6 months since jobless..i'm an incompetent pharmacist

[depressed pharmacist]

I am not sure where to post this, but since i've gotten many help and mental support from SDN, I am just here to vent out the struggle that I have not been able to tell anyone. I also have lots of my classmates reading this forum, so if my identity or information i give you seems vague, i apologize in advance.

(I just wanted to start off that this thread is not about pharmacist's job market.)

I am a recent grad of 2015, took my boards, and I thought my life was going to be just fine, worry-free.

I got my first job as a pharmacist, but six month later I was fired for incompetency due to mistakes and issues with co-workers. Ever since then I attempted to find a job, but at this point I am not even trying to find a job, I am just living with my family like a parasite.

I got really good evaluations and graduated with a decent GPA. I was a good student at school or at rotation site, but when it comes to working and getting a job....i've been really bad at it. i had about two internships, and they didn't want to hire me.

One thing I don't understand about myself is that i keep making mistakes. additionally, despite of 6 years of pharmacy school, and despite the fact that I passed the board exam with good scores (>100), I am still incompetent and I can't give clinical advice. I feel so incompetent and stupid, and i am afraid to even put that pharmacy as a reference or previous work because I know what they are going to say. I think part of the reason that my job interview was bad was because they didn't give me a good referral. If I don't include my previous work, that means i haven't had a job since I got licensed; no pharmacy is going to hire me or believe me.

Browsing Facebook is the worst thing, because now my colleagues are margin 6 figures or have made their professional progression. I am the one who is standing in the same spot from a year ago. I have no idea how to get out of this endless loop of self-hatred.

If anybody had similar struggles with me please advise me. Thanks for reading this.

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[gwarm01]

If you did well in school and have contacts there maybe try for a residency? Or an academic position?

 

[Rukn]

Where did you work?

Was it a chain that begins with either W or C?

What was the nature of your job?

 

[zelman]

One idea: find a really narrow specialty (like nuclear) and learn as much as you can about it. Then offer to volunteer/work for minimum wage for a while. Maybe working with fewer agents will be easier for you? And tell them you have lots of "passion" for their specialty, so you are willing to do this to get experience.

 

[samven582]

I think it's illegal for your former employer to give you a negative reference. By doing so you can open up a potential lawsuit against them.

 

[PharmtoCS]

Have you looked at jobs in hard-to-staff areas? At this point, I would look just about anywhere even if it's Barrow, Alaska.

 

[ChapmanPharmacy]

I am not sure where to post this, but since i've gotten many help and mental support from SDN, I am just here to vent out the struggle that I have not been able to tell anyone. I also have lots of my classmates reading this forum, so if my identity or information i give you seems vague, i apologize in advance.

(I just wanted to start off that this thread is not about pharmacist's job market.)

I am a recent grad of 2015, took my boards, and I thought my life was going to be just fine, worry-free.

I got my first job as a pharmacist, but six month later I was fired for incompetency due to mistakes and issues with co-workers. Ever since then I attempted to find a job, but at this point I am not even trying to find a job, I am just living with my family like a parasite.

I got really good evaluations and graduated with a decent GPA. I was a good student at school or at rotation site, but when it comes to working and getting a job....i've been really bad at it. i had about two internships, and they didn't want to hire me.

One thing I don't understand about myself is that i keep making mistakes. additionally, despite of 6 years of pharmacy school, and despite the fact that I passed the board exam with good scores (>100), I am still incompetent and I can't give clinical advice. I feel so incompetent and stupid, and i am afraid to even put that pharmacy as a reference or previous work because I know what they are going to say. I think part of the reason that my job interview was bad was because they didn't give me a good referral. If I don't include my previous work, that means i haven't had a job since I got licensed; no pharmacy is going to hire me or believe me.

Browsing Facebook is the worst thing, because now my colleagues are margin 6 figures or have made their professional progression. I am the one who is standing in the same spot from a year ago. I have no idea how to get out of this endless loop of self-hatred.

If anybody had similar struggles with me please advise me. Thanks for reading this.

Sorry to hear about your situation, but all is not lost for you. Fortunately there are a lot of different jobs that hire pharmacists where your pharmacy knowledge is useful, but isn't put to the same tests as in patient care roles. These are jobs like working for the state medicaid agency, or in Pharmacy/Health IT, or an office job for a managed care company.

