2019 new grads: How has the job search been going for you?

[gorilla3]

Everyone wants to live in SoCal, or the Bay area. I hear places like Bakersfield are hot and ghetto.

I've been in Bakersfield. over 100 degrees in the summer. Your face is melting off in the summer. The trash bins in the apts also scavenged every day for stuff. Ghetto indeed.

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[RnBee]

Licensed in Texas since August. Nothing.

Been applying to retail (except CVS) and hospitals but no luck (even rural). Made the mistake of not applying with a cover letter, but I am now.

 

[Rybko90]

Licensed in Texas since August. Nothing.

Been applying to retail (except CVS) and hospitals but no luck (even rural). Made the mistake of not applying with a cover letter, but I am now.

You are at a critical point and are not in any position to avoid CVS or any other place of work for that matter. It's been 7 months since graduation. You need to be applying everywhere at this point. If that means CVS in nowhere, Alaska, so be it. You need some experience or you'll never have a career at all.

 

[rxkrafted]

Licensed in Texas since August. Nothing.

Been applying to retail (except CVS) and hospitals but no luck (even rural). Made the mistake of not applying with a cover letter, but I am now.

You better have a good reason to be avoiding CVS if you have been unemployed for 4 months. The longer you stay unemployed, the less appealing it is more employers to want to hire you (even CVS)...

 

[sfachine]

Perhaps in the past but in todays market maybe not as important.
At least I hope.

 

[ranger99rx]

You better have a good reason to be avoiding CVS if you have been unemployed for 4 months. The longer you stay unemployed, the less appealing it is more employers to want to hire you (even CVS)...

My DM forwarded a handful of resumes for me to prescreen and one of the applicant hasn't worked in the pharmacy since his graduation in 2017. We only select 3 for the interview so his chance is very slim.

 

[Hels2007]

When there are 30-50-100 applicants, you have to narrow it down to maybe 10-15 you are going to do phone screens on, and how do you narrow it down? The first cull is the most basic things like having the license already, having experience in that setting, etc. And someone who has NEVER worked in a professional capacity (after licensure) is, IMO, viewed worse than someone with a true "employment gap" where maybe you worked for a few years, got laid off and have a gap of a few months. It's more like someone who took a few years and did something entirely unrelated to their profession during that time (doesn't matter if that was own illness, raising kids, trying to get your own business going or hiking your way through South America). Basically, you better have a pretty impressive list of prior accomplishments and a damn good story how whatever you did while not working has helped you to become better. And you really, really need someone who is interested enough in your story to even give you a chance to tell it (which is not very likely).

 

[mentos]

Licensed in Texas since August. Nothing.

Been applying to retail (except CVS) and hospitals but no luck (even rural). Made the mistake of not applying with a cover letter, but I am now.

CVS was my only job offer 5 years ago, an overnight position in a ghetto store. If I didn't accept it then I would have no career. It sucked but I was able to pay off my loans, save up a down payment for a house, start a family. 4 years later I was able to escape retail. CVS sucked but it was necessary.

I'm afraid it's probably too late for you though. If you're not hired by fall of P4 year then your chances are very slim in retail.

 

[Hedgehog32]

CVS was my only job offer 5 years ago, an overnight position in a ghetto store. If I didn't accept it then I would have no career. It sucked but I was able to pay off my loans, save up a down payment for a house, start a family. 4 years later I was able to escape retail. CVS sucked but it was necessary.

I'm afraid it's probably too late for you though. If you're not hired by fall of P4 year then your chances are very slim in retail.

Not to exacerbate the negativity, but for those of us who are P4's who have no retail experience and also won't have a residency lined up to complete (either by choice or by failing to match), what options are there upon graduation? I have been talking to a few recruiters I've gotten in touch with over the last few days on LinkedIn (these are new people - not the same ones I mentioned talking to a few weeks ago), and they've said that the job search has been tough even for PGY-1 graduates and nearly hopeless for non-residency-trained graduates.

 

[JustFillIt]

CVS was my only job offer 5 years ago, an overnight position in a ghetto store. If I didn't accept it then I would have no career. It sucked but I was able to pay off my loans, save up a down payment for a house, start a family. 4 years later I was able to escape retail. CVS sucked but it was necessary.

