Sample Interview Questions for Retail Pharmacist Position (with Answers)

This post provides sample interview questions for retail pharmacist position that you can practice with in your preparation for the interview and improve your chances of being hired.

If you need help on how to effectively prepare for a retail pharmacist job interview, this post will surely be helpful;

When interviewing for a retail pharmacist job, you will need to prepare for questions that test your understanding of pharmacy and pharmacy law, as well as your experience in pharmacy management.

Please, read on:

What do Interviewers look for in a Retail Pharmacist?

When hiring for the retail pharmacist position, recruiters/employers commonly look for individuals with previous experience in pharmacy and retail.

The interviewer will want to get a better sense of your personality and how you would work with the team. They might ask questions about what you’re looking for after this job, as well.

10 Most Common Retail Pharmacist Interview Questions and Answers

Here are some of the major questions that you may be asked at a retail pharmacist interview session (with suggested answers):

1. What is your biggest obstacle to overcome?

One of the biggest obstacles for me to overcome is the cost of education. Since I am a retail pharmacist, I have to do a lot of hands on training in order to maintain pharmacy licenses in my state.

The cost of this training is not covered by pharmacy school scholarships, so I have to find other educational opportunities that are free or low-cost.

2. What do you want to be in five years?

I want to work for a large retail pharmacy that has an expanding clinic and wants me to hire more retail pharmacists.

I want to be the one running the clinic and helping other pharmacists manage their ambulatory care practices. I would also like to have my own medical office.

3. How would you design a pharmacy to work with a particular insurance company?

I would first talk to the CEOs of both companies and find out what they expect from their employees. I would also find out what it means to be part of the company.

I would then build a pharmacist-friendly clinic that is close to the insurance company’s headquarters or client locations.

This will allow the employees and clients to easily access the pharmacy without much hassle.

4. How would you handle an angry customer?

I am always honest with customers even if it means letting them know that we ran out of Oxycontin or Vicodin because they are some of our top selling pain management medications.

More Common Retail Pharmacist Interview Questions and Answers

I also tell them that they could buy it from our competitors but that it will be a lot higher than from us.

Our prices are competitive with the rest of the pharmacies in town and we do as much as we can for our customers, such as placing a refill order for their medications at our price and then sending it to them when they run out to save them money.

5. Do you know all the laws concerning prescription drug use? What is your opinion of maintenance programs? Are there laws passed in your state concerning controlled substances such as Oxycontin, Oxycodone and Vicodin?

I know enough about prescription drug use while working in my pharmacy practice and making phone calls to my patients’ insurance companies.

I know all the laws concerning prescription drug use and I am a big advocate for medication management. I believe that control of pain medications is an important part of proper treatment.

6. What are your thoughts on community pharmacy? Do you think that community pharmacies can make a difference in the quality of care and health outcomes?

I believe that any education given to the public with respect to proper pain management can save lives. Even though our prices are low, the medications used by our patients are not low-quality.

However, it is important for pharmacists to know their limits when it comes to medications as long as there is a clear explanation of what each medication does in our patient’s records.

More Common Retail Pharmacist Interview Questions and Answers

7. Do you have a specialty? And if so, what is it?

I have a specialty in pain management and I am also an expert in running an ambulatory care clinic that caters to the needs of various insurance companies.

I am also open to any new form of training that can help me run my clinic better.

8. What are some of your biggest accomplishments?

I have been able to run the clinic with limited resources because I know how to market the services we offer and how to meet customers’ needs.

I was also able to get a grant from our local government which allowed us to buy new medical equipment like EKG machines, defibrillator and video equipment for our staff.

9. How would you handle a customer who is demanding of a specific medication?

I will explain what I have in my pharmacy, if it is not covered by the insurance company, then I will find another way to accommodate the customer. It is important for me to be nice to my customers and make them feel that they matter.

10. What do you know about your job duties and responsibilities?

I know that I will be in charge of the clinic and make sure everything is running the way it should be, and that programs are being conducted as they should be. I will also educate our customers on their medications and how to take care of their pain.

More Sample Retail Pharmacist Interview Questions

Here are additional sample questions that you may be asked if you are taking a retail pharmacy interview:

Sample Behavioral Interview Questions for Retail Pharmacist Position

1. Tell me about a time where you had to deal with a conflict on the job.

2. What is your biggest weakness?

3. How would you handle an irate customer who comes into the store?

4. Give us some examples of qualities that make you a good fit for this position?

5. What motivates you to succeed?

Sample Case Interview Questions for Retail Pharmacist Position

1. What does the Customer Needs Benefit Package (CNBP) do?

2. “How would you merchandise an antibiotic?

