Can recent pharmacy school grads answer my question?

[Tom Applewood]

If you can tell everyone:
1) what kind of pharmacist are you?
2) who's your employer?
3) exactly how much is your pharmacist salary, and only pharmacist salary, exclusive of other income?
4) how many hours/week you work?

...then maybe anyone will believe you [whitesnows]. Otherwise, stop your nonsense. Stop screwing with real people, with real lives, planning real careers.

To the OP - hard. It's hard. It took me 6 months after graduation to find a retail floater spot. They worked me to death, +42hrs/week over 1.5 years, earning ~$120k. then I changed to LTC weekends on-call earning $105. It will get harder, with more pharmacy schools churning out more students. Salaries are stagnant. They may stay that way for a few more years. Hopefully they won't go down. Residencies are BS. Go to work, immediately, anywhere. Pay off your loans, start a retirement account and load it up as much as you can while you're young, single, and mobile.

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[gjb07]

Since when did I connect IHS with that kind of money? Quote me if you can.

Ok

Do you believe in a person who have been there and done that or the person who sit on the internet all days? If anyone in this forum who is qualified for a tough life it will be me. Yet, these difficulties give me motivation to strive high and above people. I promise your life will be more interesting after you accomplish great things. I now make $100/hours and plus ton of OTs. Imagine how exciting I am! I know someone that will help me to get to a better pay job later. That can bring my salary above $250k easily. Wow, I love pharmacy. This is the only career I know that can help me to make that quick of the money in the shortest amount of time.

$100 an hour sounds like someone is paying you that rate, rather than earning it through investments or owning your own business (can you even do that if you're on a h1b?). Considering that this is the "the only career you know" that can help you make money this fast, and you DON'T connect that money to IHS, then where is it coming from? Protip: two jobs is an acceptable answer, but you have to convince us you have two pharmacist jobs located above the arctic circle.

I got a job 3 weeks after I got my license. I got pay $70/hr and yet I had to relocate. In your case, away from your boyfriend is more of an issue than relocating, there is nothing you can do. I wish you luck!

This I can believe. Considering that you're probably one of about 5 people working above the arctic circle, I don't see how you could ask for any less. But there's no way that you had a over 40% increase in salary after working at one place for less than a year. The only demonstrable skill you could possibly add in that short a time frame is that you are willing to do anything for money. I can think of only one other profession where this is a marketable skill: Prostitution. Consider looking into it, after all, you did say:

Don't go to the US, Job market is very unstable now. Wait till 1 or 2 years to see how obamacare affects the job markets then you can decide from there.

Seriously, people come here looking for advice on making major life decisions; I know I did. Whether or not this is a wise decision is another debate, but it still happens regardless. Naive undergraduates will come here, read your posts, and will get the idea that they are a special snowflake just like you, and drop a career they could enjoy in order to pursue this kind of wealth you preach. This mindset was picked up by the pharmacy schools, and that is why there are more schools opening up; they will cash in on naive students believing they can make a fortune in pharmacy. Is it a total scam akin to MLM? No. Will many become as successful as you claim to be? No, and I'm willing to wager you aren't either. This kind of behavior is seriously irresponsible, and downright deplorable.

 

[WhiteSnows]

If you can tell everyone:
1) what kind of pharmacist are you?
2) who's your employer?
3) exactly how much is your pharmacist salary, and only pharmacist salary, exclusive of other income?
4) how many hours/week you work?

...then maybe anyone will believe you [whitesnows]. Otherwise, stop your nonsense. Stop screwing with real people, with real lives, planning real careers.

To the OP - hard. It's hard. It took me 6 months after graduation to find a retail floater spot. They worked me to death, +42hrs/week over 1.5 years, earning ~$120k. then I changed to LTC weekends on-call earning $105. It will get harder, with more pharmacy schools churning out more students. Salaries are stagnant. They may stay that way for a few more years. Hopefully they won't go down. Residencies are BS. Go to work, immediately, anywhere. Pay off your loans, start a retirement account and load it up as much as you can while you're young, single, and mobile.

There is always position for high qualified workers, and high pay.

A simple answer is this: if you do not have a job, then you are not qualified for the job. In your case, I would assume you are not willing to relocate to another region or state. That is life my friend. Education is like a business. Take heed and learn your lesson, then maybe you come back stronger next time.