I'm afraid it's probably too late for you though. If you're not hired by fall of P4 year then your chances are very slim in retail.

Great story - I appreciate this. What field of pharmacy are you practicing in after retail? My story is similar to yours.

 

[JustFillIt]

Not to exacerbate the negativity, but for those of us who are P4's who have no retail experience and also won't have a residency lined up to complete (either by choice or by failing to match), what options are there upon graduation? I have been talking to a few recruiters I've gotten in touch with over the last few days on LinkedIn (these are new people - not the same ones I mentioned talking to a few weeks ago), and they've said that the job search has been tough even for PGY-1 graduates and nearly hopeless for non-residency-trained graduates.

I think the worst of all is to have no working experience. It is my opinion that employment experience is more valuable than residency training.

Just curious, why did you not work while you were a student? I think it is important to not use the excuse, “I was focusing on my studies.” I had 4 children in pharmacy school and I worked the entire time.

I think it is important that you have a good story for what you have done over the past 4-8 years. Because this will be on the forefront for potential employers.

 

[mentos]

Great story - I appreciate this. What field of pharmacy are you practicing in after retail? My story is similar to yours.

I'm in a LTC now. No customers or insurance = no stress!

 

[Hels2007]

save up a down payment for a house

Ah, to live in an area with a low cost of living. The higher salaries for the higher cost of living areas don't nearly make up for the difference in the actual cost of living, in my experience. Maybe most new grads won't be in a position to choose between several offers, but for those who will be, I would encourage them to think about this as well.

Not to exacerbate the negativity, but for those of us who are P4's who have no retail experience and also won't have a residency lined up to complete (either by choice or by failing to match), what options are there upon graduation?

You can still try for a retail tech/intern position, there are always openings. While on rotations, you can still work evenings or weekends, they may or may not go for that (depends on whether there are a lot of students in your area who are vying for the same evening/weekend hours). If you can't find one, try to get in touch with the DMs so they hopefully remember who you are and when they see your resume, they at least give it a read. You may try to meet with them in person, though that's probably not going to be viable unless it is at a job fair at the pharmacy school... or a local pharmacist conference, they often do attend those.

 

[Hedgehog32]

I think the worst of all is to have no working experience. It is my opinion that employment experience is more valuable than residency training.

Just curious, why did you not work while you were a student? I think it is important to not use the excuse, “I was focusing on my studies.” I had 4 children in pharmacy school and I worked the entire time.

I think it is important that you have a good story for what you have done over the past 4-8 years. Because this will be on the forefront for potential employers.

I actually did work while I was a student, but my intern job was in the inpatient hospital setting. Unfortunately the hospital network I worked for recently instituted a policy of hiring only residency graduates, so they just fired all their interns a couple weeks ago and told us that there was zero chance of us getting hired even for PRN positions as pharmacists.

 

[Hedgehog32]

Ah, to live in an area with a low cost of living. The higher salaries for the higher cost of living areas don't nearly make up for the difference in the actual cost of living, in my experience. Maybe most new grads won't be in a position to choose between several offers, but for those who will be, I would encourage them to think about this as well.

You can still try for a retail tech/intern position, there are always openings. While on rotations, you can still work evenings or weekends, they may or may not go for that (depends on whether there are a lot of students in your area who are vying for the same evening/weekend hours). If you can't find one, try to get in touch with the DMs so they hopefully remember who you are and when they see your resume, they at least give it a read. You may try to meet with them in person, though that's probably not going to be viable unless it is at a job fair at the pharmacy school... or a local pharmacist conference, they often do attend those.

I actually got in touch with a CVS DM who said that (for my area at least) they'd really prefer to hire someone who can work more flexible hours than what a P4 student can offer. Also, the thought of working in traditional chain retail honestly sounds like a nightmare to me, but I realize beggars can't be choosers in this job market. While I agree that it probably makes more sense to do a PGY-1 followed by a PGY-2 instead of spending 2 more years pursuing something like PA school, I can't honestly say that if I was presented with the option of either working as a retail pharmacist (with no other offers) or going back to PA school, I wouldn't choose PA school over working in retail.

 

[Hedgehog32]

To add to my previous post - I fully acknowledge that I have committed the fallacy of being the person who enrolled in pharmacy school despite being dead-set against the notion of working in the sector that has always had the most jobs (retail), even in a worst-case scenario.

