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March 30, 2023March 29, 2023

Growing Your Career as a Pharmacist

Three pharmacists looking at a clipboard overlayed with a cityscape.

When choosing a pharmacy career, your first thought may be about how much a pharmacist makes. Once you’ve established yourself in the industry, you might wonder how to enhance your pharmacist career path. At ShiftPosts, we’re here to shift the conversation around pharmacy work by empowering pharmacists like you to take more control of their careers. That’s why we’ve gathered some valuable tips for growing your career as a pharmacist, ensuring you can make your career everything you want it to be.

8 Tips To Grow Your Career as a Pharmacist

As a pharmacist, there are a lot of opportunities to grow your career, but it can be easy to fall into a rut and feel stagnant. Here are eight tips to help you grow your career as a pharmacist and reach your full potential.

1. Avoid Comfort Zones

One of the biggest obstacles to your pharmacist career path is staying in your comfort zone. We are all creatures of habit, so staying where things are familiar and comfortable is easy. However, doing this can slow your career growth and limit your potential. Instead, find ways to push yourself out of your comfort zone. You can do this by learning new skills, taking on new responsibilities, and working at different pharmacies with ShiftPosts.

2. Set Realistic Goals

If you don’t have a plan for your career growth, it can be challenging to make things happen for yourself. As you are working as a pharmacist, start setting specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely goals for your career. These goals could include skills you want to learn, certification courses you want to take, or an amount you want to earn. Make the goals easy enough for you to actually do them but challenging enough to push you to grow.

3. Find Your Weak Spots

We all have areas where we can improve, and pharmacists are no different. Once you identify your potential weak spots, you can start working on them. Whether improving your communication skills, learning new technology, or developing your clinical knowledge, taking steps to improve your weak spots can help you become a better pharmacist, which could lead to more growth opportunities.

4. Be a Constant Learner

One of the best ways to grow while working as a pharmacist is to be open to learning opportunities. The healthcare industry constantly evolves, and pharmacists must stay current on the latest research, technologies, and practices. Find continuing education opportunities, attend conferences or workshops, and read industry publications to stay informed and expand your knowledge. With a learning mindset, you can stay ahead of the curve and position yourself as an expert in your field.

5. Be Flexible

As a pharmacist, you know that every day on the job will be different. Various issues will arise, patient needs will change, and you’ll need to be able to adapt to things as they come. By being flexible, you can easily change your approach to different circumstances or accommodate various situations. Additionally, being flexible with your work schedule shows that you are a team player and makes you a valuable employee at your pharmacy, which can also help grow your career.

6. Be Unique

To make your pharmacist career path work best for you, you need to stand out against other pharmacists. Find what makes you unique and how to use it to boost your identity in the pharmacy. Maybe you are passionate about improving patient care or have different ideas for expanding community outreach. Whatever it is, highlighting the unique attributes you bring to the workplace can help you find new opportunities within the field.

7. Dream Big

To make the most of your pharmacy career, don’t be afraid to dream big! Do you want to open your own pharmacy? Are you interested in creating a bigger impact in your community? You can make it happen! Let yourself dream those big dreams for your pharmacist career, then set goals to help make them happen.

8. Improve Networking

Networking is essential to any career, and it’s especially important for pharmacists who want to grow their careers. If you want to enhance your pharmacist career path, start by improving your networking opportunities. You can attend industry events, join local and professional pharmacist organizations, and connect with industry leaders to help expand your network.

March 9, 2023March 1, 2023

How Much Does a Pharmacist Make?

According to the Canadian Pharmacist Association (CphA), there is a national pharmacist shortage across the county. This shortage has led many people to realize there are more job opportunities in the industry, and they have started considering a career as a pharmacist. With such a high need in the field, many people wonder how much pharmacists earn in Canada to help determine if it’s a good career option.

Read on to learn about the average salary of a pharmacist in Canada and how — with ShiftPosts — you can earn more.

