Pharmacists' Opinions of the Value of CAPE Outcomes in Hiring Decisions

Objective. The Hiring Intent Reasoning Examination (HIRE) was designed to explore the utility of the CAPE 2013 outcomes attributes from the perspective of practicing pharmacists, examine how each attribute influences hiring decisions, and identify which of the attributes are perceived as most and least valuable by practicing pharmacists. Methods. An electronic questionnaire was developed and distributed to licensed pharmacists in four states to collect their opinions about 15 CAPE subdomains plus five additional business related attributes. The attributes that respondents identified were: necessary to be a good pharmacist, would impact hiring decisions, most important to them, and in short supply in the applicant pool. Data were analyzed using statistical analysis software to determine the relative importance of each to practicing pharmacists and various subsets of pharmacists. Results. The CAPE subdomains were considered necessary for most jobs by 51% or more of the 3723 respondents (range, 51% to 99%). The necessity for business-related attributes ranged from 21% to 92%. The percentage who would not hire an applicant who did not possess the attribute ranged from 2% to 71.5%; the percentage who considered the attribute most valuable ranged from 0.3% to 35%; and the percentage who felt the attribute was in short supply ranged from 5% to 36%. Opinions varied depending upon gender, practice setting and whether the pharmacist was an employee or employer. Conclusion. The results of this study can be used by faculty and administrators to inform curricular design and emphasis on CAPE domains and business-related education in pharmacy programs.