 

[Hels2007]

I can't honestly say that if I was presented with the option of either working as a retail pharmacist (with no other offers) or going back to PA school, I wouldn't choose PA school over working in retail.

Have you ever actually worked retail? It's not that bad... sure it's not great, and it has gotten worse over the years, but there are plenty of worse jobs.

I can understand the sentiment against a setting, though. I like to say I won't work as in inpatient pharmacist (doesn't matter, IV or clinical) unless I have a lobotomy. Though =if I were unemployed for a year despite actively looking, I would take any job, even 6am-2pm shift of verifying IVs all day... I would be miserable and have no life, but it's still better than no job with chances of getting a job diminishing every day. I know someone who has been unemployed for two years now (not a pharmacist) and it's pretty ugly when you get to that point.

 

[Hedgehog32]

Have you ever actually worked retail? It's not that bad... sure it's not great, and it has gotten worse over the years, but there are plenty of worse jobs.

I can understand the sentiment against a setting, though. I like to say I won't work as in inpatient pharmacist (doesn't matter, IV or clinical) unless I have a lobotomy. Though =if I were unemployed for a year despite actively looking, I would take any job, even 6am-2pm shift of verifying IVs all day... I would be miserable and have no life, but it's still better than no job with chances of getting a job diminishing every day. I know someone who has been unemployed for two years now (not a pharmacist) and it's pretty ugly when you get to that point.

So I worked retail back when I used to work random shifts in the outpatient pharmacies owned by the hospital network I used to work for (so technically not chain retail but close?) as well as an IPPE that I did for a few weeks at a chain retail pharmacy location. I guess I would say that I'm not interested in working retail primarily because I've never been a super-outgoing person when it comes to dealing with customers all day/every day, and also because I don't like the idea of dealing with the chaotic multitasking that goes on in retail pharmacy (e.g., phone ringing, customers complaining, prescriptions behind that are needing to be verified, pressure to meet metrics, etc.). And I know it sounds petty, but I really don't want to have to stand up for 12-14 hours/day. I did that for pretty much every day of my retail IPPE rotation, and I remember coming home at the end of each day feeling like I could barely walk. In fact, there are a series of 5k races I like to run every spring/summer, and the only time I ever skipped one was during that particular IPPE, just because I could hardly walk AND was totally exhausted.

That's why I was hoping that my willingness to be flexible (will go anywhere, work any shift) would get me an inpatient pharmacist job at a hospital *somewhere*, but from talking to these recruiters, it sounds like PGY-1 grads are having to offer that kind of flexibility (or close to it). On a positive note, she did say that the job market for PGY-2 graduates who specialize in oncology is still pretty good.

Aside from inpatient hospital pharmacy, I think LTC could be a good fit as well. Really, I'm flexible in the sense that it's more about wanting to work in a setting that I would really hate to be in, more than me wanting to be in a highly specific setting. For example, even though I've never worked in/rotated through an LTC facility, I think an LTC pharmacist job would be a good fit as well. There are probably also managed care positions I would enjoy as well, although I haven't done much research into jobs in that sector. At this point, though, the only jobs I'd like to actively avoid if I can are those in the traditional retail setting.

 

[RnBee]

You are at a critical point and are not in any position to avoid CVS or any other place of work for that matter. It's been 7 months since graduation. You need to be applying everywhere at this point. If that means CVS in nowhere, Alaska, so be it. You need some experience or you'll never have a career at all.

I've applied out of state, but when you click the checkbox saying you're not fully licensed in their state, I'm sure that filters me out. I don't mind moving. It's knowing which state to take an MPJE for and having the funds to fly out there to take care of business.

I'm taking my CPJE soon (I'm from California), but I'm thinking about getting a masters in informatics. I was always interested in the field, but I didn't have my mind made up soon enough to do that rotation. The odds of getting into an informatics residency are already slim so without that rotation I lost hope. I guess now I can right my wrongs.

 

[APN-59 rph]

Start scouting the little guys..Explain the situation.....offer to work for half the going rate..be discreet about all this...If your new boss agrees.."adjust the dates" a little on resumes. it might work out better than hoped. At this point you are paying for experience..which is vital...You have to take it from there depending on the situation....make your own luck....ask advice of even the owners who turn you down...it is tough for them too...A-Dios.....

