OBJECTIVES: To identify and compare the non-technical skills that Australian community and hospital pharmacist employers value in early career pharmacists. METHODS: A mixed-methods study combining a cross-sectional online survey and qualitative interviews to investigate the non-technical skills sought by Australian employers when hiring early career pharmacists in community or hospital settings. Pharmacist employers rated the importance of 21 non-technical skills on a five-point Likert scale; interviews explored perceptions regarding key non-technical skills in greater depth. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively, and qualitative data underwent thematic analysis using the Framework Method. KEY FINDINGS: Survey respondents (n = 57) rated effective communication skills, integrity, ability to build trust, reliability, and accountability highest. Community and hospital pharmacist subgroups rated ability to build trust and ask for help highest, respectively. Interview participants (n = 19) described the growing importance of non-technical skills in hiring decisions. Most non-technical skills were regarded as equally important and transferable across settings, though application was context specific. Themes relating to intra and interpersonal skills were evident. Key intrapersonal skills described included willingness to learn, problem-solving, and decision-making. Key interpersonal skills raised included communication and teamwork. Community employers expressed prioritizing the ability to build trust, while hospital employers focused on the importance of self-awareness. CONCLUSIONS: This study underscores the growing importance of non-technical skills for early career pharmacists, highlighting communication, teamwork, willingness to learn, problem-solving, accountability, reliability, and integrity as key. Subtle differences in priority non-technical skills were identified between community and hospital settings. These findings inform tailored educational strategies to better prepare graduates for the expectations of employers.
Johnson et al. (Thu,) studied this question.