So the drug screen is out of the way… Sheesh. I understand why it has to be done but doing it is never a pleasant experience.
That’s pretty much that so now’s a great time to give you some additional background information about how I landed this position.
I honestly think that I was at the right place at the right time. I was scouring the pharmacist jobs available on Indeed.com and I even went as far as setting up an alert so that whenever any positions with certain keywords were posted I would receive an email notification from Indeed about them.
If you’re currently actively hunting for a new job or passively scoping out what’s out there on the job scene then I highly recommend that you set up one of these types of alerts using keywords of your choice and download the Indeed app so you can browse postings on your smart phone when you have time to kill… That’s what I did…
For this position I actually didn’t have an alert set up for “Epic pharmacist”, I just happened to open up the app and start browsing and the position posting had literally just gone live.
Now, ordinarily, I would have quickly scrolled down to the “requirements” section of the posting just to see if there was a glimmer of hope that I could apply and not feel like I was wasting the time of whomever reviewed my resumé and application, but in bold letters it stated “No previous Epic experience required – We will provide Epic certification training”
I distinctly remember that I saw this posting at about 1:30am and after reading that line I immediately applied with my Indeed resumé. Oh yeah, that’s the other piece of advice I’d like to offer you…
Upload a current copy of your resumé to Indeed.com to make it easier to apply for certain positions
I went to sleep so excited at the possibility that a health system or hospital that was just switching to Epic would be willing to send me for training… Could it really be that they would not require the dreaded “2 years of Epic build experience” that had up till that time eluded me?
7am the following morning: I received a phone call… And so the process began.
It was long and it was arduous, and I’m not just saying that. Three months, four interviews and a grueling negotiation process later, I officially signed on the dotted line and here I am today, six days away for starting the new job.
Epic Pharmacist – Job Hunting Lessons Learned
- If this is really something you’re very interested in doing, be willing to be flexible. If you can see the long-term benefits of getting certification in Epic EMR systems then be open to the idea of relocating or traveling frequently to another state (for the duration of the project) as a concession… If that’s even a possibility in your life situation.
- Do not let anyone hang “Epic certification” over your head as a golden ticket while they offer you rock-bottom pay because “we’re paying for your Epic certification”. If, like me, you’re getting hired to work on the Epic Willow module which is the pharmacy module and the employer requires a pharmacist, don’t forget that you’re a pharmacist first and that alone comes with years of education (and hopefully some good experience under your belt). Make sure they pay you what you’re worth because almost no pay cut is going to be worth being certified.
- Don’t get me wrong, you may opt to take a slight pay cut in exchange for the certification but if the pay cut is steeper than what you’re comfortable with then really weigh whether or not it’s worth it for you.
- Don’t be afraid to negotiate! As pharmacists we tend to get told what our pay rates and/or salaries will be but out in the Corporate America other professionals negotiate for what they want to get paid and I think you should too.
I’ll be back tomorrow with more!
PS: I have no relationship – financial, business or otherwise – with the good folks at Indeed.com other than using their website and tools to find jobs available.
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