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

[RnBee]

Just so you know, a masters in informatics will not benefit you for hire for an informatics pharmacist position because you still need training. What you learn in that masters program will not help you transition into an informatics pharmacist role, you'd need training regardless. Your best bet is to get into the hospital system as a pharmacist first and maybe pick up on learning the health system model, order sets/strings, epic/meditech/cerner, etc. There is virtually no chance of you getting hired at a hospital if you wait and try after that degree...

I know I'll need the hospital experience. The plan is to try to find something part time in the hospital during the program (open to volunteering too), and doing an informatics residency after the program. If I get a full time job in the hospital, I can do the Masters part time.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[rxkrafted]

I know I'll need the hospital experience. The plan is to try to find something part time in the hospital during the program (open to volunteering too), and doing an informatics residency after the program. If I get a full time job in the hospital, I can do the Masters part time.

You can keep looking for a part time in a hospital but I'm telling you that a masters in informatics is a waste of time and money.

 

[mentos]

Going back to school. Want to get a masters in informatics then if necessary apply for an informatics residency. Better late than never. I was interested in ID and informatics, but couldn't decide which one to go all in with before midyear.

Ummm you're going to pay off your loans by taking out more loans?

 

[Pharmacy is a Scam]

Just let the snowflake do what he wants. Sometimes, the best way to help someone is to let them experience the cold, hard facts of life for themselves.

 

[jecpharm89]

I'm sorry I don't want to work for satan again. If that makes me entitled then it is what it is. I've applied daily to literally anywhere else that has an opening.

Don’t listen to these people. They wouldn’t work at cvs either. Hope you find something better.

 

[PharmtoCS]

Just let the snowflake do what he wants. Sometimes, the best way to help someone is to let them experience the cold, hard facts of life for themselves.

I suppose it’s a good thing for us that we have one fewer desperate new grad who will beg to work at CVS for $40/hr and accept the terrible work conditions.

 

[RnBee]

You can keep looking for a part time in a hospital but I'm telling you that a masters in informatics is a waste of time and money.

Is it that easy to become an IT RPh if you just get part time experience and express interest in the field? If it is then I would prefer that.

 

[RnBee]

Ummm you're going to pay off your loans by taking out more loans?

Eventually. I'm just trying to be better qualified for the IT residency since it's competitive. There's only 29 PGY2 programs.

Again, my loan total at the moment isn't that bad.

 

[RnBee]

Just let the snowflake do what he wants. Sometimes, the best way to help someone is to let them experience the cold, hard facts of life for themselves.

All right, boomer.

 

[Blue2midnight]

So if you can’t get a PGY1 now what makes you think you’ll be able to get one after finishing pharmacy school and a masters program in IT? You still need the same qualifications as before to get a PGY1 and hopefully get a PGY2 in IT. And the PGY2 program might not even find a masters in IT useful because they might think you don’t need a PGY2 if you already have that credential.

We had a staff pharmacist who got in the hospital without a residency. He got a masters in IT and then moved to another hospital as an IT pharmacist. As stated above, this worked for him because he already had years of experience in a hospital system.

I have a friend who graduated with a PharmD and works with Epic - not as a practicing pharmacist. But as an analyst/coordinator. Even though he has a lot of experience with Epic, it would be difficult for him to get a position as an IT pharmacist since he’s never worked a day in his life as an actual health-system pharmacist.

Also do you know how many IT pharmacists jobs there actually are out there? We’re currently getting rid of ours at my hospital.

 

[Pharmacy is a Scam]

So if you can’t get a PGY1 now what makes you think you’ll be able to get one after finishing pharmacy school and a masters program in IT? You still need the same qualifications as before to get a PGY1 and hopefully get a PGY2 in IT. And the PGY2 program might not even find a masters in IT useful because they might think you don’t need a PGY2 if you already have that credential.

We had a staff pharmacist who got in the hospital without a residency. He got a masters in IT and then moved to another hospital as an IT pharmacist. As stated above, this worked for him because he already had years of experience in a hospital system.

I have a friend who graduated with a PharmD and works with Epic - not as a practicing pharmacist. But as an analyst/coordinator. Even though he has a lot of experience with Epic, it would be difficult for him to get a position as an IT pharmacist since he’s never worked a day in his life as an actual health-system pharmacist.