 

[JustFillIt]

I've applied out of state, but when you click the checkbox saying you're not fully licensed in their state, I'm sure that filters me out. I don't mind moving. It's knowing which state to take an MPJE for and having the funds to fly out there to take care of business.

I'm taking my CPJE soon (I'm from California), but I'm thinking about getting a masters in informatics. I was always interested in the field, but I didn't have my mind made up soon enough to do that rotation. The odds of getting into an informatics residency are already slim so without that rotation I lost hope. I guess now I can right my wrongs.

What I would do is apply for licensure regionally. That way you do not have to “check the box saying you do not have a state license.” Have your license in a few states - this will help open up opportunities.

 

[JustFillIt]

Start scouting the little guys..Explain the situation.....offer to work for half the going rate..be discreet about all this...If your new boss agrees.."adjust the dates" a little on resumes. it might work out better than hoped. At this point you are paying for experience..which is vital...You have to take it from there depending on the situation....make your own luck....ask advice of even the owners who turn you down...it is tough for them too...A-Dios.....

Do not offer to work for half the rate.

 

[Hels2007]

Do not offer to work for half the rate.

Yup. Entering a price war/bidding war is never a winning strategy for the long-term.

Going to an independent is a good step, though. If you can put down on a resume something like "Joe's Pharmacy - Staff Pharmacist, 2019 - now" at least it doesn't look bad, and if you do get an interview and they ask, you can say that you are only working part-time and that's why you are looking, but at least it would get you past the automatic screen-out stage. Putting just years on the resume instead of months/years is certainly acceptable... though most employment applications I have seen require dates - sometimes not just month, but day and month. And they often do reach out to verify employment dates and/or salary range. If it is a small indie, they may fudge it in your favor, though that's not a given.

 

[APN-59 rph]

Yup. Entering a price war/bidding war is never a winning strategy for the long-term.

Going to an independent is a good step, though. If you can put down on a resume something like "Joe's Pharmacy - Staff Pharmacist, 2019 - now" at least it doesn't look bad, and if you do get an interview and they ask, you can say that you are only working part-time and that's why you are looking, but at least it would get you past the automatic screen-out stage. Putting just years on the resume instead of months/years is certainly acceptable... though most employment applications I have seen require dates - sometimes not just month, but day and month. And they often do reach out to verify employment dates and/or salary range. If it is a small indie, they may fudge it in your favor, though that's not a given.

What IS the winning strategy for the long term in the pharmacy biz? Rn Bee appears to be facing a devolving crisis.

 

[RnBee]

What IS the winning strategy for the long term in the pharmacy biz? Rn Bee appears to be facing a devolving crisis.

Prepare for a residency and network your butt off from day 1 of stepping into pharmacy school is what I would do differently if I could start over.

 

[TerryTerry]

Yup. Entering a price war/bidding war is never a winning strategy for the long-term.

Going to an independent is a good step, though. If you can put down on a resume something like "Joe's Pharmacy - Staff Pharmacist, 2019 - now" at least it doesn't look bad, and if you do get an interview and they ask, you can say that you are only working part-time and that's why you are looking, but at least it would get you past the automatic screen-out stage. Putting just years on the resume instead of months/years is certainly acceptable... though most employment applications I have seen require dates - sometimes not just month, but day and month. And they often do reach out to verify employment dates and/or salary range. If it is a small indie, they may fudge it in your favor, though that's not a given.

If a new graduate can find an independent position without sacrificing the wage, nobody would be worried about job market right now.

 

[Hels2007]

What IS the winning strategy for the long term in the pharmacy biz? Rn Bee appears to be facing a devolving crisis.

The best way of dealing with ****ty situations is not finding yourself in a ****ty situation in the first place. There are no winners among those duking it out while dumpster-diving, they are all losers. Key words are "advance planning" as in from the moment you start considering pharmacy as a career.

For such a long time pharmacy job was essentially a participation trophy for anyone who made it into pharmacy school (though getting in was more competitive) pharmacy grads forgot that it's normal to have to compete for desirable jobs. Yes, all pharmacy jobs - even those ghetto CVS jobs - are 'desirable' . You don't see pharmacy grads preferentially applying for non-pharmacy jobs in droves, do you? And in any competition there are winners and losers, and winners have to work hard to be better/smarter/stronger/faster/whatever than competitors.

