What to expect at campus career fair?

[hye345]

I signed up for an on-campus career fair in November. Along with the actual career fair, we can sign up for on-campus interviews with different chains. However, I'm a bit nervous about it; except for a few months in P1 year at Target, most of my internship experience(s) involves inpatient hospital pharmacy. This is because up until a month or so ago, I always figured I'd go for a residency. However, 4 rotations in a row in a hospital setting have soured that idea for me

For anyone who has gone through this process, I'm curious as to what sort of questions you got asked. The interview slots are only 30 minutes, so I'm curious as to how 'deep' it gets. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

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[jsmith84]

You can expect almost all situational-based questions so begin thinking of times when you've solved a problem, dealt with a difficult situation, helped someone, made a mistake and learned from it, etc. They might give you a situation that could happen in the pharmacy and ask how you'd handle it. They also might want you to role play a patient counseling or something.

After that they might ask you where/if you want to move and where you see yourself in 5 years.

Then have a couple questions ready to ask of them.

Good luck!

 

[EML9255]

Yeah they were all situational/behavioral questions. I remember walmart asked me to counsel for bactrim

Get there right when it starts. The first few minutes i remember a lot of my classmates just hopping table to table quickly to sign up for as many interviews as they possibly could. Many of the places ran out of slots pretty fast

 

[hye345]

Yeah they were all situational/behavioral questions. I remember walmart asked me to counsel for bactrim

Get there right when it starts. The first few minutes i remember a lot of my classmates just hopping table to table quickly to sign up for as many interviews as they possibly could. Many of the places ran out of slots pretty fast

Yeah, I spoke to a friend who got a job at Walmart, they also asked her about bactrim.

We are actually able to sign up for interview slots online, ahead of time.

 

[Amicable Angora]

I signed up for an on-campus career fair in November. Along with the actual career fair, we can sign up for on-campus interviews with different chains. However, I'm a bit nervous about it; except for a few months in P1 year at Target, most of my internship experience(s) involves inpatient hospital pharmacy. This is because up until a month or so ago, I always figured I'd go for a residency. However, 4 rotations in a row in a hospital setting have soured that idea for me

For anyone who has gone through this process, I'm curious as to what sort of questions you got asked. The interview slots are only 30 minutes, so I'm curious as to how 'deep' it gets. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

What soured it for you?

 

[hye345]

What soured it for you?

Well, in a nutshell, the days passed by so slow (though most of that was probably due to rounding). On the flip side, from having spoken to friends and colleagues, while the work conditions in retail generally aren't as cushy (though I'm told this is almost entirely store dependent), there is more variety in the nature of the work (drug therapy, inventory, insurance, patient interaction, etc...), and that the workday goes by very fast. Because of this, the idea of applying for residency, drudging through it for one year, THEN applying for a new job all over again isn't as appealing. I'm still going to apply for a hospital position if one is available, but I'm ok with working in retail just to get that side of the experience also. Either way, the residency route is probably off the table.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

I wish some of you youngins' could have experienced the job fairs circa 2006. It was NOTHING but "this is what we can do for you!" The chains came in all but begging. If you wanted to walk out of there with 4 free commitments for dinner from a few chains, it was pretty easy. Signing bonuses...hell, cars...work anywhere you wanted with few exceptions. You picked your locale and company.

 

[hye345]

So, sorry to bump my own thread, but I actually had a related question... would things like thank-you notes factor into a career fair of this nature (all companies holding interviews at the same place vs .going from company to company for each interview)? Or do I just leave my resume and/or CV?

 

[jsmith84]

I think you should just bring your CV, no thank you cards. I'm sure they are sometimes there, but usually the supervisors are not present at these fairs, rather it's a recruiter for multiple districts. So, while they will probably have a say, they aren't really the ones who are going to make the final decision to hire you and they get paid to gather as many good candidates as possible. If there is availability in the area where you express an interest and you do well, then you will get a call back for a 2nd interview (I don't know of any chains who hire strictly from the 1st career fair interview) and that 2nd interview will be with a supervisor or district manager. They are who you'll be working for and they will make the final decision in the hiring process, so that's when you'd want to send a thank you card.

 

[deleted723470]

my experience .

 

[KARM12]

I wish some of you youngins' could have experienced the job fairs circa 2006. It was NOTHING but "this is what we can do for you!" The chains came in all but begging. If you wanted to walk out of there with 4 free commitments for dinner from a few chains, it was pretty easy. Signing bonuses...hell, cars...work anywhere you wanted with few exceptions. You picked your locale and company.

Yup, had offers from every single retail chain back then...

 

[hye345]

One more question... given the whole deal with Walgreens buying Rite-Aid, and CVS buying Target, is it worth interviewing with either Right-Aid or Target? Would it be better to just interview with Walgreens and CVS instead, respectively?

 

[BidingMyTime]

I wish some of you youngins' could have experienced the job fairs circa 2006. It was NOTHING but "this is what we can do for you!" The chains came in all but begging. If you wanted to walk out of there with 4 free commitments for dinner from a few chains, it was pretty easy. Signing bonuses...hell, cars...work anywhere you wanted with few exceptions. You picked your locale and company.

Oh yeah......those were the days. I actually got PAID $100.00 to go on an interview, yes this pharmacy had sent out cards offering $100.00 cash to any pharmacist who would come in for an interview. The interview was a sales pitch on why I should be working for them, and the only questions asked were what they could do to help me transition to a new job with them. I knew then, the pharmacist shortage was too good to last.

 

[Dred Pirate]

I wish some of you youngins' could have experienced the job fairs circa 2006. It was NOTHING but "this is what we can do for you!" The chains came in all but begging. If you wanted to walk out of there with 4 free commitments for dinner from a few chains, it was pretty easy. Signing bonuses...hell, cars...work anywhere you wanted with few exceptions. You picked your locale and company.

God I loved that - I graduated in 03 - I had a sign off offer of 45k at one point. I had 6 offers before January of my last year.... sign.... the good ole days

 

[Dred Pirate]

One more question... given the whole deal with Walgreens buying Rite-Aid, and CVS buying Target, is it worth interviewing with either Right-Aid or Target? Would it be better to just interview with Walgreens and CVS instead, respectively?

I can't speak for rite aid/wags, but I would put rite aid at the bottom of my list and only take a job if I had no other options. As far as CVS/taget - they are being run seperately for the next two years (per my friend who is a DM) so apply to both