Also do you know how many IT pharmacists jobs there actually are out there? We’re currently getting rid of ours at my hospital.

He won’t get a PGY-2 in IT because you’d need to have completed a PGY-1 to even apply for a PGY-2. If you can bypass a first year residency and directly apply for a PGY-2 then what is even the point of it being called a PGY-2? That is like saying I will graduate medical school, get an MBA then go directly into a fellowship doing plastic surgery without completing 4 years of residency first.

 

[PharmtoCS]

The best choice would be to go back to school and get degrees/certificates in IT. Get a job in IT but forgo being a pharmacist altogether, let alone an IT pharmacist. This would be the fastest way to get into IT.

How many IT pharmacists are there nationwide anyway?

 

[deleted562805]

The best choice would be to go back to school and get degrees/certificates in IT. Get a job in IT but forgo being a pharmacist altogether, let alone an IT pharmacist. This would be the fastest way to get into IT.

How many IT pharmacists are there nationwide anyway?

Even better, get a Masters in C.S in a top program and work for Amazon and you even work as a programmer for Pillpack. You do not have to forgo pharmacy altogether, but why work as a IT pharmacist in a hospital?

 

[RnBee]

So if you can’t get a PGY1 now what makes you think you’ll be able to get one after finishing pharmacy school and a masters program in IT? You still need the same qualifications as before to get a PGY1 and hopefully get a PGY2 in IT. And the PGY2 program might not even find a masters in IT useful because they might think you don’t need a PGY2 if you already have that credential.

We had a staff pharmacist who got in the hospital without a residency. He got a masters in IT and then moved to another hospital as an IT pharmacist. As stated above, this worked for him because he already had years of experience in a hospital system.

I have a friend who graduated with a PharmD and works with Epic - not as a practicing pharmacist. But as an analyst/coordinator. Even though he has a lot of experience with Epic, it would be difficult for him to get a position as an IT pharmacist since he’s never worked a day in his life as an actual health-system pharmacist.

Also do you know how many IT pharmacists jobs there actually are out there? We’re currently getting rid of ours at my hospital.

I think I'll be able to get it this time around because I'll have participated in research. I felt like I was at a disadvantage since I didn't have that.

I get it. I need hospital experience. I'm going to try to get it during the program whether it's part time, volunteering or being an over qualified tech (last resort). If I get part time, who knows, I might not need to do the program, but I don't want to sit on my hands waiting on hospitals.

I see jobs, but they're spread out all over the US. I don't mind moving if I get to do what I'm passionate about.

 

[mentos]

Don’t listen to these people. They wouldn’t work at cvs either. Hope you find something better.

Scroll up, you must have missed my post:

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.

If your advice to a new grad, who has been unemployed for 7 months, is to ignore the advice of pharmacists who have put in their dues... then I don't know what to say.

 

[mentos]

Eventually. I'm just trying to be better qualified for the IT residency since it's competitive. There's only 29 PGY2 programs.

Again, my loan total at the moment isn't that bad.

Even if your loan total isn't bad, how will you make payments if you're not working? What about rent, food, utilities, phone bill, health/dental insurance?

 

[rxkrafted]

Is it that easy to become an IT RPh if you just get part time experience and express interest in the field? If it is then I would prefer that.

I'm not saying it is easy at all... I'm saying just having an opportunity to familiarize yourself with how everything works will give you more of an advantage than a masters in informatics. As long as you aren't computer illiterate, it is really not difficult to pick up on pharmacy informatics as long as you know how the system works.

 

[jecpharm89]

Yes mentos that is my advice. An unemployed new grad can go back to school and has options vs an experienced retail pharmacist that has a family relying on their salary.

Lucky for me I was able to have a similar experience to yours but my advice to someone that doesn’t want to work retail won’t be to work retail just for the money.

 

[RnBee]

Yes mentos that is my advice. An unemployed new grad can go back to school and has options vs an experienced retail pharmacist that has a family relying on their salary.

Lucky for me I was able to have a similar experience to yours but my advice to someone that doesn’t want to work retail won’t be to work retail just for the money.