You ask me to tell you where do I work? It is non-sense. Am I supposed to tell you my bank account now? More than half of the claims in Sdn are never verified. People don't go on sdn to make MAJOR life decision either. They go to Sdn to find someone who will agree with their already make up decision. In a bad economy, there are always a group of people who prosper and the other group suffer. It is life. There is not enough oil for everyone. Don't ask what this country has done for you, ask what you have done for this country. A lot of you only care about yourself and go to Sdn to tell people get off pharmacy? DON'T ACT LIKE YOU CARE ABOUT THESE PRE-PHARMERS, YOU ARE ONLY HERE TO TELL PEOPLE GET OFF PHARMACY BECAUSE YOU ARE AFRAID THEY WILL COMPETE WITH YOUR JOB. I AM DEAD RIGHT ON THIS ONE.

 

[WhiteSnows]

Ok



$100 an hour sounds like someone is paying you that rate, rather than earning it through investments or owning your own business (can you even do that if you're on a h1b?). Considering that this is the "the only career you know" that can help you make money this fast, and you DON'T connect that money to IHS, then where is it coming from? Protip: two jobs is an acceptable answer, but you have to convince us you have two pharmacist jobs located above the arctic circle.



This I can believe. Considering that you're probably one of about 5 people working above the arctic circle, I don't see how you could ask for any less. But there's no way that you had a over 40% increase in salary after working at one place for less than a year. The only demonstrable skill you could possibly add in that short a time frame is that you are willing to do anything for money. I can think of only one other profession where this is a marketable skill: Prostitution. Consider looking into it, after all, you did say:



Seriously, people come here looking for advice on making major life decisions; I know I did. Whether or not this is a wise decision is another debate, but it still happens regardless. Naive undergraduates will come here, read your posts, and will get the idea that they are a special snowflake just like you, and drop a career they could enjoy in order to pursue this kind of wealth you preach. This mindset was picked up by the pharmacy schools, and that is why there are more schools opening up; they will cash in on naive students believing they can make a fortune in pharmacy. Is it a total scam akin to MLM? No. Will many become as successful as you claim to be? No, and I'm willing to wager you aren't either. This kind of behavior is seriously irresponsible, and downright deplorable.

You make a lot of wrong assumptions here. For example, You claimed I work at the same job last year? False. You claimed I have to work for 2 jobs to make that kind of money? False. You are the first people who compared pharmacist job with a prostitute job. Wow, you must be told by Bmb? Yes, no? Lmao, i laughed so hard. This is how depressing people talk. Depressing people always think negative or find anything that is negative to talk. And I am here to motivate people to pursue their dream. I am here to bring positive into people's life. I think you should quit pharmacy like Bmb if you think it is too bad for you. Lol. I don't really care about you the depressing people. I am successful, making great money and I figure I can block depressing people on sdn too. BEST FUNCTION EVER!

 

[WhiteSnows]

I know there is a pinned thread about this but it is old and recently it has broken down into bickering and just offtopic stuff so rather than debates I just want to hear your experiences.

How hard was it for you to actually find employment after finishing pharmacy school?

Also, how hard was it for those you know that finished with you?

Not hard at all. You just have to network during school, study well and be confident. I graduated from the one of the largest cities in my state with ton of pharmacy schools around. We did have some saturation back then the year of 2011, 2012. The market has improved since 2013 and especially 2014. I heard from my university that all students are able to secure the jobs around the region before graduation. And I am talking about the biggest city in my state. If you are willing to relocate to a lesser area, you can easily find a job. Once you have enough experience, using that to go back to the city where you want to be. Pharmacy is definitely in a better shape compared to other professions. If you are going to a state university, you won't owe as much as private. The exciting part is this, pharmacy is moving to a new area of practice: more clinical and authority. Although, some of you may disagree but all it takes is a major disaster and the country will utilize pharmacists much more than the current. I know in California they recently passed a law that allow pharmacists to become clinician. NM is already allowing pharmacist to monitor labs, and prescribe medications. I personally work with a pharmacist who has DEA license to prescribe CII-C5. Pharmacy is a very versatile profession. There are many other careers you can explore such as nuclear pharmacy, PBM, Manage Care, Compounding and the ability to open a pharmacy on your own. So, do not listen to the folly in Sdn to tell you nobody can find a job. Yes you can find a job. I used to be depressed over this while i was in school. I even told people about how bad it is. But It wasn't until I actually started to apply for a job and got a job in a few weeks, I realized the situation is not that bad. I am able to find jobs in many areas. Again, you have to be willing to relocate if you have no prior work experience.

 

[Tom Applewood]

There is always position for high qualified workers, and high pay... bs ... bs.. . bs... more bs... ARE AFRAID THEY WILL COMPETE WITH YOUR JOB. I AM DEAD RIGHT ON THIS ONE.