 

[TerryTerry]

The best way of dealing with ****ty situations is not finding yourself in a ****ty situation in the first place. There are no winners among those duking it out while dumpster-diving, they are all losers. Key words are "advance planning" as in from the moment you start considering pharmacy as a career.

For such a long time pharmacy job was essentially a participation trophy for anyone who made it into pharmacy school (though getting in was more competitive) pharmacy grads forgot that it's normal to have to compete for desirable jobs. Yes, all pharmacy jobs - even those ghetto CVS jobs - are 'desirable' . You don't see pharmacy grads preferentially applying for non-pharmacy jobs in droves, do you? And in any competition there are winners and losers, and winners have to work hard to be better/smarter/stronger/faster/whatever than competitors.

So very true.

I wish we all knew this before spending $150k on a ticket to compete.

 

[APN-59 rph]

If a new graduate can find an independent position without sacrificing the wage, nobody would be worried about job market right now.

It's a given that the pay rates are going to trend down. Holding the line and passing up a job will only make you a martyr.

 

[Hedgehog32]

The best way of dealing with ****ty situations is not finding yourself in a ****ty situation in the first place. There are no winners among those duking it out while dumpster-diving, they are all losers. Key words are "advance planning" as in from the moment you start considering pharmacy as a career.

For such a long time pharmacy job was essentially a participation trophy for anyone who made it into pharmacy school (though getting in was more competitive) pharmacy grads forgot that it's normal to have to compete for desirable jobs. Yes, all pharmacy jobs - even those ghetto CVS jobs - are 'desirable' . You don't see pharmacy grads preferentially applying for non-pharmacy jobs in droves, do you? And in any competition there are winners and losers, and winners have to work hard to be better/smarter/stronger/faster/whatever than competitors.

I agree that there is definitely no such as an "undesirable" pharmacist job anymore. In fact, although I haven't really seen completion of one listed as a preferred criteria in retail/community pharmacist job postings, one of the recruiters I talked with last week said that she'd recommend completing a community pharmacy residency just to be competitive for retail positions. So in other words, even the pharmacy jobs that were considered for years to be the last-resort "fallback" positions are now becoming legitimately competitive to the extent that post-graduate training is becoming necessary to be competitive as an applicant.

 

[deleted562805]

I agree that there is definitely no such as an "undesirable" pharmacist job anymore. In fact, although I haven't really seen completion of one listed as a preferred criteria in retail/community pharmacist job postings, one of the recruiters I talked with last week said that she'd recommend completing a community pharmacy residency just to be competitive for retail positions. So in other words, even the pharmacy jobs that were considered for years to be the last-resort "fallback" positions are now becoming legitimately competitive to the extent that post-graduate training is becoming necessary to be competitive as an applicant.

Dang, that’s crazy. What could I possibly learn from a community pharmacy retail residency? I guess the chains have caught on to the residency requirement.

 

[Hedgehog32]

Dang, that’s crazy. What could I possibly learn from a community pharmacy retail residency? I guess the chains have caught on to the residency requirement.

That's a good question, LOL. Like I said in my post, I haven't actually seen it listed as a preferred criteria in retail job listings (as far as I can remember), so she might have just been suggesting it as a way to proactively be more competitive in the retail job market.

 

[owlegrad]

Dang, that’s crazy. What could I possibly learn from a community pharmacy retail residency? I guess the chains have caught on to the residency requirement.

Last time I checked the chains didn’t even offer the community rotation.

I do wonder if we will get to a place where the PIC will be expected to be the preceptor for their “partner” - I.e., instead of having a PIC and staff pharmacist they have a PIC and a resident.

 

[Hels2007]

I do wonder if we will get to a place where the PIC will be expected to be the preceptor for their “partner” - I.e., instead of having a PIC and staff pharmacist they have a PIC and a resident.

Well, given that all but the busiest stores are now basically two-pharmacist teams with some supplemental floaters as needed, it would make business sense. Residents are far cheaper and they would be eager to please in hopes of securing a job afterwards.