I wouldn't suggest looking at Nuclear pharmacy unless the incompetency was only related to giving incorrect information. If it was related to not catching errors during the dispensing process, then you will need to figure our why you keep making those errors before going into nuclear since mistakes there are even more detrimental.

The pharmacists I saw that made lots of prescription checking errors, it was mostly due to lack of focus. Their brain wasn't highly engaged during the checking process. Also, if they were interrupted while checking a prescription, they would start back where they thought they left off rather than starting back from the first checking step again. Whenever you are interrupted for any reason when checking a prescription, you should always go back to the first step.

Another technique you could use is one that I learned back when I was practicing. I would have the mental thought that my technicians were purposely letting something come through to me with an error, in hopes that I would miss the error, and then they would bring up the error after I finished my check but before it went to the patient. Just as a way of embarrassing me. Now, none of my techs ever did that, but because I expected an error in every prescription, I was a lot more diligent and mentally focused during the checking process.

And I agree with someone's comment that a prior employer can't give a negative recommendation. However, in the tone of their message future employers can discern whether that was a good employee or not.

And to help you work on your focus, if that is the issue, you can download the quiz-up ap, or any of those brain workout aps. If you find that you are having a tough time keeping your focus during those exercises, then keep working at the exercises until you are better.

Just some thoughts for you

 

[RxPreceptor]

What kind of mistakes? Negative feedback is the quite helpful in learning about errors & thinking of methods to overcome those errors. View negative feedback as motivation for improving one's flaws & becoming better. No one is perfect but one can always strive towards perfection

As far as clinical questions, are you asking things like disease states/conditions, other meds/OTCs/etc. taking, symptom onset, timeframe of symptoms, potential contraindications, etc? Things that are helpful when talking to strangers half the time as well as trying to put yourself in his/her situation to formulate a strategy. Using a drug app or reference is never a bad idea

 

[ChalupaBatman86]

Talk to all the staffing agencies and take anything you can get. Your previous employers won't give any info except the dates you worked there and salary. Unless the hiring managers know each other on a personal basis and talk off the record (often the case with the chain pharmacies). Do you have a sick family member? Have you done anything to help them in the last few months? If yes, that's your story to explain resume gaps and it's true.

When you do get that temp job you need to work your ass off, be very positive about the company, and make friends with everybody there. If you can work extra hours off the clock, do it. 10-12 hours per day if you are scheduled for 8. Never stop talking about how great the company and how much you love it there. Bring food a couple times per week. Work carefully and don't make mistakes, even McDonald's workers can mostly get your order right.

 

[BMBiology]

Why are you making these mistakes? Is it because you don't know the medications well enough? You don't know what is important and what is not so important?

This is actually a common deficiency with new grads. While they are in pharmacy school, they are taught how to be a "clinical" pharmacist but they are not taught how to be a real working pharmacist. In short, a lot of the things you learned in school are not practical. If this is the problem, you need to be rewired and have an experienced pharmacist trained you. Is there someone who can go over a step by step process with you on how to verify RX and counsel?


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[depressed pharmacist]

wow, I really appreciate all your comments. They are all valuable to me.

The reason I make mistakes and am incompetent are all listed by you guys. Putting a priority is difficult for me, making me less efficient. I wouldn't say workload or script size was too bad, but i should have taken my work more seriously and made sure i double and triple check.

Mistakes i made were things like doctor's orders. say doc writes for 1/2 tabs three times a day #90, that's 60 days supply but i would overlook and make mistakes. I didn't catch tech's mistakes on my end. I also felt like i had lack of drug info. Yeah, I am very incompetent. I am a total package that way.

I don't want to blame someone, but I guess part of the reason my mind was so scattered during work was because of work environment.

The pharmacy i worked, things got really personal, over-exagerrated, and dramatized. On day 1 of working there was no training or whatsoever by the pharmacist or manager. techs were busy doing "other stuff" so i had to put in the order, fill it, and dispense it. Most of the mistakes came from there, actually. (i am aware, however, even if i do them all by myself, i shouldn't make any mistakes as a pharmacist.) Techs were doing counseling and doing PMRs, assessing health status, and it went a little overboard. I complained to the manager couple times but it only made it worse; at the end i gave the manager an impression that i had social issues and impaired working ability.

