Sample Interview Questions for Pharmacist Position (with Answers)

By practicing with sample interview questions for pharmacist position before the interview date, you will be able to give a great performance and increase your chance of being hired for the pharmacist job.

When interviewing for the pharmacist position, it is helpful to know beforehand what questions to expect so that you can prepare yourself effectively to build the knowledge and confidence required to pass the interview.

This post provides a huge list of commonly asked interview questions for the pharmacist job as well as suggested answers, to get you very prepared for the interview.

What do Interviewers look for in a Pharmacist?

If you are taking an interview for a pharmacist position, it is important that you have a good understanding of pharmacology and drug-drug interactions, as well as drug-food interactions, medication prescribing patterns, and designing clinical trials before going for the interviews, as these are what most pharmaceutical companies and hospitals/clinics want in a pharmacist they want to hire.

10 Most Common Pharmacist Interview Questions and Answers

Here are some of the most common interview questions for the pharmacist position (and answers) you can practice with:

1. What do you think makes a pharmacist?

A pharmacist must have excellent communication skills and knowledge of pharmacology, drug-drug interactions, drug-food interactions, medication prescribing patterns and designing clinical trials.

2. What drug could be used to help a patient with an irregular heartbeat?

A blood pressure medicine known as captopril; captopril is used to treat patients who have hypertension and an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation.

Captopril relaxes the muscles of the heart by blocking certain adrenergic receptors, reducing heart rate and increasing electrical conduction through the atrial tissue.

This medication helps regulate the heartbeat for patients with this condition.

3. What are the three components of urine?

Urine is a clear, alkaline secretion that has three main components, the protein fraction known as creatinine, the sugar fraction known as glucose, and the mineral fraction known as phosphates.

If you have diabetes or renal failure, your urine may not be clear. This may be due to a failure in filtration which results in an outflow obstruction of your kidney which leads to very dilute urine (creatinine and uric acid).

4. What is the difference between chronic and acute dosing?

Chronic dosing is taking a drug for a long period such as four weeks or longer. Acute dosing is taking a drug for a short period of time usually less than four weeks.

Acute dosage is usually for quick, short-term relief and chronic dosing is for continuous long-term treatment.

More Common Pharmacist Interview Questions and Answers

5. What are the normal therapeutic effects and side effects of aspirin?

Normal therapeutic effects: Reduces fever: Aspirin inhibits the synthesis of prostaglandins which are responsible for producing normal temperature in the body.  

Reduce inflammation: Aspirin inhibits prostaglandin synthesis by inhibiting cyclooxygenase enzyme, COX 1 & 2, which results in reduced inflammation and pain by inhibiting the production of protein kinase (CAM) within cells.

Side effects: Gastric irritation: Aspirin irritates the lining of the stomach resulting in nausea, vomiting and stomach upset.

Bleeding and ulcer formation (gastric): Aspirin inhibits normal protective mechanisms of the stomach and duodenum which result in ulcer formation.

6. What drug is used to reduce fever?

Ibuprofen is used to effectively reduce fever in a patient with a temperature above 100°F when treating influenza, colds, other upper respiratory infections and common headaches.

7. What is meant by dose-response relationships?

Dose-response relationship is how one drug affects another drug at various doses. For example, one drug may have an immediate effect on a patient while another drug may not be completely effective at the same dose.

This is because of the different drug-drug interactions between the two drugs.

Additional Pharmacist Interview Questions and Answers

8. What is a normal concentration of white blood cells in the blood?

Normal concentration of white blood cells in the blood is about 6 million per microliter. A microliter is equivalent to 0.000001 liters which means that any fluid usually visible to the naked eye contains approximately one milliliter or ml of blood.

9. What is the normal plasma osmolality?

The normal plasma osmolality is 270 milliOsmoles per kilogram. Osmolality is a measure of the concentration of particles dissolved in water.

In this case, it refers to the concentration of particles dissolved in plasma which is the fluid part of blood.

This measurement is important in diagnosing electrolyte and fluid imbalances such as dehydration, metabolic acidosis and kidney disease.