Yup. When I briefly worked at CVS, I can see that my pharmacists felt trapped. Not only them but the front store employees too. It was just overall depressing in there. I rotated at the store and loved the people I worked with, but when I actually got hired there, the grass wasn't as green.

I have a telephone interview with a small hospital next week and I'm just praying that it goes well.

 

[LivingMyBestLife]

well, as a WM pharm manager i can tell you their pharmacies are going straight into the toilet as we speak..... so it's probably best you are stocking....

Well stocking is nice but I want to make at least 20 bucks an hour. So i'm going to keep looking for a pharmacy job. Big Blue isn't too bad, they treat you nicely although lately the automation has been scaring me at big blue. Self check out last year and then yesterday I saw an AUTOMATED floor re polishing machine traveling around the store. They used to be human operated!

 

[LivingMyBestLife]

PTCB-certified techs at Walmart in my "region" make > 20/hr (no prior pharmacy experience) and significantly more at the major health systems (especially union outfits), including Kaiser, if you can get in. We even have people with foreign pharmacy degrees (wut) looking for tech work

Kinda makes up for the COL hit of living in California. For comparison I made 10/hr as a tech in 2007.

I'm sure they pay more in the Bay Area.

So just FYI randos off the street can make $20/hr as a tech (in California) and probably more in actual health systems (not this fake-**** care clinic crap deployed by WM) if they bring valuable skills/experience. What pharmacists skills/experience are valued by chains? None.

Well that's like only in California. The rest of the country techs are making like 11-13 bucks an hour. At least in the rust belt.

 

[LivingMyBestLife]

I suppose it’s a good thing for us that we have one fewer desperate new grad who will beg to work at CVS for $40/hr and accept the terrible work conditions.

I'll work at CVS for $20 an hour. That is my lower limit though. Sadly even with my low expectations I have been let down by the pharmacist job market. All I wanted to do was make at least $20 an hour with this degree. It looks like that won't be in the cards this year.

 

[JustFillIt]

I'll work at CVS for $20 an hour. That is my lower limit though. Sadly even with my low expectations I have been let down by the pharmacist job market. All I wanted to do was make at least $20 an hour with this degree. It looks like that won't be in the cards this year.

Good - your a pharmacist? Just find a job in a different field...

 

[DagS132]

I'll work at CVS for $20 an hour. That is my lower limit though. Sadly even with my low expectations I have been let down by the pharmacist job market. All I wanted to do was make at least $20 an hour with this degree. It looks like that won't be in the cards this year.

Why did you decide to go to pharmacy school if you only wanted to work for $20/hr? You could have just worked as a pharmacy tech

 

[deleted898085]

Why did you decide to go to pharmacy school if you only wanted to work for $20/hr? You could have just worked as a pharmacy tech

Pharm tech doesn't make $20/hr.
I work as an intern and make $15.50/h.

 

[deleted898085]

I'll work for $20/hr too. I was a tech at CVS and made $12/hr.
Supposed pharm school costs $210K, interest 7% meaning $15K/year.
If income is 40K/yr, discretionary income is 10K/yr.
Under REPAYE, I'll have to make repayment of 1K/yr (10% of discretionary income)
Government subsidizes half of unpaid interest which is 7K. I owe 7K of interest each year.
After 25 years, I owe 210K + 7k x 25 = $385K. If this amount is forgiven, tax is 30% which is 128K.
Total cost for being a pharmacist is 128K + 1K x 25 years = 153K and I'll make 16k/yr more than being a tech.
It's a safe bet IMO.
That's why I went for pharmacy school.
But dang ! No job even if I'm willing to work for $20/h. I can't even go back to work as a pharm tech bc I don't have a tech license any more.

 

[DagS132]

Pharm tech doesn't make $20/hr.
I work as an intern and make $15.50/h.

They don't start off on $20/hr but I have heard of techs getting up to $35/hr.

 

[Hels2007]

If hospital techs were being paid $17 in the middle-of-nowhere state with low cost of living 12 years ago, I wouldn't be surprised if a long-term career tech makes upwards of $30 today. Given that we have pharmacists getting offers of $40/hour, makes one think, doesn't it?

 

[deleted898085]

Tried to get a job at a hospital as a tech. Never happened.

