How to get started finding a nonclinical job as a pharmacist

You don't need another degree, a certification, or a perfectly mapped-out career plan to start exploring opportunities beyond traditional pharmacy. Here's where I'd start...

When I was working as a retail pharmacist at CVS, I thought I knew what my career was going to look like. I had spent years working nights, weekends, and holidays, and absolutely loved taking care of my patients.

But I was about to have my first child, and I knew I wanted more control over my schedule and my time.

I wasn't looking to leave healthcare. I still wanted to use my pharmacy background. I still wanted to help patients and make a difference.

I just didn't know what else I was qualified to do. So I looked for other pharmacist jobs even though I felt that the other options were slim. Maybe I'd try hospital pharmacy?

For a long time, I assumed that working nights, weekends, and holidays was simply the reality of being a healthcare professional. I didn't know anyone working at a healthcare startup. In 2014 when I started looking for something different, they barely existed. I didn't know what product management was (even though this would end up being my path). And I certainly didn't have some grand plan to build a career in health tech.

Today, after building a career that has taken me from retail pharmacy into healthcare startups, program management, product management, and product leadership, I can tell you something I wish I'd understood much earlier:

Your pharmacy degree qualifies you for more than your pharmacy license allows you to do.

Your license allows you to practice pharmacy. But your degree, your clinical knowledge, and your professional experience can be valuable in so many other settings.

The challenge is figuring out where those opportunities exist and how to position yourself for them.

Here's where I'd start if I were to do it all over again.

1. Figure out what you actually want to change

When pharmacists tell me they want to leave traditional practice, one of the first things I encourage them to do is get specific about why.

Because wanting to leave retail pharmacy isn't the same as wanting to leave patient care. And wanting a nonclinical job isn't necessarily the same as wanting to work in tech.

When I started exploring other opportunities, I knew a few things:

• I wanted more control over my schedule.

• I wanted to continue working in healthcare.

• I enjoyed talking directly to patients and solving problems.

• I liked working with teams and helping people deliver great care.

• I didn't particularly enjoy dispensing workflows, insurance billing, or constantly multitasking.

Those preferences eventually helped me find work that was a much better fit. But I didn't have all those answers figured out on day one.

In fact, my first role outside retail pharmacy was still a pharmacist position. The difference was how I was using my skills.

So before you start looking at job postings, spend some time thinking about your current work.

What parts of your day do you enjoy? What responsibilities give you energy? What would you happily never do again? When do you feel like you're doing your best work?

Maybe you enjoy training new pharmacists or technicians. Maybe you love identifying broken workflows and figuring out how to improve them. Maybe you like educating patients, analyzing data, managing people, or coordinating projects.

Those are clues.

Don't start by searching for a job title. Start by understanding the kind of work you want to do more of.

That clarity will make everything that comes next easier.

2. Explore opportunities you might not know exist

One of the biggest challenges pharmacists face when exploring nonclinical careers is simply not knowing what's out there.

You know what a retail pharmacist does. You probably have a pretty good understanding of hospital pharmacy, managed care, or industry roles.

But what does a product manager do? What about a customer success manager, implementation specialist, clinical operations manager, or program manager?

These roles might not have been mentioned once during pharmacy school, even though many of the skills you've developed as a pharmacist are directly relevant.

In fact, I stumbled into health tech almost by accident.

An old preceptor of mine shared a post about a new pharmacy startup that had opened up shop nearby. There weren't many companies doing what they were doing at the time, and I had never really considered working for a startup.

But I visited their website, read about their mission, and immediately knew I wanted to be part of it.

That company was PillPack.

It wasn't a job title that caught my attention. It was the problem they were trying to solve. 

And that's one of the best places to start your own exploration.

Look for companies solving healthcare problems you care about.

Think about the frustrations you encounter in pharmacy every day. Maybe you've seen patients struggle to access medications. Maybe you've experienced firsthand how inefficient healthcare technology can be. Maybe you've wondered why communication between providers is still so difficult.

There are companies building products and services to address those exact challenges. Start looking at them. Read their websites. Learn about their products. Pay attention to their missions. Look at what they've launched or improved over the past six to twelve months.