I became lesser and lesser while working, and texts or call after work really made me nervous because they were asking me to do chores or inquiring me about mistakes.

i really appreciate you guys' advice. It really enlightened me. Even McDonalds workers with a minimum wage (i'm not talking down about them) can get their orders right, and for working in an area where patients depend on your knowledge for their life, my mistakes are unacceptable. I had been afraid of being criticized or looking incompetent, so i had been hiding from the world.

Starting from tomorrow i want to call a few places where i can ask if i could volunteer, so that i can get my feet wet. I am dead afraid to make another mistakes, i am not even sure if i could do it tomorrow since my self-esteem has dropped so bad.

If you want to give me more advice please comment me. I am open to any.

 

[rph3664]

It sounds like this was a very unpleasant place to work, and if you're applying for a job locally (i.e. within a 50-mile radius), employers will know this, or should anyway.

 

[gwarm01]

Pharmacy/Health IT

Did you seriously suggest the OP seek a job in a PGY2 specialty area when they have no relevant experience or knowledge of inpatient workflow? Where do you suggest they find a job in this field considering their background? Perhaps you should hire them as professor of clinical informatics at your new school.

 

[RxPreceptor]

It's 1 thing if the technicians are simply informing patients where a particular item is located, but counseling on meds should be out of the question (unless interning/pharmacy student). They need to redirect counseling to the pharmacist. Always employ the readback method with prescribers for verbal Rx clarifications.

 

[lord999]

I think it's illegal for your former employer to give you a negative reference. By doing so you can open up a potential lawsuit against them.

Not illegal, just not necessarily the easiest way to handle business. When I was direct oversight, I gave negative references if the cause for termination required board notification (which it almost always does due to the way it takes to fire someone from the civil service). All I did was refer them to Board Complaint #123456 and say that my negative recommendation is based on that. Now for issues that don't rise to the board (only happened once and it was during a probationary period), the boilerplate answer is that "This employee and this hospital just did not have a great working relationship. I would not hire this person again."

About the OP's situation. First, you're not alone, and it's not the first time the situation occurred. There are plenty of hellacious situations out there, and sometimes it was not a good fit. Many in the community actually consider someone who quit certain hospitals in AZ to be better people (for a long time, the Phoenix VA had that reputation under a particularly horrible Chief). The previous AZ Board of Pharmacy Executive Director was always considered a nice guy by everyone he worked with in western Phoenix, but a memorably inept hospital pharmacist who did much better work as a surveyor and genuinely respected as an Executive Director than he ever did in practice (and the reason I'm naming him is that there was a public and endless series of anecdotal jokes at his expense at AzSHP that make the rounds of why he was in that position). The man who made CA Pharmacy for what it is today was the CAPhA Director who while a intern, was taken aside by his Michigan colleagues and said that he ought to find a different line of work, and his family were UAW organizers.

One thing I don't understand about myself is that i keep making mistakes. additionally, despite of 6 years of pharmacy school, and despite the fact that I passed the board exam with good scores (>100), I am still incompetent and I can't give clinical advice. I feel so incompetent and stupid, and i am afraid to even put that pharmacy as a reference or previous work because I know what they are going to say. I think part of the reason that my job interview was bad was because they didn't give me a good referral. If I don't include my previous work, that means i haven't had a job since I got licensed; no pharmacy is going to hire me or believe me.

Same advice as Chapman, why are the mistakes that way (to you, don't have to respond to the board)? If it's just location, then you might need to move if you're not getting any bites in the current area and move to a new area to do this job. If it is a characteristic lack of concentration, the normal practices in pharmacy (even informatics) is probably not your area. Teaching may work, but to my fellow academicians, the funding (we're way past publishing now) or perish culture has it's own stresses if you're not prepared to go for it. I'd second the anti-nuclear recommendation, as a BCNP, that's really not where I'd want someone with an RSO qual and not concentrating as cleaning up those messes are a huge amount of paperwork. I would recommend industrial pharmacy, but I doubt you have the background unless you went to Rutgers (preferred), Rhode Island (especially preferred for cosmetics), Michigan, or Purdue to enter at the ground level outside marketing.

