Whether you’re a pre-reg pharmacist considering career options or an established pharmacist looking for a change of pace, becoming a locum is justifiable and a viable option for any and all pharmacists. Here we share tips for a new locum pharmacist from some of our fabulous locums.
Locums have a whole host of benefits available to them in terms of their work, including:
The ability to control their own rate of pay.
The flexibility of working in different locations to suit commute times.
The capability of planning holidays around peak work periods such as Eid.
Amongst others.
For these reasons, becoming a locum can be an attractive and convenient proposition and yet, as with any change of role and especially for permanent pharmacists who are used to a certain set of ways, there can admittedly be growing pains, as you settle into a new role
Therefore, we’ve pooled some of our most experienced and qualified locums, with many years of experience in being a locum between them for some top tips and advice for anyone considering entering the locum profession – or may have just done so and want to get ahead of the game!
Over to Tom, Ginger, Jose, Louise & Amir!
Jose
Jose’s Locum Tips
Always try to send your invoices at lunchtime, or you might forget it.
Take plenty of time to get to the pharmacy, as the the first impression is always the most important.
Ginger
Ginger’s Locum Tips
Make sure you check, the day before, where you’re going and how you’re going to get there and also where you’re going to park your car. Pharmaseekers provides you helpful tips in your booking offer, and you can use that.
Make sure you allow enough time for your journey, even if you arrive early.
When you are in the pharmacy, make sure you are friendly and open minded, because you are part of that team for the day and you get what you give.
Tom
Tom’s Locum Tips
Always leave an invoice for bookings.
Never take the CD keys home.
Always turn up professional and well-presented.
Louise
Louise’s Locum Tips
Get a diary and make sure you have it on you at all times.*
Make sure you know where you’re going before you set out to a new place.
Don’t turn up expecting that you can sit around on the phone. If you go in there and make sure you do a good job then it benefits yourself for future bookings you might get.
* Louise is smart to point this out as having a concise and up-to-date diary is one of the most important aspects of managing your workflow and minimising the chance of stress. Pharmaseekers’ online diary system is one of our proudest attributes.
With us, you can access your diary online at any time through your phone, tablet or laptop, allowing you to easily see your bookings, accept new bookings and discover where you need to be the following day. We also send booking reminders the night before a new booking and the week before also.
Amir
Be good at what you do.
Get good feedback from your pharmacies. The more good feedback you get, the more future bookings you will receive.
Be accredited in as many services as you can. The more services you can carry out, the more likely a company will be to hire you.
Key Points To Take Away
Be courteous.
Be professional.
Be on time.
Develop a process to help manage your schedule, time and billing which best suits you.
Always look to garner solid feedback, as this will help you with future bookings.
In fact, with regards to the last one, Pharmaseekers as your locum placement agency offers you the opportunity to mark branches as a ‘favourite’. This notifies us that you are happy to go back to that branch.
If you receive strong feedback from a branch, you will be offered bookings from the agency in future as a priority over others meaning you are partnered with the best and most appropriate branches for you.
If you’re interested in becoming a locum and would like more information about how an agency will benefit you in your daily work, you’re always welcome to get in touch with our team, who can answer any questions you may have that haven’t been here addressed here about locum life.
To get in touch, please use the form or drop us a call through our contact page.
Or, to get an insight into how the Pharmaseekers system can aid you in managing your locum schedule, bookings and feedback, you can register with us and view our system as our network of locums do.
With a bit of planning, some handy experienced advice and a system to manage your bookings under one easy-to-read umbrella, Pharmaseekers is here to help your transition into being a locum as easy and as quick as it ever could be.
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