I will be starting pharmacy school in the fall and was looking into the possibility of working as a pharmacy intern once I matriculate. However, whenever I visit the "careers" websites of retail chains I'm considering (at this point, mainly Walmart, Publix, Sam's Club, Bi-Lo), I don't see any information on how to actually go about applying to become an intern. Is intern hiring something that is done at the store level? Or am I just not looking in the right place?
How to apply to work as an intern?
- Thread starter PAtoPharm
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Might be taking a couple more vacations before school starts, so I wasn't sure what my schedule would be looking like over the next few weeks.
So people don't really apply to work as interns these days? Would I still be applying for a tech job if I wait until school starts?
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Probably. When I was pre-pharmacy, my manager saw I knew what I was doing and told me "If anyone asks, you're an intern. Now go call on these transfers." As a result, my perception of the roles may be a little off.
In my state, to work as a student intern, you have to apply for a license from the state BOP, so that's why I figured being an intern was a different position from being a tech.
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Same here.
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Here in Texas, you don't get intern status until you complete 30 hours of pharmacy school coursework/finish P1 year. Due to that, we weren't able to work as interns/people that worked were simply techs until the summer after first year. Our school had an interview day with retail companies early spring of P1 year for a summer internship, and if you get picked by a company and make a good impression over the summer, most get kept on as interns throughout school. Ask your school if they have something similar planned for you guys during P1 year. I also suggest first worrying about adjusting to the first semester of pharmacy school before rushing into also juggling a job. The first year, especially the first semester, is when I saw the most kids fail a class/get held back due to trying to do too much all at once. Breathe a bit, get your feet wet, then start making moves.
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What school did you end up getting into?
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AFAIK with hiring interns at Publix, some districts have the pharmacy supervisor making the call while other districts have the pharmacy manager for the store do it. Just go to a store, preferably one that is far away from any pharmacy school so you have less competition from other students, and fill out an application at one of those computer kiosk things.
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll see about visiting some stores in-person. I've seen those computer kiosks in Publix stores, but I don't think I've seen them in Walmarts or other retail chains. I'm not sure if I'll apply to intern at Publix since it seems like everything I read/hear indicates that they pay so much less than the other chains. I even thought about trying to intern at Winn-Dixie or Kmart, since it seems like they always have openings for pharmacists to work in my area. I can't imagine that the pharmacy at a Kmart could be all that busy.