Although in this case I hope the recruiter was just uninformed and extrapolating off her hospital experience (as I don't think chains commonly use recruiters for run of the mill retail positions). I have worked with a dozen or so recruiters in my field, and the mileage varies dramatically, some are very good, some are terrible, some are merely useless.

I wish we all knew this before spending $150k on a ticket to compete.

And the reasons you didn't all know what you were getting into was because you were banned by Google? Or were you willfully ignorant? That's the part about being smarter than your competitors - or the opposite.

 

[Hedgehog32]

Well, given that all but the busiest stores are now basically two-pharmacist teams with some supplemental floaters as needed, it would make business sense. Residents are far cheaper and they would be eager to please in hopes of securing a job afterwards.

Although in this case I hope the recruiter was just uninformed and extrapolating off her hospital experience (as I don't think chains commonly use recruiters for run of the mill retail positions). I have worked with a dozen or so recruiters in my field, and the mileage varies dramatically, some are very good, some are terrible, some are merely useless.

And the reasons you didn't all know what you were getting into was because you were banned by Google? Or were you willfully ignorant? That's the part about being smarter than your competitors - or the opposite.

The recruiter I talked with (in this case) works with CompHealth, so I'm not sure if any retail chains use that company's services for recruiting. Maybe she was referring more to independent pharmacies? Not sure

 

[Pharmacy is a Scam]

I agree that there is definitely no such as an "undesirable" pharmacist job anymore. In fact, although I haven't really seen completion of one listed as a preferred criteria in retail/community pharmacist job postings, one of the recruiters I talked with last week said that she'd recommend completing a community pharmacy residency just to be competitive for retail positions. So in other words, even the pharmacy jobs that were considered for years to be the last-resort "fallback" positions are now becoming legitimately competitive to the extent that post-graduate training is becoming necessary to be competitive as an applicant.

Dang, that’s crazy. What could I possibly learn from a community pharmacy retail residency? I guess the chains have caught on to the residency requirement.

May I direct you to a relevant discussion on this topic: "Gilding a Snowflake": The ridiculous credentials thread

 

[Hels2007]

The recruiter I talked with (in this case) works with CompHealth, so I'm not sure if any retail chains use that company's services for recruiting. Maybe she was referring more to independent pharmacies? Not sure

I am having a hard time imagining a small indie having resources to spare to pay a recruiter's commission, especially in this market, instead of going through the school/alumni association/local pharmacist association/just their friends and contacts... I personally doubt anyone but large health systems uses recruiters for pharmacists (though that's a complete guess on my part) so maybe her experience is with clinics and outpatient pharmacies that often double as the labor pool for the clinics? That makes more sense than true retail, where what's important is that you know their system and can handle the very fast-paced environment.

 

[jecpharm89]

That’s a stretch. The job market in the northeast isn’t the greatest but you can absolutely find a retail job as a floater starting out. Yes with less hours and less pay but they do not consider residency. At all. CVS is always hiring here and so is Walgreens.
The fact that that recruiter thinks a “community residency” is any sort of training or preparation for a retail position is madness.
The big hospital systems say they “prefer” residency training for outpatient pharmacy jobs but a lot of people switch from retail to those positions out here. And the people that completed a pgy1 don’t apply for those positions.

 

[Hedgehog32]

I am having a hard time imagining a small indie having resources to spare to pay a recruiter's commission, especially in this market, instead of going through the school/alumni association/local pharmacist association/just their friends and contacts... I personally doubt anyone but large health systems uses recruiters for pharmacists (though that's a complete guess on my part) so maybe her experience is with clinics and outpatient pharmacies that often double as the labor pool for the clinics? That makes more sense than true retail, where what's important is that you know their system and can handle the very fast-paced environment.

That’s a stretch. The job market in the northeast isn’t the greatest but you can absolutely find a retail job as a floater starting out. Yes with less hours and less pay but they do not consider residency. At all. CVS is always hiring here and so is Walgreens.
The fact that that recruiter thinks a “community residency” is any sort of training or preparation for a retail position is madness.
The big hospital systems say they “prefer” residency training for outpatient pharmacy jobs but a lot of people switch from retail to those positions out here. And the people that completed a pgy1 don’t apply for those positions.

