Pharmacy Assistant Cover Letter and Resume Examples

You’ve officially graduated from a pharmacy assistant program—congrats! Maybe you’ve even started the job search and have been looking for positions in your province. When you’re ready to apply, you’ll want to write a strong cover letter for pharmacy assistant positions, as well as a resume that highlights the key skills the employer is looking for.

We’ll walk you through some general tips for writing cover letters and take a deeper dive into how you can format yours. Then we’ll explore how you can structure a resume that compliments your cover letter.

 

General tips for writing a strong cover letter

Before we get into how to format your cover letter, we’ve compiled a few things for you to think about before you start writing.

Here are some tips for writing a cover letter for pharmacy assistant roles:

1. Mention relevant work experience.
   Relevant is the key word here. It’s only valuable to include experience that is related to the position you’re applying for. If you can demonstrate how you’ve used skills related to the pharmacy assistant position, you’ll showcase why you’re an excellent candidate for the role.
2. Use job-related keywords.
   This tip is huge—make sure you use keywords that are included in the job posting. For example, if the posting said the organization is looking for a person with excellent communication skills, make sure you mention ‘communication skills’ in your cover letter (and resume).
3. Make your cover letter unique, but complimentary, to your resume.
   Your cover letter is your chance to go into more detail about some of your best accomplishments and work experience. It should expand upon these experiences and cover details that aren’t necessarily included in your resume.
4. Use an appropriate font and size.
   Your cover letter should look professional and clean. It’s best to use a 12 point font and stick to simple font styles like Times New Roman.
5. Keep it to one page.
   Your cover letter shouldn’t be a novel. Keep it to one page, single spaced and use it to highlight your best skills and experience that’s related to the role.

 

How to format your cover letter

The information you include in your cover letter may change depending on the position you’re applying for, but in general, the format can stay the same. Let’s get into specifics and review how you can lay out your cover letter.

 

Set up the top of your cover letter

Start by putting your name, address and contact information at the top. You don’t need to put your full home address—just your city and province is acceptable. But don’t forget to put your email and phone number.

Add a paragraph break then write the company/organization you’re applying to, its address and contact information.

 

Address the letter to the employer

How you open your cover letter matters. Address the letter using “Dear X” and put your contact’s first and last name. If you don’t have a name, use a generic greeting like “Dear hiring manager” or “Dear hiring committee.”

 

Start the letter (the introduction)

Start off strong with a professional opening. Speak to how you heard about the pharmacy assistant position and why you’re interested. This is your opportunity to introduce yourself and make a good first impression in writing.

 

Break up your paragraphs with key skills and experience

In the first paragraph after your introduction, highlight some of your key skills and experiences that connect to the job posting. For example, if the posting requires the applicant to know how to use a specific computer software, highlight situations when you’ve used it successfully.

Here are some other key skills you can highlight:

• Customer service
• Basic medical terminology
• Record-keeping/filing
• Attention to detail and organization
• Teamwork
• Computer literacy
• Communication

After a paragraph or two of discussing related skills and experience, you have the option to make a connection to the company culture and your personality and soft skills. You could explain how the company’s mission matches your values and/or interests and that it’s another reason why you think you’d be a good fit within their organization.

In the final paragraph, reiterate your interest in the position, communicate how you can be reached and thank the reader for taking the time to review your letter.

After your conclusion, sign the letter “Sincerely,” leave three spaces between your closing and your typed name then sign your name in blue ink in the open space. That’s all it takes to write an organized, relevant cover letter for pharmacy assistant positions.

If you’d like help structuring your cover letter, check out JobHero’s template.

 

General tips for writing a strong resume

There’s a variety of resume formats you can use including chronological, functional and combination. As a new graduate, a functional resume may be best suited for you since it focuses on skills over work experience. Since you won’t have as much work experience, a functional resume gives you an opportunity to showcase the skills you’ll bring to the table from your pharmacy assistant training.

Here’s how you can format a functional resume:

• Header.
  This is where you’ll put your name and contact information, including your email address and phone number.
  Summary statement. Keep it short and sweet. Use this space to summarize your strongest skills, the position you’re applying for and why.
• Work experience.
  The work experience section should be a concise bulleted list outlining your core qualifications that relate to the position you’re applying for. Make sure you use keywords directly from the job posting.
• Relevant skills.
  This section is where you go into detail on your skills listed in the work experience section. You can include achievements if they’re relevant to the position.
• Work history.
  In this section, highlight your previous positions. List the job title, how long you worked there and the company name and location. If you don’t have work experience in the field, you can list other employment.
• Education.
  Here’s where you highlight your degrees and/or diplomas and where you studied.

Your resume is yours to customize and design, so feel free to play around with how you lay it out. Just make sure you’re including relevant keywords and skills so you can impress the hiring committee! You can check out JobHero for more information and resume templates.

Now that you’ve got plenty of information on how to write pharmacy assistant resumes and cover letters, you’re ready to write! If you follow these tips, you’ll be well on your way to landing a job interview.

If you have any questions about the job application process, reach out to our Career Services team and they’ll be happy to help you.