10. What are the normal levels for sodium, potassium, and chloride?

Normal levels for sodium, potassium and chloride are 135-145 mEq/L for sodium, 3.5-5.0 mEq/L for potassium and 100-108 mEq/L for chloride.

More Sample Pharmacist Interview Questions

Here are additional pharmacist interview questions to boost your preparation for the interview:

Sample Behavioral Interview Questions for Pharmacist Position

1. How do you go about making corrections in your work?

2. What would you say is your biggest asset and what would be the negative thing about that?

3. What is a challenging situation someone might put you in and how would you react to it?

4. Was there a time you faced an ethical problem in the course of your job? If yes, how did you handle it?

5. What did the outcome look like, and how did it make you feel afterward?

Sample Case Interview Questions for Pharmacist Position

1. If I’m a pharmacist and I go into a patient’s room and he asks me which pain medication is better for his injury, what would I tell him?

2. You’ve been working in the pharmacy for four years. What skills have you learned during your time there? 

3. If we were to be doing an inventory in the pharmacy, what factors would need to be considered when we make sure that everything is accounted for?

4. You say you want to work in retail grocery. How do you know that this is really what you want to do with your career? What was the part of your internship that you loved the most?

5. What are the three most important qualities that a pharmacist must have in order to succeed?

Sample Competency Based Interview Questions for Pharmacist Position

1. What is the job satisfaction level in your current pharmacy?

2. Can you give an example of a time in which you had to deal with a difficult customer?

3. Name five skills that are needed for the position of pharmacist.

4. Name two responsibilities that are expected for someone who holds this position.

5. How would your experience be different if you only worked on Monday-Friday vs working Friday-Sunday?

Sample Problem-solving Interview Questions for Pharmacist Position

1. What was your favorite subject in school? Why?

2. What is the biggest disappointment in your life?

3. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

4. What did you want to be when you were growing up? Why did you change your mind?

5. Name two things that are easy for you, two things that are difficult for you, and two things that don’t matter much in your life.

Sample Situational Interview Questions for Pharmacist Position

1. What are the most important skills and qualities a pharmacist should have?

2. What are your strengths and weaknesses as a pharmacist?

3. If you were to choose one area of pharmacy to focus on for the next 3 years, what would it be? Why?

4. What do you think is the most significant development in pharmacy practice in the past 10 years and why?

5. How do you see yourself as a pharmacist in five years’ time?

Sample Communication Skills Interview Questions for Pharmacist Position

1. What are you looking for in a career?
2. Why did you want to get into pharmacy?
3. What would you do if a patient made an unfair complaint about your medication?
4. How would you handle a difficult situation with a colleague or boss at work?
5. What’s the most important thing that pharmacists need to remember when communicating with patients and other people outside of pharmacy practice?

Sample Interpersonal Skills Interview Questions for Pharmacist Position

1. What is your definition of success?

2. Describe a situation when you felt frustrated with your work and the way it was going?

3. Describe a situation when you were in a crisis?

4. What is one thing that has surprised you in your career path?

5. Are there any specialties/specialties you would not work in as a pharmacist?

Sample Company Culture Interview Questions for Pharmacist Position

1. What does this company value most?

2. In what areas do you have discretion?

3. What is the best thing about working at this company?

4. What are the top three things a new employee should know about this company before they start working here?

5. How does this company measure success- for individuals and as a whole organization?

Pharmacist Interview Success Tips

Here are useful tips to apply in your preparation and conduct at  an interview for the pharmacist job:

1. Research the company and the interviewers: With every interview, always know who you’re interviewing with and what they like to talk about.

A lot of time people will ask questions that are actually not on their list so always ready for anything!

2. Ask if it’s alright to follow up after the interview: It’s important to remember that you should not be afraid to pick up the phone or send an email after your interview!

This is a great opportunity to thank your interviewer, reiterate why you’re a great fit for the position, and gain any additional insight into how it went.

3. Send a Thank You Note: Sending a thank you note is something that can set you apart from other applicants for a pharmacist position.

Conclusion

If you are looking for how to adequately prepare for your forthcoming interview for a pharmacist job, this post has provided lots of samples of commonly asked pharmacist interview questions that you can use.