If it is an English communication issue, you should consider joining the civil service as a regulatory officer (0660 Pharmacist) for FDA/CPSC (I'm not joking). You'll get a chance to improve on those skills in a non-threatening environment that doesn't require much focus but it does include endless writing. Just though be able to accept a $80-$100k for the first decade of your career with them. You'd probably have to move multiple times for your career, but it's a good job that unconventional and necessary. You'll also work on your DI knowledge as what crosses the desk will keep you up to date.

 

[Humble Sloth]

I am not sure where to post this, but since i've gotten many help and mental support from SDN, I am just here to vent out the struggle that I have not been able to tell anyone. I also have lots of my classmates reading this forum, so if my identity or information i give you seems vague, i apologize in advance.

(I just wanted to start off that this thread is not about pharmacist's job market.)

I am a recent grad of 2015, took my boards, and I thought my life was going to be just fine, worry-free.

I got my first job as a pharmacist, but six month later I was fired for incompetency due to mistakes and issues with co-workers. Ever since then I attempted to find a job, but at this point I am not even trying to find a job, I am just living with my family like a parasite.

I got really good evaluations and graduated with a decent GPA. I was a good student at school or at rotation site, but when it comes to working and getting a job....i've been really bad at it. i had about two internships, and they didn't want to hire me.

One thing I don't understand about myself is that i keep making mistakes. additionally, despite of 6 years of pharmacy school, and despite the fact that I passed the board exam with good scores (>100), I am still incompetent and I can't give clinical advice. I feel so incompetent and stupid, and i am afraid to even put that pharmacy as a reference or previous work because I know what they are going to say. I think part of the reason that my job interview was bad was because they didn't give me a good referral. If I don't include my previous work, that means i haven't had a job since I got licensed; no pharmacy is going to hire me or believe me.

Browsing Facebook is the worst thing, because now my colleagues are margin 6 figures or have made their professional progression. I am the one who is standing in the same spot from a year ago. I have no idea how to get out of this endless loop of self-hatred.

If anybody had similar struggles with me please advise me. Thanks for reading this.

A six month gap in your resume is a huge red flag for any white collar profession and screams that you have significant mental issues and are a huge risk to bring on board. Maybe you can lie and come up with an excuse to normalize the gap or something. You signed up for this ride. Worry free and pharmacy career should be terms that never go in the same sentence. You need to get a job fast, even if it means moving out to rural Nevada or working in a poverty stricken cesspool in Youngstown, OH. The larger the gap in employment the harder it will be to secure a job. Hiring managers will think "why have others passed on hiring this person. They must be defective" also the job market is about to get a lot worse in the next five years. Using your own words, why would an employer want to hiring an incompetent pharmacist that has severe social disabilities. Pharmacy school and boards is the easy part of this occupation. The hard part is buying your own independent and being profitable.

Though sounds like pharmacy was a poor choice. Go into nursing.

 

[Humble Sloth]

I think it's illegal for your former employer to give you a negative reference. By doing so you can open up a potential lawsuit against them.

I don't think it's illegal but de facto no one serious does it because of the reason you gave. They can still say "i have nothing to say" if you were really bad which is the same thing as negative feedback.

 

[ldiot]

You had no respect from your technicians; it sounds like they were running the show. I can understand how this could happen considering you were both a new pharmacist and new to the company. You need to set the standards from day one and hold their respect. This doesn't mean you can't be friendly and talk about what you did last weekend for fun, but if you ask your technician to get the cash register or put away some drugs they are paid to do what you tell them. That is their job, you are in charge. It sounds like they were walking all over you and after allowing this to happen for 6 months it is very hard to reverse.

You won't learn every OTC product on the shelf in pharmacy school. You will, however, learn with experience and you should have the knowledge to find information if you are unsure of something. No pharmacist knows everything the day they walk out of school, you need to have confidence in yourself and your ability.

As far as the errors I think the other posters have offered valueable insight. Whether or not you should include your previous employment in an application I am unsure (if you do I would say that I quit due to conflicting values between myself and staff/management), but you need to have your application sitting on the desk of every pharmacy within a 30 mile radius. Be aggressive and make your own opportunities. Call and follow up on applications. Talk your your classmates and see what positions may be open. Be proactive and it will pay off.

