How to Answer: Describe a difficult work experience, and what you learned from it.
Advice and answer examples written specifically for a Pharmacist job interview.
25. Describe a difficult work experience, and what you learned from it.
Tips
The employer is looking to see how you handle conflict. You want to describe a pharmacy work experience if at all possible. If you need to pull from a prior job not in pharmacy that is fine as well but try to use a pharmacist example.
This is a two-part question, so make sure you answer both parts. You want to briefly describe the situation without assigning blame, just the facts. The best scenarios are those with misunderstandings, or two different parties having different priorities. If you don't have this example, just use something that happened to you. The employer wants to see a moment of effective communication and conflict resolution while being able to look for ways to minimize this situation in the future.
Written by Stephanie Baumhover on February 7th, 2024
Answer Example
"I was working the evening shift and Dr. Smith, a cardiologist, called wanting ---- for his patient for ----. This is a REMS medication and off-label for the reason he wanted. I explained the limitations and why I could not obtain that for him tonight. He was extremely upset stating I would be responsible for delaying his procedure tomorrow morning. I told him I understood the urgency and I would make sure to pass along this situation to my manager for resolution in the morning as soon as possible. I suggested trying ----- as it was immediately available and labeled for this reason. He declined this option but appreciated me trying to find a solution. He said this was a home medication and he was trying to keep it going. I suggested a stat consult with ---- who could find an alternative."
Written by Stephanie Baumhover on February 7th, 2024
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