Epic Willow Pharmacy Application Analyst “Will Train/Certify” ~ Apply Now!

I literally just saw this posting and wanted to immediately share it with everyone who visits my blog and this website.

Why?

Because my journey into the world of Epic started out just like this.

It wasn’t magic… I didn’t have any special connections… In fact, I didn’t have ANY connections at all whatsoever…

I just happened to be up late one night, trolling around on the job boards looking for a new job and there it was on Indeed.com – an opening for an Epic Willow pharmacist and it had just been posted 11 hours earlier!

Well, it just happened again… I just saw this one right here.

Today is June 12th, 2018 and it was posted just 9 hours ago (as of the time I am writing this). I don’t know when you’ll read this but if you read it in time and are trying to get into the world of Epic… Jump On This Now!

If the posting has expired by the time you read this, don’t worry, read on to find out why I highlighted this particular listing then you’ll know what to keep an eye out for in the future as you search for a way into the Epic Willow pharmacist/pharmacy analyst world.

This is the first time I have posted a job opening here on the blog or even on this site, but I have a very good reason for pointing this one out…

If you have no “in” into Epic, then you want to respond to postings where they are offering to train and certify you. Job postings like this one tell me some things:

• The organization this agency is representing is looking to make a sweeping organization-wide EMR change and they are willing to invest in the upgrade to Epic
• There will likely be other agencies posting for this organization (most will not reveal the actual organization to you, until you get past their screening recruiters)
  • However… With some very creative Googling, you can probably figure out the actual organization that they are representing but I won’t tell you how here because that would most likely be a waste of your time and I’ll explain why later in this post.
• Their investment appears to include funding for certifying licensed pharmacists in the Epic Willow module… The posting doesn’t specify which Epic Willow module they are looking for or willing to sponsor the certification for, but whichever one it is, you can’t go wrong.
  • Check out my responses to the comments on this Getting Down to Business blog post to learn more about the different Epic Willow modules and what certification in each involves.
• The fact that they are looking for pharmacists means that they’re likely willing to pay you better than an organization that tries to only certify people who aren’t pharmacists.
  • Organizations that require a pharmacist will be willing to pay salaries comparable to what pharmacists make and not lowball you when it comes to money, that’s unfortunately a problem with some of the recruiting agencies… They will try to get you on board for as little as possible even though you have a pharmacist degree (and they are requiring it in the job posting) AND a license to practice… Don’t let them stiff you!

Back in 2015, when I first responded to such an ad (I responded within the first 11 hours because I had an Indeed job alert set up so when I saw the email notification in my inbox, I immediately jumped on it).

As I recall, I saw the posting at about 11pm my time and submitted my application that night and the next morning got a call back from the staffing company…. If you’ve been following this blog, then you’ll know that the rest is history. 🙂

Why you should NOT bother trying to go directly to the organization that is making the switch to Epic.

Because, in a nutshell, they don’t have time for you.

I’ve been on the other side i.e. the inside, and I know that when an organization is going through such a sweeping expansion the last thing they want to spend their time doing is getting bogged down with nitty gritty HR stuff.

Therefore, they outsource that function to one or more agencies that specialize in recruiting for the healthcare IT industry. You’ll know they’re really expanding when you see multiple agencies post listings for very similar-sounding Epic openings.

To test this, just copy the headline (or a couple of sentences from the job description) of the job posting in Indeed or wherever, then paste it into Google and see where else it pops up. You’ll also be able to see which other agencies are recruiting for the organization.

If you see at least two agencies recruiting for this organization, then that’s a really good sign.

Go through one of them… You can’t use more than one agency to try to get into one organization. Once you start working seriously with an agency, they might have you sign something to say that you will not go directly to the organization or through another agency once they reveal the organization’s name and location to you.

NOTE: Keep it ethical and abide by the agreement… Epic is a small tight-knit world. If you mess up within it, word gets around and you might end up blacklisting yourself without even knowing it.

If you choose to apply, I wish you the best of luck!

If you have any questions, leave them in the Comments section below and I will respond there as best I can.

PS: I do NOT know this agency that listed this particular posting. I do NOT work for them and I do NOT know anybody who works for them. I have NO connection to them whatsoever and get absolutely NOTHING in exchange for referring people to their posting. I merely highlighted their job posting for the sole purpose of writing this blog post to highlight the things I did above. I am NOT in any way vouching for them.