Infographic about how much more money can be earned by using ShiftPosts

Pharmacist Average Salary in Canada

As a pharmacist, networking is an important process for future success, and avoiding it is a huge career mistake. Not only is pharmacist networking the highest source of new employment, but it can also help you achieve your pharmacy career goals. You’ll be able to obtain advice, additional information about your career, and new opportunities in your field. Frequent networking can also boost your confidence and improve your communication skills.

Glassdoor reports that the average salary for a pharmacist in Canada is $105,925 a year, including benefits.

Salary Range

The possible salary range for a Canadian pharmacist is between $87,000 and $190,000. However, a more likely range is between $97,000 and $139,000.

Experience Level

One way to boost how much pharmacists earn in Canada is through experience. The longer you’ve been in the field and the more career experience you have, the more you are likely to get paid. On average, more experienced pharmacists can make about $5,000 more per year than entry-level pharmacists.

A team of pharmacists meeting around a whiteboard.

Job Title

How much does a pharmacist make based on job title? It varies depending on your position. Here are some of the average annual salaries for common pharmacy roles.

Retail pharmacist — $104,786

Pharmacist manager — $127,289

Pharmacist assistant — $45,240

Pharmacist Salaries by Location

Location also influences how much money a pharmacist makes in Canada. More populated areas like Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, and British Columbia tend to have better-paying jobs for pharmacists than less populated areas. However, there is still a decent pay range from province to province.

Province Pay Rates

Here’s how much a pharmacist makes, based on the median average, per province:

Alberta — $111,536
British Columbia — $98,725
Manitoba — $110,436
New Brunswick — $98,894
Newfoundland and Labrador — $97557
Northwest Territories — N/A
Nova Scotia — $93,743
Nunavut — N/A
Ontario — $101,646
Prince Edward Island — N/A
Quebec — $112,199
Saskatchewan — $109,108
Yukon — N/A

City Wages

Pharmacist wages vary from city to city, just like they do between provinces, and smaller cities tend to have lower wages, even if they are located in a higher-paying province.

A team of pharmacists with a city in the background.

According to Indeed, these cities have the highest-paying jobs (per hour) for pharmacists in Canada.

Calgary, Alberta — $52.11
Windsor, Ontario — $51.40
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan — $51.32
Ottawa, Ontario — $51.04
Nanaimo, British Columbia — $50.57
Edmonton, Alberta — $49.87
Victoria, British Columbia — $49.56
Brampton, Ontario — $44.55
Toronto, Ontario — $43.28

Education Degrees

As with any career, your education level influences your average salary. Pharmacists need, at minimum, a bachelor’s degree to enter the field in an entry-level position. For those who earn a master’s or doctoral degree, their pharmacist salary will be more.

Other Factors That Influence a Pharmacist’s Salary

There are additional factors that can increase how much pharmacists earn in Canada, including:

Bonuses — These are often awarded based on performance, though some pharmacists who are involved in generating revenue can get bonuses based on the pharmacy’s annual revenue.
Hourly wage — Hourly wages directly impact how much a pharmacist makes per year, meaning the higher the hourly pay, the more the annual salary.

How Much You Can Make Using ShiftPosts

At ShiftPosts, we help connect pharmacies with relief pharmacists to fill open shifts across Canada. Thanks to our innovative platform that lets relief pharmacists and pharmacies set their pay per shift, relief pharmacists can make just as much — if not more — than traditional pharmacists and can do it in less time!

Let’s look at some examples of how ShiftPosts influences how much pharmacists earn in Canada.

A traditional pharmacist working 5 shifts a week for 50 weeks, with a 2-week vacation, can make an average salary of $105,925 in one year.

A relief pharmacist using ShiftPosts has more options.

Relief pharmacists can earn an average of $525.75 per shift. This means that, to match what a traditional pharmacist makes, a relief pharmacist only has to work 201 shifts in 40 weeks to reach the same annual salary. That’s 12 weeks of vacation, and the same pay, compared to the traditional work schedule.