Then ask yourself:

What are they trying to accomplish, and how could my experience help them get there?

You don't need to know exactly which role you're pursuing yet. At this stage, you're just expanding your understanding of what's possible.

Where to discover nonclinical pharmacy career paths

A few places I'd recommend:

• LinkedIn: Find pharmacists who work outside traditional pharmacy practice. Look at their current roles and the paths they took to get there.

• Podcasts and interviews: Listen to professionals describe what they actually do at work. Job descriptions rarely tell the whole story. I do a "Clinician in tech" series in my newsletter that could be a good place to start. 

• Company websites: Explore healthcare startups and established health tech companies that interest you.

• Job descriptions: Read postings even when you're not ready to apply. Notice which responsibilities sound interesting and which skills employers consistently request.

• Coffee chats: Connect with people doing work you're curious about and ask how they got there.

I also created the Hey Health Tech Job Board to help healthcare professionals discover opportunities they might not otherwise come across.

You can use it as a research tool, not just a place to apply. Pay attention to the titles that keep catching your eye. Over time, you'll start noticing patterns.

3. Stop assuming you need more experience

This is one of the biggest misconceptions I see among pharmacists trying to break into nonclinical roles.

They assume they're getting overlooked because they don't have experience working in tech.

So they start looking for another certification, another degree, or another program that will make them more qualified. But often, the problem isn't that they're unqualified.

It's that they haven't learned how to communicate the value of the experience they already have.

Let's say you've been a retail pharmacist for eight years.

You might describe your experience like this:

"Counseled patients on medications and communicated with healthcare providers to resolve prescription issues."

That's an accurate description of your responsibilities, but think about what's actually happening when you do those things.

When you counsel patients, you're taking complicated clinical information and translating it into language someone without medical training can understand.

That's communication, education, and the ability to simplify complex concepts.

When you're coordinating with physicians, nurses, insurance companies, and pharmacy staff to resolve an issue, you're navigating multiple stakeholders, managing competing priorities, and working across teams to solve a problem.

When you're identifying recurring dispensing errors or bottlenecks and figuring out how to prevent them, you're identifying operational inefficiencies and improving workflows.

Those are valuable skills in healthcare technology companies.

Here's how I'd think about translating common pharmacy experiences:

What you've done as a pharmacist	What that experience demonstrates
Counseled patients on complex medication regimens	Communication, education, and simplifying complex information
Coordinated with prescribers and other healthcare professionals	Cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder management
Trained pharmacy technicians and new employees	Team development, onboarding, and training
Improved pharmacy workflows	Process improvement and operational problem-solving
Managed competing priorities during a busy shift	Prioritization, decision-making, and operations management
Identified and prevented medication errors	Quality assurance, risk management, and attention to detail
Helped implement a new system or process	Change management, implementation, and project coordination

The important thing isn't simply swapping out pharmacy terminology for corporate buzzwords.

It's understanding the underlying skill, connecting it to something the company needs, and demonstrating the impact you've made.

For example, if you're applying for an implementation role at a healthcare technology company, your experience helping a pharmacy adopt a new workflow may be more relevant than you realize.

If you're interested in customer success, think about the work you've done educating patients, resolving escalations, and ensuring people have a positive experience.

If you're interested in operations, think about how you've managed teams, improved processes, or solved recurring problems.

And if you're not sure which experiences a company might value?

Look at the job description. They'll tell you.

Pay attention to the problems they're hiring someone to solve. Then think about how you've solved similar problems in your own work, even if the setting or job title was completely different.

Your goal isn't to pretend you've done a job you haven't done.

It's to help employers see why your existing experience is relevant.

4. You don't need to be technical to work in tech

When I joined PillPack, I started as a pharmacist in the customer experience department. I was onboarding patients, helping coordinate their first medication shipments, answering questions, and leading a team that supported customers through email, chat, and phone.

In many ways, I was doing the things I'd always loved about retail pharmacy. I was helping patients. I was working with a team. I was making sure we provided an excellent experience.

But I wasn't spending my days checking prescriptions, billing insurance, or juggling a dozen competing tasks.

I had the time and autonomy to focus on the parts of patient care I enjoyed most, and my retail pharmacy experience had prepared me incredibly well for that work.

