Pharmacist Mock Interview
Practice 35 Pharmacist interview questions covering clinical scenarios, patient safety, and medication management.
Question 25 of 35
Tell me about a time when you had too many things to do and you were required to prioritize your tasks.
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Example Answer
Community Answers
Stephanie Baumhover, PharmD, BCPS is a board certified clinical pharmacist with over 20 years experience interviewing and hiring pharmacists in several practice settings.
This is the definition of a pharmacist in many different positions. The key is to communicate a logical process that shows you can multitask without bringing the workflow to a stop. Some positions are designed for people who do one task at a time, other positions are for pharmacists who have multiple balls in the air at any one time. You want to understand which you are and be able to speak truthfully about how you function in a multi-task situation, even if it is not your first preference for a working environment. You may say you like to complete critical tasks first and then move to lower-priority tasks. Or you may say you keep notes on all the different calls out to providers so that you are ready for each call as it comes in.
Stephanie Baumhover, PharmD, BCPS is a board certified clinical pharmacist with over 20 years experience interviewing and hiring pharmacists in several practice settings.
"This can be a regular occurrence at my current job. I make sure the most critical items are done first, such as critical care drips, then I move to urgent antibiotics, then finish with batch checking."
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Anonymous Answer
The end of the month seems to be the busiest. I had a situation where I had to write a quarterly report, make the technician schedule, and go to 2 meetings in one day. My first meeting started at 8 am. I went to work an hour early that day and was able to put the schedule together rather quickly. The first meeting was mandatory, and the second meeting was not. I was able to have my assistant manager go to the second meeting for me and take notes while I wrote the quarterly report. The result was completing all tasks on time with the help of my assistant manager.
Marcie's Feedback
Excellent! You have used the STAR method well here to describe the situation, your task/actions, and the end result. You come across as proactive, hardworking, conscientious, and an effective delegator. Consider talking more about how exactly you prioritized the tasks. Did you do this based on urgency and importance? Clarify this for the interviewer so there's more visibility into how you prioritize projects. Otherwise, great response!
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