 

[sozetone]

I'm not too good for them. They're a terrible company that could not care less about their employees or patients. They're greedy from top to bottom. and I shouldn't really have to explain that. Too good for them? Ha

All big corporations are slimy and the bottom line is all that matters, just get to work....

 

[sozetone]

Winston wolf would know what to do.....

 

[mentos]

Yes mentos that is my advice. An unemployed new grad can go back to school and has options vs an experienced retail pharmacist that has a family relying on their salary.

Lucky for me I was able to have a similar experience to yours but my advice to someone that doesn’t want to work retail won’t be to work retail just for the money.

How do you suggest they pay for rent, food, utilities, car expenses, medical/dental insurance? Even if they go back to school and take out more loans, it doesn't start until the fall. That's still 9 more months of bills.

 

[mentos]

I'll work at CVS for $20 an hour. That is my lower limit though. Sadly even with my low expectations I have been let down by the pharmacist job market. All I wanted to do was make at least $20 an hour with this degree. It looks like that won't be in the cards this year.

 

[deleted562805]

You know the job market is terrible when I just got a job offer from a insurance company to be an insurance agent instead of pharmacist as a 2019 grad.

 

[Hedgehog32]

You know the job market is terrible when I just got a job offer from a insurance company to be an insurance agent instead of pharmacist as a 2019 grad.

Dang, that's too bad. Was it via email? Maybe they're just sending out mass emails to graduate degree holders to solicit them to apply.

BTW, how are your classmates faring when it comes to finding jobs? I remember you said before that around 50% of them were unemployed a while back; do you know if that's still the case today?

 

[deleted562805]

Dang, that's too bad. Was it via email? Maybe they're just sending out mass emails to graduate degree holders to solicit them to apply.

BTW, how are your classmates faring when it comes to finding jobs? I remember you said before that around 50% of them were unemployed a while back; do you know if that's still the case today?

Not sure as of now. I have just been applying to jobs and studying for the MPJE. And yes, it was via email

 

[mentos]

You know the job market is terrible when I just got a job offer from a insurance company to be an insurance agent instead of pharmacist as a 2019 grad.

I have a few friends who work in the insurance industry and they seem to do very well.

 

[Pharmacy is a Scam]

Pharm tech doesn't make $20/hr.
I work as an intern and make $15.50/h.

Seasoned techs make more than interns. Paid interns are gonna be a thing of the past eventually anyways, so you’d be comparing $20 to $0

 

[deleted562805]

I have a few friends who work in the insurance industry and they seem to do very well.

Interesting. If you do not mind me asking, what is their work hours like and what is their salary per year like?

 

[mentos]

Interesting. If you do not mind me asking, what is their work hours like and what is their salary per year like?

Typical 8-4 or 9-5 Mon-Fri schedule. Not sure what they make but they have nice homes and seem well off. I find that most people who work outside of healthcare don't share their salaries.

 

[mentos]

Not sure where the high CA taxes myth comes from. CA has very progressive tax brackets. So yes, if you make 500k a year you're going to be paying more in California than many states (not all). But otherwise they're pretty similar. If you use Smart Assets income tax calculators for example, and you input a $200k salary you get an effective combined federal plus state income tax rate of 35.04% for Oregon and 33.95% for California. I made an Excel spreadsheet once comparing total tax burdens considering income, property and sales taxes for a typical pharmacist's habits in each state and found most states are actually pretty similar and it doesn't really matter if you're in a red or blue state to be honest. The only major difference is if you live in a state that doesn't have state income tax. There was a clear distinction between these states and you can save tons of cash by moving there. And Washington is a blue state. Who knew. Not sure how they pay their bills though.

Yeah. So why do pharmacists in CA get paid way more again?

 

[Hels2007]

Pharmacy pay has not followed the cost of living trends, at least not in the last 20 years. It's been more about how hard they had to work to fill their positions, and that still carries over some to this day. And California is due to unions, I think. They actually close for lunch, who would have thought. New Jersey technically has 30 minute lunch law where you can put up a sign "pharmacist on lunch" and only make yourself available for emergency counseling and such, but in 12 years I have never seen anyone actually do it. Even as every pharmacist signs off on the company policy about having lunches available for all employees (as if!) every year...