I haven't really looked much into getting a retail job, but my understanding is that even retail is fairly saturated here in the southeast. In fact, there usually aren't more than maybe 2-3 retail jobs posted for my city of ~200k people on Indeed. I also talked to someone who graduated in May 2019 from one of the southeastern pharmacy schools who applied to every single hospital position in GA and AL and very many retail job listings, and the only application they heard back on was for a Walgreens floater position in a rural region of GA. They ended up choosing an experienced pharmacist who also interviewed for the position. I was always under the impression that the job market for pharmacists in the northeast was worse than it is here in the southeast, but it sounds like it might actually be worse in this region (anecdotally speaking). Perhaps @Rx1992 can chime in here, since he/she lives in a city not far from mine.

 

[mentos]

Recruiters are clueless and I don't know why any employer would hire them. I still have an old resume on monster.com from my previous office job that's like 12 years old and I still get calls from recruiters hoping that my old resume was still relevant.

 

[Hedgehog32]

Recruiters are clueless and I don't know why any employer would hire them. I still have an old resume on monster.com from my previous office job that's like 12 years old and I still get calls from recruiters hoping that my old resume was still relevant.

At least they're trying to get you a job, I think? LOL

 

[Hedgehog32]

BTW, this particular recruiter works for CompHealth, which seems to be one of the more well-known recruiting firms.

 

[deleted562805]

I haven't really looked much into getting a retail job, but my understanding is that even retail is fairly saturated here in the southeast. In fact, there usually aren't more than maybe 2-3 retail jobs posted for my city of ~200k people on Indeed. I also talked to someone who graduated in May 2019 from one of the southeastern pharmacy schools who applied to every single hospital position in GA and AL and very many retail job listings, and the only application they heard back on was for a Walgreens floater position in a rural region of GA. They ended up choosing an experienced pharmacist who also interviewed for the position. I was always under the impression that the job market for pharmacists in the northeast was worse than it is here in the southeast, but it sounds like it might actually be worse in this region (anecdotally speaking). Perhaps @Rx1992 can chime in here, since he/she lives in a city not far from mine.

Yeah, I agree with what Hedgehog32 is saying. There is about either 1-2 retail job positions per city and/or small town in AL. The hospital jobs in major cities and small towns need 1-2 years experience/or residency even for PRN job. The job market is not too great in AL.

 

[Hedgehog32]

Yeah, I agree with what Hedgehog32 is saying. There is about either 1-2 retail job positions per city and/or small town in AL. The hospital jobs in major cities and small towns need 1-2 years experience/or residency even for PRN job. The job market is not too great in AL.

I'm in GA, but it's literally the same situation here, and this is based on what I was told by pharmacy managers and DOPs who practice for the largest hospital network in GA, which I used to work for until a couple weeks ago, as well as the HR/recruitment staff members I got in touch with at other hospitals and hospital networks (even those located way up in Blue Ridge as well as in south GA, which are extremely rural BFE areas). I also got in touch with a staffing agency that places pharmacists into temporary, short-term positions (apparently one of the best-known of these firms), and they told me that essentially all the hospitals they work with want pharmacists to have 2+ years of experience before they consider allowing them to work at their facilities. He did say that some of their retail clients are less insistent on the minimum experience requirement.

 

[sozetone]

Licensed in Texas since August. Nothing.

Been applying to retail (except CVS) and hospitals but no luck (even rural). Made the mistake of not applying with a cover letter, but I am now.

As a manager for years it's not your cover letter. nobody wants to even deal with a cover letter. they want hardcore veterans who have years of manager experience.....aged 35-45 roughly.... with a little life left in them so they can suck it out a day at a time until they quit or get fired.

 

[LivingMyBestLife]

Not to exacerbate the negativity, but for those of us who are P4's who have no retail experience and also won't have a residency lined up to complete (either by choice or by failing to match), what options are there upon graduation? I have been talking to a few recruiters I've gotten in touch with over the last few days on LinkedIn (these are new people - not the same ones I mentioned talking to a few weeks ago), and they've said that the job search has been tough even for PGY-1 graduates and nearly hopeless for non-residency-trained graduates.

What are the options?

Did you not heed the warnings decades ago?