3. What is your approach to advertising?

4. What are the strengths and weaknesses of chain pharmacy in the US?

5. How do you decide whether to add a new product to your inventory?

Sample Competency Based Interview Questions for Retail Pharmacist

1. What pharmacy skills, knowledge and abilities do you need?

2. What would the average day in your job be like?

3. How would you compare a retail pharmacist to a hospital pharmacist or a practice pharmacist?

4. What are the different types of pharmacy services that can be offered by a retail setting?

5. How would you handle a situation where the pharmacist is unable to fill the prescription of a patient in a retail setting?

Sample Problem-solving Interview Questions for Retail Pharmacist Position

1. What is the best way to handle a customer returning a product and it’s not in its original condition?

2. What is the best method for examining if a product has been tampered with or opened?

3. How would you determine if there are any drugs that have been recalled from the market?

4. What is your strategy for ensuring that customers get their prescriptions at the right time?

5. How do you create an accurate cost estimate of products when there are multiple pricing tiers?

Sample Situational Interview Questions for Retail Pharmacist Position

1. If you were interviewing for a position as an assistant pharmacy manager, when would be the best time to approach you with a new idea?

2. What do you know about our company, and what do we do now?

3. How does your experience make you a candidate who’s ready for this job now?

4. Why are you applying for this job now, and why should we hire you instead of someone else?

5. Why do most new hires fail in this role within one year?

Sample Communication Skills Interview Questions for Retail Pharmacist Position

1. How do you plan how to communicate with each patient?

2. What is your experience with informal communication?

3. What type of information do you try to gather during the process of communication?

4. What are your thoughts on communicating about an illness or disease to a patient who is not aware of their diagnosis?

5. How would you get someone’s attention in a crowded room or at the pharmacy counter during peak hours, for example?

Sample Interpersonal Skills Interview Questions for Retail Pharmacist Position

1. How would you handle a difficult client?

2. What kinds of things have you dealt with in the past that would be appropriate to discuss during this interview?

3. What can you tell me about your life?

4. Why do you want to work for this pharmacy?

5. Do you understand all of the abbreviations used in the industry? If not, what are some commonly used words that you should learn?

Sample Company Culture Interview Questions for Retail Pharmacist Position

1. What values and beliefs do you consider to be the most important for someone who is joining your team?

2. What should we expect from employees in terms of speaking up when they see a problem, or feel something isn’t right?

3. Is it expected for employees to agree with everything that is said by their superiors even if they disagree on an issue? How would this be treated as a concern if raised by an employee?

4. Are people punished for making mistakes or trying new ideas that might not work out as planned?

5. What do you like most about the company’s culture?

Sample Technical Questions for Retail Pharmacist Position

1. What are the most common medicines that retail pharmacy pharmacists dispense to pregnant women?

2. What do the most commonly studied drugs used in pregnancy have in common?

3. Which drugs have been recommended by Pregnancy Friendly Pharmacist Association (PFPA)?

4. How can pharmacists increase their customer base who are pregnant women and their families?

5. What are the most effective ways to educate pregnant women about medicines?

Sample Sales Interview Questions for Retail Pharmacist Position

1. What’s the distinction between a drugstore and a pharmacy?

2. Can you identify your favorite aspect of your job?

3. Why do people buy on credit cards?

4. Name three different kinds of scripts that you would sell by phone?

5. Can you describe how the prescription process works at a grocery store pharmacy?

Retail Pharmacist Interview Success Tips

Here are valuable tips you can apply in your preparation and presentation at a retail pharmacy job interview for a successful outcome:

1. Prepare

If you’d like to become a retail pharmacist, there are many things you should do before the interview day.

First and foremost, it’s important that you make a list of at least five different companies you would like to work for.

Second, you should determine what kind of positions the companies are looking for by researching their websites and reading their mission statements.

Third, it’s also important that you find out as much as you can all about the company before your interview so that your answers are well thought out.

2. Read, then Answer

If you’re going to answer questions correctly in an interview, then the only real way to do that is to read about them first before taking the interview.

If you’re talking about your salary expectations, for example, it’s important that you know how much you should be paid.

There are lots of things like this that you should prepare ahead of time for by reading the retail pharmacy interview questions on this page and then writing down different answers beforehand.

3. Be Confident!

This might be one of the hardest parts, but if you don’t believe in yourself in the interview, then why should the interviewer(s)?

Interviews are all about confidence and self-belief, so try not to let your nerves get the best of you.

Conclusion

If you are preparing for a retail pharmacy interview, it is helpful to prepare for it by practicing with commonly asked questions, to boost your knowledge and confidence.

This post has provided enormous samples of interview questions for retail pharmacy position that you can apply in your preparation.