 

[Apotheker2015]

wow, I really appreciate all your comments. They are all valuable to me.

The reason I make mistakes and am incompetent are all listed by you guys. Putting a priority is difficult for me, making me less efficient. I wouldn't say workload or script size was too bad, but i should have taken my work more seriously and made sure i double and triple check.

Mistakes i made were things like doctor's orders. say doc writes for 1/2 tabs three times a day #90, that's 60 days supply but i would overlook and make mistakes. I didn't catch tech's mistakes on my end. I also felt like i had lack of drug info. Yeah, I am very incompetent. I am a total package that way.

I don't want to blame someone, but I guess part of the reason my mind was so scattered during work was because of work environment. I don't want to blame it as a whole again, because what i mentioned up there as my mistake is unacceptable as a pharmacist, but I learned the hard way that i could survive with nasty patients / customers, but i could not survive with nasty coworkers. i could literally write a book about "How to abuse a pharmacist until he wants to kill himself."

The pharmacy i worked, things got really personal, over-exagerrated, and dramatized. On day 1 of working i was the only pharmacist. No training or whatsoever by the pharmacist or manager, the techs gave me a general overview of how to use the system and that was about it. i guess it would have been fine with experienced pharmacists, but i felt like i needed more training. sometimes techs were busy doing "other stuff" so i had to put in the order, fill it, and dispense it. Most of the mistakes came from there, actually. (i am aware, however, even if i do them all by myself, i shouldn't make any mistakes as a pharmacist.) Techs were doing counseling and doing PMRs, assessing health status, and it went a little overboard, and every time when i tried to counsel a patient techs would interrupt me. i told them nicely that they could leave that job up to me, but they took it offensively. They were doing lots of stuffs under the table that i refused to do it. Things that I should have focused on such as clinical stuff, checking prescription, were scattered by small chores. One time i was really busy and i asked one of the technicians to do chores that they always asked me to do, and i offended them as a whole. (it was originally their job..i was nice enough to volunteer for it in the beginning) I complained to the manager couple times but it only made it worse; at the end i gave the manager an impression that i had social issues and impaired working ability. There was a delivery man coming twice a day, but it was common that people call late in the evening for their meds. With that reason I had to deliver meds to patients that took nearly 1 and a half hour drive back and forth every single day since working and i was not compensated by it. when i refused to do deliveries due to prior plans, i was criticized really bad and i had to sign a warning letter. Ironically i never had to sign it for my clinical mistakes, but for not doing small chores or not taking technician's advice (????). One time i had to do several deliveries and by the time i came home it was nearly 11. They played with my hourly wage and dropped it because they thought i was too insufficient that i was worth getting paid as an intern. i told the manager i wanted to quit, but the manager notified me later by text messages that i didn't have to come starting from that monday since i kept making mistakes. So instead of me quitting, they made it as if i was fired. well, either way. now i felt like the problem was not about me making mistakes but me not being able to adapt to working environment...

I became lesser and lesser while working, and texts or call after work really made me nervous because they were asking me to do chores or inquiring me about mistakes.

i admit that i had not been a good pharmacist, because if i was, the place i worked as an intern would have hired me. i really appreciate you guys' advice. It really enlightened me. Even McDonalds workers with a minimum wage (i'm not talking down about them) can get their orders right, and for working in an area where patients depend on your knowledge for their life, my mistakes are unacceptable. I had been afraid of being criticized or looking incompetent, so i had been hiding from the world.

Starting from tomorrow i want to call a few places where i can ask if i could volunteer, so that i can get my feet wet. I am dead afraid to make another mistakes, i am not even sure if i could do it tomorrow since my self-esteem has dropped so bad.

If you want to give me more advice please comment me. I am open to any.

Were you working at an independent pharmacy? It almost sounds like it. No chain would allow technicians to counsel patients and do PMRs. While you may face unique challenges focusing and prioritizing tasks, it sounds like the safety checkpoints that most chains have were missing. That's why I am thinking you might have been at an independent pharmacy.