I wasn't quite as prepared for learning all the new technology.

I'd spent years at CVS, where I knew the systems and workflows inside and out. Suddenly, I was using unfamiliar tools to accomplish many of the same things.

It was a bigger learning curve than I expected, and because I'd never considered myself particularly technical, I initially let that intimidate me.

But eventually I realized something:

You don't need to be technical to work in tech.

Of course, some roles require technical expertise. But many others require people who understand healthcare, can communicate with customers, can solve operational problems, and can help build better experiences for patients and providers.

You can learn new software.

You can learn how a technology company operates.

What is much harder to teach is the clinical context and real-world understanding you've developed through years of working in healthcare.

Don't underestimate the value of that experience.

5. Build relationships before you need a job

Remember how I discovered PillPack?

Here's the part of that story that I think is especially important.

When I visited their website, they weren't hiring.

Their careers page was empty, but I reached out anyway.

I sent an email explaining that I was a pharmacist, that I was really interested in what they were building, and that I'd love to be considered when opportunities became available.

I attached my resume and thanked them for their time.

They responded and confirmed they weren't hiring, but said they'd reach back out in the future.

And instead of forgetting about the company (or assuming that they likely forgot about me), I followed up periodically.

A few months later, they were hiring.

There was one complication: the position required me to be licensed in a neighboring state.

At first, I didn't want to spend the money to get licensed without knowing whether I'd actually get the job. But I ultimately decided to prepare for and take the licensing exam. Once I had the license, I let them know I was ready.

That persistence helped open the door to an opportunity that changed the direction of my career.

Now, I'm not suggesting that you should go out and obtain additional licenses or certifications just to demonstrate interest in a company.

But I am suggesting that you don't have to wait for the perfect job posting to start building relationships.

If there's a company you admire, reach out.

If there's a pharmacist doing work you find interesting, connect with them.

If someone shares an insight about their role or their company, ask a thoughtful question.

You never know where those conversations might lead.

I like to think of this as increasing your surface area of luck.

The more people who know what you're interested in, what you're good at, and what you want to do next, the more opportunities you'll have to find your way toward it.

6. Your next job doesn't have to be your dream job

Something else I want pharmacists to understand is that a successful career transition doesn't always mean jumping directly from retail pharmacy into your ideal nonclinical role.

Sometimes, the smartest next move is a stepping-stone role.

Maybe it's another clinical position, but one that allows you to lead a team.

Maybe it's an opportunity to participate in a committee, improve a workflow, or manage a project.

Maybe it's a position that gives you exposure to a healthcare technology company, even if the title isn't the one you eventually want.

I've worked with pharmacists and other healthcare professionals who needed to think about their transitions this way.

The challenge is often less about finding a completely different job and more about identifying opportunities to develop and demonstrate skills that will be valuable in the future.

That's also how my own career evolved.

I didn't join PillPack with a five-year plan to become a product manager. I joined as a pharmacist.

Over time, I realized that some of my favorite work involved managing projects and improving how things operated, and I was already doing some of that work in my role. So I talked to my manager about it.

I explained that I wanted to focus more of my time on projects because I knew I could create more value doing that work.

Eventually, that helped me transition into program management and later product management.

The shift didn't begin with another degree.

It began with recognizing what I was good at, understanding where I wanted to grow, and making that interest known. The same idea applies if you're still working in a traditional pharmacy setting. 

If you want to become a project manager, look for projects you can help lead.

If you're interested in operations, find opportunities to improve a process.

If you enjoy training and education, look for ways to take on more responsibility in those areas.

Start building relevant experience wherever you are. Your next role doesn't have to be the destination. It just needs to move you closer.

7. What I'd do in your first 30 days

If you're a pharmacist who wants to explore nonclinical opportunities but you're already working full-time, I have good news: getting started doesn't have to be particularly time-consuming.

In fact, I think the first month of your transition should be more about self-evaluation and discovery than applying for jobs.

Here's how I'd approach it.

Week 1: Get clear on what you want

Spend some time reflecting on your current work.

Write down the responsibilities you enjoy, the ones you dislike, and the skills you think are your strongest.

