you want to get started immediately, without worrying about the specifics, you can check out our resume builder. It features professionally made, ATS-proof pharmacist resume templates that you can easily customize and adjust.

You can stop worrying about the technicalities, as our tool has everything preset, and you simply fill in the blanks with your information. Not only that, but you can change the look of the entire resume in a few clicks. In other words, your resume can be done in minutes!

Pharmacist Resume Contact Information

This part of your resume doesn’t require much thought or creativity, and that’s a good thing. You should simply list your name, professional title, phone number, and email address.

Optionally, you can add a link to your LinkedIn profile since that’s a commonly used social network in a professional setting, and recruiters often check it before contacting you for an interview.

Now let’s take a look at an example:

When adding your professional title, you should make sure it matches the one in the job ad since this part acts as a keyword for the ATS.

Also, if you’re still using an email address that you made back in high school, it’s probably time to create a new one that you can use in a business setting.

Lastly, adding location to your contact information section is an outdated practice, and you should only do it if you’re applying for a position abroad.

Pharmacist Resume Objective or Summary

You should start your resume with a bang to grab recruiters’ attention right off the bat. That’s what a resume summary or objective serves for.

This section consists of 2–4 concise and impactful sentences at the top of your resume. Their purpose is to summarize what you have to offer to potential employers and emphasize your abilities related to a specific field.

But what’s the difference, and which one should you use for your resume?

The clue is in the name.

If you have the skills but no experience, you can highlight them by writing a resume objective. But you shouldn’t just list a couple of your skills and call it a day—you should be talking about your career’s objective as well.

A pharmacist resume summary, on the other hand, is generally written by experienced professionals. Its goal is to summarize your resume and show your competence through some of your most prominent achievements.

Entry-Level Pharmacist Resume Objective

Whether you’re still a student, a recent graduate, or someone who changed professions and lacks work experience, you should write a pharmacist resume objective. Here, it’s crucial to show your motivation and potential by highlighting your most important skills and being clear about your career goals.

Here’s a well-written example:

Now, compare this to an example of a resume objective that lacks skills, goals, and drive:

There’s nothing wrong with being motivated and looking for a good job, but you should demonstrate that you have some proficiency and knowledge to offer as well.

Experienced Pharmacist Resume Summary

As a seasoned professional, you have an entire career of concrete results to showcase in your resume. Start off strong by highlighting the most impressive ones for recruiters to see right from the get-go in your summary. You want to entice them to keep reading to see just how good you are at what you do.

Here’s how to do that:

And here’s how not to write a resume summary if you’re a veteran in the field:

Even an entry-level candidate with no experience could write something better.

Pharmacist Resume Work Experience

One of the easiest ways to present yourself as the best candidate for the job is to show your previous work experience. This section gives recruiters direct insight into your competence, which is why you want to get the most out of it. Keep reading to find out how to do that!

It’s the way you write the list of responsibilities and achievements that separates savvy job hunters from amateurs.

For starters, you want to use bullet lists that feature your most impactful professional accomplishments. Concentrate on the outstanding results you achieved rather than the everyday tasks you had to do for maximum effect.

Here are some extra tips that can help you make those results as prominent as possible:

Pharmacist With No Experience

Even if you’re an entry-level candidate, you can still take full advantage of all the tips we outlined in a previous chapter to create a captivating work experience section. The only difference is that, instead of a previous job, you’ll likely be using one of the alternatives.

These alternatives could be volunteer or freelance work, college projects, internships, and similar activities.

Here’s an excellent example where a candidate leveraged their internship to create a professional work experience section:

Experienced Pharmacist

Unlike entry-level applicants, who sometimes struggle to fill in this section, experienced professionals might run into a different kind of problem. They could have too many jobs or achievements to showcase and be unsure of which ones they should highlight.

If that’s you, you probably want to go with quality over quantity. Don’t include every minor accomplishment or irrelevant job just to make this section look full since those could draw attention from the important bits and reduce the overall quality of the whole section.

This is what a good experience section for a seasoned pharmacist looks like:

Pharmacist Resume Education Section

In most cases, having a degree is a must if you want to work as a pharmacist. A pharmacy technician, for example, might not need a degree to work in some environments, but they still need a high school diploma or GED along with relevant certifications.

When adding your education details to your pharmacist resume, you should follow this format:

Let’s see what that looks like in practice:

Generally, you should only include your highest degree while keeping this entire section brief.

However, students or recent graduates with little professional experience could put more emphasis on their education.

In that case, you could include more than one degree in reverse-chronological order (omit your high school diploma unless it’s your highest one, though), and you could add more content to the achievements part.

Lastly, if you’re still studying while looking for a job, include your degree anyway and put “expected” next to a graduation date, or omit it and write “current” instead.

Pharmacist Resume Skills

There are two types of skills a pharmacist resume needs to showcase:

When adding skills to your pharmacist resume, you should put more focus on hard skills. However, soft skills are still extremely important, so you should create a separate list and add a few that are desired by recruiters.

Pharmacist Resume Optional Sections

Here are some optional sections that you can add to your pharmacist resume as long as you have some room left after adding all the mandatory ones.

Certifications

The benefits of having relevant certifications are multifaceted. They can show that you are active in the industry, keep up with new rules and regulations, are willing to go the extra mile to achieve your goals, and so on.

When adding certifications to your resume, you should include the name of the certification, the name of the institute that issued it, and, optionally, its expiration date.

Languages

Proficiency in multiple languages helps you communicate with foreign patients, clients, and coworkers. Depending on the circumstances, that could make this section incredibly valuable on a pharmacist’s resume.

Adding languages to your resume is straightforward since you should simply list them based on your skill levels, starting with the highest one.

These are the proficiency levels you can use to describe your language knowledge:

Associations

Adding associations and professional affiliations is bound to improve your resume and further establish your credibility as a pharmacist.

When listing them, you should start by determining which associations are relevant to the position you’re applying for. Then, you should add the name of the organization, your role in it, dates when you were affiliated with the organization, and, optionally, bulleted lists with skills gained or tasks carried out.

Should You Submit a Cover Letter With Your Pharmacist Resume?

A concise cover letter that matches your resume is one of the best ways to improve your chances with recruiters, which is why you should definitely submit it.

Write a unique, position-specific cover letter and use it to further expand on your professional achievements while displaying strong motivation to work for the company you’re applying for.

Closing Thoughts

Well, now you’re a pharmacist as well as a resume-building aficionado. Nothing stands between you and your dream job anymore!

You can start from scratch and create a spotless pharmacist resume just the way you like it, or you can opt for our resume-crafting tool and save yourself a lot of time.

In any case, the resume you end up with will likely be vastly better than the majority of others, so submit it with confidence and start preparing for an interview!