Telling yourself you are incompetent is very negative. You have to stop that right now. You made mistakes under less than favorable circumstances and the company offered no remedial training or support or coaching. I would for sure recommend seeing a therapist/coach that is familiar with our field. You are going to have to dig deep to find confidence in your abilities again. A therapist/coach will help you find tools to cope and keep you focused. ADD/ADHD formal testing may be overdue for you. If there is a clinical issue that impairs your ability to practice pharmacy safely, then it must be addressed. Should you have serious ADD/ADHD or any other issue, it would be very irresponsible of you to wait until a patient is harmed. Sure, you made mistakes. However, it does not sound like you were under the influence of illicit drugs, controlled substances or that you were intentionally careless. Most importantly, it does not sound like any patients were harmed in any way. Ultimately, that is one of the reasons why you did not face any disciplinary actions from the board of pharmacy and why you do not have any restrictions on your license. *Unless you do and you are not telling us that?

Keep your head up high and try your best to stay positive. Sit in front of your resume and work through explaining any gaps there may be. I am suggesting you find a more user friendly way to state why you left each job. You may have to focus on targeting opportunities in less than desirable areas or rural areas, floating positions, overnight positions, etc. Regardless, you want to make sure that the company has an established process with plenty of safety checkpoints. You have to be ready to ask those questions on job interviews. Remember, just like the company is interviewing you, you are also interviewing the company.

I hope I've said something that you find helpful. Again, keep your head up high. You passed your boards, no one has been harmed and you have an unrestricted license to practice pharmacy.

Best of luck!

Apotheker2015

 

[radio frequency]

Were you working at an independent pharmacy? It almost sounds like it. No chain would allow technicians to counsel patients and do PMRs. While you may face unique challenges focusing and prioritizing tasks, it sounds like the safety checkpoints that most chains have were missing. That's why I am thinking you might have been at an independent pharmacy.

Telling yourself you are incompetent is very negative. You have to stop that right now. You made mistakes under less than favorable circumstances and the company offered no remedial training or support or coaching. I would for sure recommend seeing a therapist/coach that is familiar with our field. You are going to have to dig deep to find confidence in your abilities again. A therapist/coach will help you find tools to cope and keep you focused. ADD/ADHD formal testing may be overdue for you. If there is a clinical issue that impairs your ability to practice pharmacy safely, then it must be addressed. Should you have serious ADD/ADHD or any other issue, it would be very irresponsible of you to wait until a patient is harmed. Sure, you made mistakes. However, it does not sound like you were under the influence of illicit drugs, controlled substances or that you were intentionally careless. Most importantly, it does not sound like any patients were harmed in any way. Ultimately, that is one of the reasons why you did not face any disciplinary actions from the board of pharmacy and why you do not have any restrictions on your license. *Unless you do and you are not telling us that?

Keep your head up high and try your best to stay positive. Sit in front of your resume and work through explaining any gaps there may be. I am suggesting you find a more user friendly way to state why you left each job. You may have to focus on targeting opportunities in less than desirable areas or rural areas, floating positions, overnight positions, etc. Regardless, you want to make sure that the company has an established process with plenty of safety checkpoints. You have to be ready to ask those questions on job interviews. Remember, just like the company is interviewing you, you are also interviewing the company.

I hope I've said something that you find helpful. Again, keep your head up high. You passed your boards, no one has been harmed and you have an unrestricted license to practice pharmacy.

Best of luck!

Apotheker2015

Ditto to everything said above. You sound like a bad situation and maybe some other issues kept you from doing your best job. Yes, 6 months of unemployment is a red flag, but this isn't the end of the world. Stop the negative self talk as it will only make this worse. Figure out what the issue was, fix it with a different work location and/or personal reflection and a plan. Apply somewhere new as a rock star. You've got this.

 

[depressed pharmacist]

hey guys,

thanks again for the posts.

Many of you suggested finding a career that doesn't involve a stressful environment or a place other than a typical pharmacy where I can utilize my knowledge. While I am very happy that there are options out ther that I didn't know (including career change), it's also frustrating since I just never thought working in a pharmacy wouldn't be my fit. if I knew I would have tried to find a way out of it or tried my best to fix the issue while I was in school.