Pharmacists : Occupational Outlook Handbook: : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Pharmacists dispense prescription medications and provide information to patients about the drugs and their use.

www.bls.gov

-100 Pharmacist jobs created over the next ten years. Do you fully understand what that means? The field is highly competitive right now. I am a pharmacist but have been working at Walmart as a stocker for the last 7 months. Yes it's not ideal but it's work and the pay is decent. I get to use my pharmacy knowledge about once a month when a Walmart customer asks me where certain OTC drugs are located with our store.

Many pharmacists have it much worse than me. A few I know personally:

A pharmacist that gradtuated in 2017 folding small cardboard boxes for 10 bucks an hour.

A pharmacist who's elderly parents cosigned his massive loans. He has defaulted on the loans and the private loan owners have put a lien against his parents home and his parents may be homeless soon.

WHAT TO DO?

If you are in your 60's wait out for SS. IF you are under 30 go back to school for a actual in-demand major. If you are in-between do what the rest of us are doing. Move back home with your parents / safety net and get any job possible (preferably one at least semi related to pharmacy that could build your resume) You are light years behind on the job search as you did not work during school and network. There will be THOUSANDS of unemployed pharmacists every year and the situation will get worse every year. No one owes you a job just because you had the privilege of going to pharmacy school.

 

[LivingMyBestLife]

The best way of dealing with ****ty situations is not finding yourself in a ****ty situation in the first place. There are no winners among those duking it out while dumpster-diving, they are all losers. Key words are "advance planning" as in from the moment you start considering pharmacy as a career.

For such a long time pharmacy job was essentially a participation trophy for anyone who made it into pharmacy school (though getting in was more competitive) pharmacy grads forgot that it's normal to have to compete for desirable jobs. Yes, all pharmacy jobs - even those ghetto CVS jobs - are 'desirable' . You don't see pharmacy grads preferentially applying for non-pharmacy jobs in droves, do you? And in any competition there are winners and losers, and winners have to work hard to be better/smarter/stronger/faster/whatever than competitors.

Great post.

 

[LivingMyBestLife]

I agree that there is definitely no such as an "undesirable" pharmacist job anymore. In fact, although I haven't really seen completion of one listed as a preferred criteria in retail/community pharmacist job postings, one of the recruiters I talked with last week said that she'd recommend completing a community pharmacy residency just to be competitive for retail positions. So in other words, even the pharmacy jobs that were considered for years to be the last-resort "fallback" positions are now becoming legitimately competitive to the extent that post-graduate training is becoming necessary to be competitive as an applicant.

"completing a community pharmacy residency just to be competitive for retail positions "

Wow. So my nightmares have finally been realized after all these years? Imagine it's 2026. In order to get an overnight job at CVS in the middle of the ghetto in the middle of nowhere you have to first complete a PGY1, PGY2 and PGY3 while working for free.

 

[LivingMyBestLife]

I haven't really looked much into getting a retail job, but my understanding is that even retail is fairly saturated here in the southeast. In fact, there usually aren't more than maybe 2-3 retail jobs posted for my city of ~200k people on Indeed. I also talked to someone who graduated in May 2019 from one of the southeastern pharmacy schools who applied to every single hospital position in GA and AL and very many retail job listings, and the only application they heard back on was for a Walgreens floater position in a rural region of GA. They ended up choosing an experienced pharmacist who also interviewed for the position. I was always under the impression that the job market for pharmacists in the northeast was worse than it is here in the southeast, but it sounds like it might actually be worse in this region (anecdotally speaking). Perhaps @Rx1992 can chime in here, since he/she lives in a city not far from mine.

I think it's the worst in NJ and Florida. But it's all relative. The reality is that there might be 3,000 jobs freed up from retiriement a year when you have 14,000 new grads hitting the street every year. That's 11,000 under employed or unemployed grads. Sure some will hide in PGY1, PGY2 which will only postpone the inevitable joblessness. Just be glad you didn't go to Chapman University School of Pharmacy for 70k+ a year.

 

[LivingMyBestLife]

As a manager for years it's not your cover letter. nobody wants to even deal with a cover letter. they want hardcore veterans who have years of manager experience.....aged 35-45 roughly.... with a little life left in them so they can suck it out a day at a time until they quit or get fired.

preferably closer to 35. Gotta keep those health insurance policy premiums down LOL. You ever get that job in FL or you still slaving away for big blue in CO?