One Chance for Your Best First Impression: Tips for New Pharmacists

Background: New practitioner pharmacists enter the workplace with an array of knowledge and skills ready to engage in patient care. However, obtaining a first postgraduate position or earning a desired promotion poses a challenge when the candidate pool is filled with many similarly skilled professionals. Objective: Educate new practitioner pharmacists on ways to pitch their new skills and make a memorable first impression among their competition. Methods: This article aims to (1) enhance their career prospects by practicing their soft skills, (2) develop strategies to build credibility and creating a personal brand and (3) describe efforts to showcase their professional identity. Conclusions: Preceptors and mentors can help by providing effective feedback to new pharmacists in efforts to improve performance and enhance soft skills.