Why is it so freaking hard to get a hospital internship?

[alprazolamborghini]

Currently in school and hold an intern license. Also, I am working as an intern in a retail. I have tried nearly 15 hospitals near my school and there isnt any reply. What should I do? Should I take PTCB to stand out? I just wanna escape this retail...

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[PumpkinSmasher]

There are less hospitals than there are retail pharmacies, leading to less opportunities for paid internships. This leads to more competition and increased importance of networking. Not all hospitals hire interns, they may only take interns as unpaid 3rd/4th year clerkships instead. The PTCB wouldn't make you stand out as intern unless you had actual inpatient technician experience, in my opinion.

 

[sdh0202]

I'm starting pharmacy school this Fall, applied three hospital internship, one of them didn't reply me back in final rounds of interview, but now got employment offer from two places.
I hold PTCB license and it helped me a little bit in landing an interview, as wherever I go they asked me why do I hold a PTCB license and how did I get it. I showed them my desire to work in hospital setting and I was fortunate enough to get employment offers. One thing to note is that in one place, I heard the job opening from my P3 buddy that there is going to be an opening, while other place was referred through my friend who actually worked in the hospital for three years. I think it's important to keep searching but if you have some network or inside information, then it's huge plus.

 

[confettiflyer]

There's just too many of you out there. Honestly, most interns are equally qualified. Inside information is going to be key...we've periodically hired interns without even advertising positions publicly because we've trusted the person recommending and didn't have the time to formally post.

In order of priority, this is how I would sort the pile of CV's/resumes.

TOSS: too freakin' long, your CV shouldn't be 7 freaking pages of fluff unless you're some previous PhD research guru.
TOSS: poor formatting and spelling/grammar errors
TOSS: incorrectly addressed cover letter (wrong hospital) or other glaring error (saying you love working in a burn unit, and we don't have one).

Automatic advancement to interview: personal recommendation from current trusted pharmacist/other work colleague from other institution > school of pharmacy faculty with good working/personal relationship with me > current resident/previous resident
Will give additional benefit of the doubt: Recommendation from current technician/intern > from other hospital employee
Special cases: Family and friends of Pharmacy Director on up the hospital hierarchy

Top of the pile: previous hospital technician work history
Next under that: previous retail technician work history
Third factor: Involvement in school activities (mostly because I want an intern that's actually interested in lots of things, we use interns for special projects all the time)

Additional factors I would weigh: previous BS/BA degree and pedigree of school (Top 50 > community college only), previous other work history, personal hobbies (you are putting these at the end, right? I don't want to hire a drone).

Things you might think would count, but don't really impress me: Letters of recommendation from anyone I don't know and grades (unless you're failing and risk losing your intern license).

Bonus: If you manage to convince me without sounding fake that you want to pursue a PGY-1 residency. I don't want to waste my time teaching and training an intern that will eventually go rot in a community pharmacy.

That's approximately the screening process I would use, the interview is mostly for fit and personality, the stakes are pretty low for interns vs. other employees so we tend to just go entirely off the interview when decision making.

 

[confettiflyer]

duplicate

 

[sakigt]

Funny, I was thinking availability. No point if the great candidate is too busy to work.

 

[alprazolamborghini]

Funny, I was thinking availability. No point if the great candidate is too busy to work.

Can you elaborate plz?

 

[alprazolamborghini]

There's just too many of you out there. Honestly, most interns are equally qualified. Inside information is going to be key...we've periodically hired interns without even advertising positions publicly because we've trusted the person recommending and didn't have the time to formally post.

In order of priority, this is how I would sort the pile of CV's/resumes.

TOSS: too freakin' long, your CV shouldn't be 7 freaking pages of fluff unless you're some previous PhD research guru.
TOSS: poor formatting and spelling/grammar errors
TOSS: incorrectly addressed cover letter (wrong hospital) or other glaring error (saying you love working in a burn unit, and we don't have one).

Automatic advancement to interview: personal recommendation from current trusted pharmacist/other work colleague from other institution > school of pharmacy faculty with good working/personal relationship with me > current resident/previous resident
Will give additional benefit of the doubt: Recommendation from current technician/intern > from other hospital employee
Special cases: Family and friends of Pharmacy Director on up the hospital hierarchy

Top of the pile: previous hospital technician work history
Next under that: previous retail technician work history
Third factor: Involvement in school activities (mostly because I want an intern that's actually interested in lots of things, we use interns for special projects all the time)

Additional factors I would weigh: previous BS/BA degree and pedigree of school (Top 50 > community college only), previous other work history, personal hobbies (you are putting these at the end, right? I don't want to hire a drone).

Things you might think would count, but don't really impress me: Letters of recommendation from anyone I don't know and grades (unless you're failing and risk losing your intern license).

Bonus: If you manage to convince me without sounding fake that you want to pursue a PGY-1 residency. I don't want to waste my time teaching and training an intern that will eventually go rot in a community pharmacy.

That's approximately the screening process I would use, the interview is mostly for fit and personality, the stakes are pretty low for interns vs. other employees so we tend to just go entirely off the interview when decision making.

The thing is .. they did not even look at my application for a month now... I guess i have to wait or find some kinda connections. thanks for the info!

 

[sakigt]

Can you elaborate plz?

Whats your availability for the jobs you apply for? Summers only or 1 shift a month isnt something Id be interested in hiring someone for. Id be honest and tell them youll have to work around your work schedule but unless youre willing to work 1-2 shifts a week Im betting it will be hard to find a place in a hospital. See my response from this thread:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...-take-to-adjust-to-working-as-a-tech.1083878/

It takes time to get good at being a tech so you have to be available to learn. Evenings after class, weekends, and much moer during the summers and breaks.

 

[confettiflyer]

Funny, I was thinking availability. No point if the great candidate is too busy to work.

oh whoops...i didn't list this because we make it clear interns work every other weekend, most aren't available during the week which is understandable, so we don't bother trying to squeeze them in.