Consider what you want your work life to look like.

Are you looking for schedule flexibility? More opportunities for creativity? Leadership responsibilities? The ability to work remotely? A chance to solve bigger healthcare problems?

You don't need to have everything figured out.

Just start identifying what's important to you.

Week 2: Explore companies and career paths

Find five healthcare companies whose missions interest you.

Read about their products and the problems they're trying to solve.

Look through their open roles, even if you're not applying yet.

Notice which job descriptions catch your attention.

Look up people on LinkedIn who hold those positions. What did they do before? How did they get there?

The goal is simply to learn what's possible.

Week 3: Connect your experience to the opportunities

Choose two or three roles that interest you.

Read several job descriptions for each.

Identify the skills employers consistently mention.

Now look back at your own experience. Where have you demonstrated those skills?

Think about the problems you've solved, the teams you've worked with, the improvements you've made, and the outcomes you've helped achieve.

Start writing down specific examples.

Don't worry about rewriting your entire resume just yet.

Week 4: Start a few conversations

Find two or three people who are doing work you'd like to learn more about.

Reach out on LinkedIn.

Ask about their career paths, what their day-to-day work looks like, and what skills they think are most important.

You don't have to ask anyone for a job.

You're gathering information, developing relationships, and getting clearer about where you want to go.

At the end of 30 days, you may not have submitted a single application.

And that's okay.

If you have a stronger understanding of your skills, a shortlist of interesting companies and roles, and a few new relationships, you've made meaningful progress.

That's a much better foundation for a job search than sending out dozens of applications without knowing what you're looking for.

8. Learn to communicate the value you bring

Once you've identified the kinds of roles you want to pursue, your next job is helping employers understand why you're a strong candidate.

And this is where I see so many pharmacists get stuck.

They focus on the responsibilities they've held instead of the problems they've solved.

They describe themselves as pharmacists first, assuming the employer will understand everything that comes with that experience.

But someone hiring for a product, operations, implementation, or customer success role may not understand what your experience in a pharmacy actually involves.

It's your job to make the connection clear.

Don't just tell them what you did. Show them why it matters.

For example, instead of only describing how many prescriptions you filled, think about whether you improved accuracy, trained a team, reduced errors, or implemented a more efficient process.

Instead of simply saying you counseled patients, think about how your communication helped people understand complex information, navigate challenges, or successfully use a service.

Use real examples and measurable outcomes wherever you can, and tailor those examples to the company you're interested in.

A healthcare technology company isn't hiring a pharmacist just because they value pharmacy degrees.

They're hiring someone who can solve a particular problem.

Your job is to show them you're that person.

The most important thing I want you to know

If there's one thing I wish every pharmacist understood, it's that your degree and your license are not the same thing.

Your license gives you the ability to practice pharmacy in specific settings.

But your pharmacy degree, combined with your experience, opens the door to a much broader world of possibilities.

You understand healthcare.

You know what it's like to care for patients, navigate complicated systems, communicate with providers, manage risk, and solve problems when things don't go as planned.

Those skills don't suddenly stop being valuable when you step outside a pharmacy.

In many cases, they become your biggest advantage.

And healthcare is changing quickly. New companies, new technologies, and new roles are constantly emerging to solve problems that didn't have solutions just a few years ago.

You don't need to know exactly where your career will take you.

I certainly didn't.

You just need to get curious about what's possible, recognize the value you already bring, and start having conversations that might open the next door.

You worked hard to become a pharmacist. That experience can take you further than you think.

Ready to explore what's next?

At Hey Health Tech, I help pharmacists and other healthcare professionals discover career paths beyond traditional clinical practice, understand how their existing skills translate, and build connections in the health tech industry.

Here are a few places to start:

• Explore the Hey Health Tech Job Board: Discover roles and companies hiring healthcare professionals, and use job descriptions to research career paths you may not have considered.

• Join the Hey Health Tech Community: Connect with other clinicians exploring and building careers in health tech, learn from people who've made the transition, and get support as you explore your next step.

• Subscribe to the Hey Health Tech newsletter: Learn about health tech companies, emerging opportunities, and practical ways to build a career beyond traditional practice.

You don't have to figure out your next career move alone.