I also admit that there are issues within me, whether it is adhd or natural carelessness. Working environment is secondary although I complained (I just had to vent it out...), because I'm the one who's responsible for everything happening in the pharmacy. I've lost so much self confidence I'm not surprised if a psychiatrist tells me to take antidepressants, but i will try to keep my heads up and not settle.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

 

[Sine Cura]

The more time passes, the less likely it is that you will be hired. It's harder for unemployed people to find jobs. Also it really does sound like you worked at some ****ty independent. For all the bad **** about chains, at least there is a minimum level of structure and basic expectations even with some mediocre RXM.

Apply for licenses in multiple states, hit up staffing agencies, cold call chain pharmacies to get contact info for hiring managers, be willing to move anywhere. I say this as someone who has been unemployed for almost 12 months (graduated 2013). Yes, unemployment sucks but you won't get anywhere moping around and doing jack. If you have legitimate medical issues, they need to be addressed in the meantime. You only need one sucker or desperate hiring manager to hire you.

Not making mistakes or ferretting out mistakes in data entry is to be seen as a skill to develop as it's a core function of a dispensing pharmacist... to survive in retail, you have to learn from your mistakes and move on, not just shrug it off because you claim to have ADHD or some ****. Even day-supply mistakes are not trivial because if there's a refill and the patient comes back you have to fix that **** and it wastes time.

 

[BidingMyTime]

I think it's illegal for your former employer to give you a negative reference. By doing so you can open up a potential lawsuit against them.

It is not at all illegal (ever hear of the 1st amendment?) It is illegal for a former employer to say *falsehoods*, but if the negative statements are factually based, then its completely legal to say them. Of course, most employers are not going to say anything that could at all be subjective, because of the risk of a lawsuit.

The reason I make mistakes and am incompetent are all listed by you guys.

I realize your self-esteem is probably pretty low right now, but exaggerating the situation won't help. You are having problems in certain areas, and you need to figure out ways to improve your perfomance in those areas.

Putting a priority is difficult for me, making me less efficient. I wouldn't say workload or script size was too bad, but i should have taken my work more seriously and made sure i double and triple check.

eone, but I guess part of the reason my mind was so scattered during work was because of work environment.

I complained to the manager couple times but it only made it worse; at the end i gave the manager an impression that i had social issues and impaired working ability.

Never, never, never complain at a new job. Most likely, because you are new, you don't understand everything that is happening, and yes, in many cases this will permanently mark you as being unable to work well with others. Whatever the situation, even if illegal, know your manager has been tolerating this situation long before you took the job, and your complaints will not do anything to change the situation. If illegal things are going on, then you are better off quitting (which is what you will have to do anyway, or get fired.....because complaining will do nothing for the situation.)

i really appreciate you guys' advice. It really enlightened me. Even McDonalds workers with a minimum wage (i'm not talking down about them) can get their orders right

No, they don't. They mess up orders all the time, from my experience, at a higher rate than pharmacies. And ALL humans make mistakes, expecting perfection from yourself is setting yourself up for failure. You need to be realistic and figure out ways to minimize the chances of making mistakes, not expecting perfection.

Starting from tomorrow i want to call a few places where i can ask if i could volunteer, so that i can get my feet wet. I am dead afraid to make another mistakes, i am not even sure if i could do it tomorrow since my self-esteem has dropped so bad.

Perhaps getting some counseling would help. You probably need to focus on your self-esteem issues, before you will be able to have a good job experience. That said, you definitely need to do something immediately.....the longer you go without a job, the less likely you will be to get another job.

 

[knight on horse]

I would recommend industrial pharmacy, but I doubt you have the background unless you went to Rutgers (preferred), Rhode Island (especially preferred for cosmetics), Michigan, or Purdue to enter at the ground level outside marketing.

Fascinating post, a patient back in the day in the industry claimed that schooling doesn't matter when he was talking it up; technically true. I should contact him directly. What might be a way to get into industry?

If it is an English communication issue, you should consider joining the civil service as a regulatory officer (0660 Pharmacist) for FDA/CPSC (I'm not joking). You'll get a chance to improve on those skills in a non-threatening environment that doesn't require much focus but it does include endless writing. Just though be able to accept a $80-$100k for the first decade of your career with them. You'd probably have to move multiple times for your career, but it's a good job that unconventional and necessary. You'll also work on your DI knowledge as what crosses the desk will keep you up to date.

