Top ten careers articles in 2015

Career articles that give pharmacists practical advice on changing jobs, sectors or country of practice again proved popular with online readers of The Pharmaceutical Journal, Clinical Pharmacist and Tomorrow’s Pharmacist, according to statistics on careers articles published this year.

The most popular article type were features, which give practical advice or a range of views on a variety of topics relating to careers, education or business. We also publish Q&A articles — which interview pharmacists about their specific role, or an area of expertise related to careers or business — and career profiles — which tell the stories of individuals with remarkable or award-winning careers.

Some articles from our archive also continued to prove valuable to our readers, including articles on relocating to Canada or the US, changing sector from community to hospital, or to industry, qualifying as an independent prescriber, and securing placements or training in the hospital sector.

These are the top ten career articles that were published in 2015:

1. How to write a successful pharmacy CV

By far the most popular career feature of 2015 was this practical guide to writing a pharmacy CV, written by pharmacy recruitment specialist Sean Brown. The article gave up-to-date advice on how to write a CV to secure a pharmacy role.

2. How to write a successful pharmacy cover letter

In a similar vein, this article, written by pharmacy career consultant Amy Zydzienowski, aimed to help pharmacists write the perfect cover letter to accompany their CVs.

3. How pharmacists can start a career in the pharmaceutical industry

A previous article on getting started in the pharmaceutical industry, aimed at pre-registration trainees, proved popular in 2014, so this feature provided advice and tips for pharmacists hoping to swap sectors.

4. How a pharmacy student built a global company

This career profile, written by reporter Stephen Robinson, told the inspirational story of entrepreneur Charles Ebubedike, who established the international company Clinova.

5. Look sharp: how to dress so you look professional, presentable and approachable in a pharmacy

This Tomorrow’s Pharmacist article, from Sasa Jankovic, explored the topic of what pharmacists should wear in order to be taken seriously by their colleagues and patients. 

6. What pharmacists should consider before moving to another country

Articles about relocation are usually widely read — this one, from Gareth Malson, looked at the lessons that five different pharmacists learnt when living and practising abroad.

7. How to enhance a pharmacy CV

The phrase “This’ll look good on my CV” was the inspiration for this article, again from Jankovic, which aimed to give advice on what activities pharmacists could do and skills they could gain to beef up their job applications.

8. Advice, rules and regulations for setting up an internet pharmacy

Users of online pharmacy forums often ask what is required to set up an internet pharmacy. Malson investigated the ins and outs in this business feature.

9. An overview of the changes to the pharmacy registration assessment in 2016

2016 sees a revamped clinical registration assessment for pre-registration trainees, so it is easy to see why this article would be popular with pharmacy students and pre-registration tutors, for whom we also published separate advice. 

10. Specialist roles in hospital pharmacy

This article, written by Eamonn McArdle, describes the highs and lows of a variety of hospital pharmacy specialties, including geriatrics, paediatrics and mental health.

As ever, I would be delighted to hear your feedback and ideas for future articles — please email me on emma.page@pharmaceutical-journal.org.uk or send me a tweet @legitimate_page.