As another example, let’s see what happens when a relief pharmacist works the same schedule as a traditional pharmacist.

A relief pharmacist working 5 shifts per week at $525.75 an hour is making $2,628.75 a week. Add that up for 50 weeks with a 2-week vacation, and this relief pharmacist is making $131,437.50 a year.

What if a relief pharmacist only wants to work one relief shift a week? That’s still $27,560 a year, which is excellent for only working four or five days a month!

With ShiftPosts, you can make more money while working less and still enjoy a full-time salary.

Ready to Become a Relief Pharmacist?

If you’re already a pharmacist and relief shifts sound like a perfect fit for your life, download the ShiftPosts app to get more flexibility in your career — and salary — today.

March 15, 2022October 25, 2022

Tips for Networking in the Pharmacy Industry

Our Guide to Networking in the Pharmacy Industry

Pharmacy networking is the process of building meaningful connections with professionals. It is used for career growth opportunities but isn’t exclusive to job candidates or job positions — it is something that should be continuously practiced throughout a person’s career. If you’re looking to learn more about pharmacy networking and how to go about developing connections, we’ve provided this guide to help you navigate the networking process.

“As a pharmacist, networking is an important process for future success, and avoiding it is a huge career mistake.”

The Importance of Networking in Pharmacy

How Do You Network in the Pharmaceutical Industry?

Pharmaceutical networking can feel overwhelming because where and how you network determine the kinds of connections you’ll be able to make. If you’re unsure of how to start, we’ve provided some tips below.

Attend Networking Events

To begin the pharmacy networking process, look up events in your community where you may find the best connections. Two common events include:

Charity events: Volunteering for and attending charity events in areas throughout your community are good ways to share your knowledge and skills with reputable organizations, and to find similarly skilled people to add to your network.

Conferences: At pharmacy conferences, you can attend workshops and panels that help you gain knowledge and develop skills. You can also meet new people who could potentially join your network.

Have an Action Plan

Before you attend events for pharmacy networking, do some research to find out who will be there and what kind of opportunities will be available, such as workshops or panels. Create a plan of who to talk with and make a list of topics to discuss based on their expertise. It’s also a good idea to practice how you want to introduce yourself and the personal and professional information you plan to share.

Keep Intention in Mind

Create an intention when attending events. Remember that you’re there to make connections and keep that purpose in mind as you meet with new people. Dress like a professional and put extra effort into your appearance. Actively listen to the people you are talking with and remain engaged in the conversation. Ask questions you have about the industry or ask employers what they’re looking for in pharmacy applicants.

Find New Work Environments

Consider looking for opportunities in your community to work in new environments. A change in environment may be what you need to find new people to add to your network. Taking relief shifts for pharmacists who need time off or taking shifts at mass vaccination clinics gives you the chance to meet with and talk to pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and other professionals. These new connections may provide valuable career leads or information to further you in your career.

“A change in environment may be what you need to find new people to add to your network.”

Networking for Pharmacy Students

Pharmacy students should network as much as they can. Take advantage of all of the resources and functions your school provides. Attending job fairs and conferences and joining clubs can give you networking opportunities with other students, faculty members, pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians. Now is also the time to interview professors and connect with faculty members. Many faculty members will be happy to talk with you and provide tips for your future career. You can also take advantage of the mentor programs many pharmacy schools provide to connect students and faculty members with similar areas of interest.

Additional Pharmacy Networking Opportunities

Pharmacist networking connections can be found in unexpected ways, so be sure not to rule out any networking opportunities. If you work as an intern or a pharmacy technician, you may have opportunities to talk with pharmacists and other coworkers about field-related information or potential job leads. It’s also possible to find great connections outside of the pharmacy or healthcare industries. This can include creating a large network of friends and family as they may be able to provide general career advice, job leads and job referrals, or connections with people they know in the pharmacy industry.