 

[Pharmacy is a Scam]

Pharmacy pay has not followed the cost of living trends, at least not in the last 20 years. It's been more about how hard they had to work to fill their positions, and that still carries over some to this day. And California is due to unions, I think. They actually close for lunch, who would have thought. New Jersey technically has 30 minute lunch law where you can put up a sign "pharmacist on lunch" and only make yourself available for emergency counseling and such, but in 12 years I have never seen anyone actually do it. Even as every pharmacist signs off on the company policy about having lunches available for all employees (as if!) every year...

It’s not union, it’s state law.

 

[TranslationalRPh]

Why does CA get paid more due to cost of living? Places like New York, Boston, Washington DC, Seattle, Hawaii etc cost just as much but they don't get close to the hourly rates as CA.

Depending on city, real estate can still be significantly more expensive in some parts of California. A few years ago, I was surprised to see costs of homes (I was looking at multi-families) in San Francisco/San Diego compared to Boston and many parts of DC.

 

[mentos]

Depending on city, real estate can still be significantly more expensive in some parts of California. A few years ago, I was surprised to see costs of homes (I was looking at multi-families) in San Francisco/San Diego compared to Boston and many parts of DC.

Examples? You don't have to pay for heat, snowblower/plowing, firewood, shovels, fall/spring yard cleanups, mosquito spraying etc in CA. Property taxes go up every year in most states unlike in CA where the property taxes are based on the original purchase price. So people who bought in the 60s-90s pay nothing for property tax there.

 

[TranslationalRPh]

Examples? You don't have to pay for heat, snowblower/plowing, firewood, shovels, fall/spring yard cleanups, mosquito spraying etc in CA. Property taxes go up every year in most states unlike in CA where the property taxes are based on the original purchase price. So people who bought in the 60s-90s pay nothing for property tax there.

Like I mentioned, it was a few years ago and limited to housing in specific cities. However, I just ran a quick COL comparison between Boston and San Francisco. It says you need $84,000 in San Francisco to live the same as you could live on $50,000 in Boston, with housing being a big driver of the discrepancy. It's just a crude estimate, but I hope it helps.

2020 Cost of Living Calculator: compare Boston, Massachusetts to San Francisco, California

Best Places to Live | Compare cost of living, crime, cities, schools and more.

www.bestplaces.net

 

[LivingMyBestLife]

Why did you decide to go to pharmacy school if you only wanted to work for $20/hr? You could have just worked as a pharmacy tech

Pharmacist techs only make 11-14 bucks where I live unless you work for like 20+ years. Then it's possible to get $20 an hour.

 

[LivingMyBestLife]

Good - your a pharmacist? Just find a job in a different field...

What fields were you thinking? I'm trying to break into the Youtube creator field where I make and upload videos and hopefully they can get a lot of views and I can get paid a significant amount of money for them.

 

[JustFillIt]

What fields were you thinking? I'm trying to break into the Youtube creator field where I make and upload videos and hopefully they can get a lot of views and I can get paid a significant amount of money for them.

So do you just make a second account and do this for entertainment sake? You really are not that good at making crap up.

I can’t imagine anyone is this dumb.. I understand that there are those that really are this dumb, but I do not believe that someone who has the intellect to pass all of the education involved with pharmacy would be so confused by life to end up saying something this juvenile.

Go shadow Stumpy the Minecraft guy or something.

 

[aznkukuboi]

Like I mentioned, it was a few years ago and limited to housing in specific cities. However, I just ran a quick COL comparison between Boston and San Francisco. It says you need $84,000 in San Francisco to live the same as you could live on $50,000 in Boston, with housing being a big driver of the discrepancy. It's just a crude estimate, but I hope it helps.

2020 Cost of Living Calculator: compare Boston, Massachusetts to San Francisco, California

Best Places to Live | Compare cost of living, crime, cities, schools and more.

www.bestplaces.net

The cost of living in San Fran is getting out of hand. Who the hell pays $1.5 million for a tiny home is crazy! My friend got a 1800 Sq foot for $800k and that was lucky because it was in Oakland. I can't see myself paying those prices since my 2200 Sq foot house costs $310k.

Another reason for wage disparity between states is probably cost of living difference. My friend was making $75/hr here in California but moved out to Texas and his wage dropped tremendously. However, he was able to buy a house similar to mine but even cheaper!