Actually, you are dead wrong. Keep your day job as a fiction novelist, avoid going into psychiatry or pharmacy. Thank you for proving to everyone that you are a liar by not answering the required questions honestly. Case closed. Everyone can move on from this attention ***** and conduct real conversations here, now.

I very much enjoy helping students, and other pharmacists, as long as they have a sincere love of science, the profession, ethics, and how drugs affect the human body. If you are a businessman, or a party kid fratboy, or care more about money, then you can pish off as far as I care when it comes to anything medical-related.

 

[WhiteSnows]

Actually, you are dead wrong. Keep your day job as a fiction novelist, avoid going into psychiatry or pharmacy. Thank you for proving to everyone that you are a liar by not answering the required questions honestly. Case closed. Everyone can move on from this attention ***** and conduct real conversations here, now.

I very much enjoy helping students, and other pharmacists, as long as they have a sincere love of science, the profession, ethics, and how drugs affect the human body. If you are a businessman, or a party kid fratboy, or care more about money, then you can pish off as far as I care when it comes to anything medical-related.

Look at who is talking? LMAOOO. Don't lose your cool. Don't lose your cool.

 

[Narmerguy]

Let's keep the thread on topic and civil. Personal attacks are not constructive and lower the quality of discussion for everyone in the thread. Please make use of the ignore function if you find a persistent issue with a user.

 

[fauxden]

Well....that was entertaining.

 

[BMBiology]

^^ I would like to take credit for reintroducing the world to "WhiteSnows" aka "5minutes"

 

[PharmDCandidate2014]

Easy enough so far, but you have to be willing to move. I graduated for a year and now making 200k, not trying to show up but to encourage you there is always position for high qualified workers, and high pay. You may have to go rural temporarily for experience and networking. Btw, do not listen to BMB about job saturation. Job saturation is only true to those who want an easy job with high pay, not willing to relocate, or obsessed with negative thoughts.

What were your strategies to networking? This question/answer session might actually help future pharmacists after 2018. Faculty and other students love to be vague with their answers: "Develop relationships." *Changes the subject*

Any specific examples that doesn't involve being an ass-hat and incessant self-promotion to the point of being off putting might benefit incoming pharmacy students that could use the advice.

Here's my advice: "impress" the preceptor with a good work ethic - being on time to rotations, spotting errors, being polite to bosses and customers, being polite when asking for employment opportunities.

Hope this thread serves some utility out there.

 

[sakigt]

Networking = Showing people you work hard and arent a psycho

 

[ExpressMaiL]

I know there is a pinned thread about this but it is old and recently it has broken down into bickering and just offtopic stuff so rather than debates I just want to hear your experiences.

How hard was it for you to actually find employment after finishing pharmacy school?

Also, how hard was it for those you know that finished with you?

Not hard. I had 3 offers; all 3 from independent or closed-door. I graduated in 2012. Independent in Bakersfield at $70/hr, Sat and Sun off, normal 9-5 type of job. Other was independent in LA, salary $140k/year, variable hours. Last one was an independent in LA, $65/hr, variable hours.

For others that finished with me... everyone I know got jobs but I can't speak for everyone in my class. Note, people who don't get jobs will not make that public knowledge.

I see that this thread is discussing networking. I'll emphasize that networking is much more important than studying for hours on end to get an "A" on an exam. When it comes to hiring, I see lots of applicants with high marks, academic awards and blah blah blah but they can't problem-solve or handle awkward situations. I value problem-solving, aptitude and work ethic over graduating summa cum laude with no common sense.

 

[DexterRx]

May 2014 Grad. For me I went to school out of state and moved back to CA after graduation. Initially had a job with a retail chain in LA. Got let go after a few months for "not meeting expectations." Had an interview with another chain. Six months after graduation and still have trouble finding a job. Still not licensed so I can only apply to grad intern positions.

To make things worse, I need to retake CPJE.

Had I stayed in the state where I went to school, I would have been licensed by now and had a job with my old company (had an offer and would have stayed at my old store).

Bad luck I guess, but I'm sure it will pass.

 

[type b pharmD]

^^ I would like to take credit for reintroducing the world to "WhiteSnows" aka "5minutes"

Honestly, thank you so much. I owe credit where due!

 

[jfm5958]

May 2014 Grad. I had two offers. Float for Walgreens which I initially accepted. Then applied for a 3rd shift 7 on/7 off at a mid-sized hospital which I got and accepted. Recently took a PRN retail gig to pick up some extra shifts on my 7 off. I worked as a retail intern at a small grocery store chain and a PRN tech at a small hospital during school.