Sounds like an easy job. Would you happen know how they keep track of employee hours. If it's work at own pace and get it done by deadline it could be amazing

 

[knight on horse]

hey guys,
thanks again for the posts.

Before anything else, make sure of your health. Get more sleep, exercise, and get off of unusual diets.

Sleep is extraordinarily important to regenerating the frontal lobe functions that are necessary for pharmacy (as well as hormonal status). Even if significant brilliance is not called for, the working memory is loaded and there is constant interruption as I'm sure you've noticed.

Exercise will improve circulation and testosterone as well as neurogenesis.

Unusual diets can play havoc. Just in case, go over what you are typically eating, and what you are supplementing.

Too much fish means mercury, too much soy may or may not increase estrogen, perhaps depending on the person, very bad for a man. Too much magnesium can cause depression, too much licorice and mint can lower testosterone, too much melatonin will suppress hormonal production and affect neurotransmitter balance, too much of sedating antihistamines contribute to dementia, etc. Too much fish oil and NSAIDs will result in cerebral microhemorrhages. Check your vitamin intake

 

[rphamalex]

Why don't you just relocate to a hard to staff area and say the reason you have a gap is because you were in the process of relocating/getting licensed? That's what I did. I admit I struggled A LOT in the beginning because it was all so new and overwhelming, but I asked for help and took my time. Maybe it's the market that I am in where they need me more than I need them so they were willing to work with me..?

 

[rph3664]

If you can work extra hours off the clock, do it. 10-12 hours per day if you are scheduled for 8.

Are you aware that it is illegal to work off the clock? Employers can get in some big trouble for doing this, and an employee who has a worker's comp claim while off the clock is stuck.

 

[ChalupaBatman86]

Are you aware that it is illegal to work off the clock? Employers can get in some big trouble for doing this, and an employee who has a worker's comp claim while off the clock is stuck.

Go play, the adults are having a conversation.

 

[zelman]

Are you aware that it is illegal to work off the clock? Employers can get in some big trouble for doing this, and an employee who has a worker's comp claim while off the clock is stuck.

There is no clock outside of California.

 

[gilga]

Mistakes i made were things like doctor's orders. say doc writes for 1/2 tabs three times a day #90, that's 60 days supply but i would overlook and make mistakes. I didn't catch tech's mistakes on my end. I also felt like i had lack of drug info. Yeah, I am very incompetent. I am a total package that way.

Did you really get terminated for incompetency just for verifying some prescriptions with incorrect days supply? I hate to be that guy but that seems unlikely. Were there any other specific reasons given for your termination?

 

[farmadiazepine]

Work on being happy with who you are first. The rest will fall into place.

 

[Rukn]

Did you really get terminated for incompetency just for verifying some prescriptions with incorrect days supply? I hate to be that guy but that seems unlikely. Were there any other specific reasons given for your termination?

nobody cares about days supply except for expensive ****


insurance don't care about days supply on amlodipine

 

[sils2014]

You are just being too harsh on yourself.I was not there to see what happened, But it looks like someone or the system has battered your self confidence down.If it was a retail pharmacy that you were working in,it could get pretty tough especially for someone new .This has nothing to do with incompetence.It has more to do with training and how much time were you given to adapt yourself.Also in a dog eat dog world of intense competition and insecurities ,the last thing you should do is let yourself down.I am hoping you find your calling based on your internship experiences and if retail is still your calling as a Pharmacist,May u find a place where you are happy and cherished.

 

[Lnsean]

nobody cares about days supply except for expensive ****


insurance don't care about days supply on amlodipine

if it's a mistake on day supply...yes no one cares...but if you intentionally fudge day supply to lower copays for people then that's fraud. I've seen a couple of pharmacist do this for their "favorite" patients and it's appalling. Just a no no in my book.

 

[gwarm01]

You are just being too harsh on yourself.I was not there to see what happened, But it looks like someone or the system has battered your self confidence down.If it was a retail pharmacy that you were working in,it could get pretty tough especially for someone new .This has nothing to do with incompetence.It has more to do with training and how much time were you given to adapt yourself.Also in a dog eat dog world of intense competition and insecurities ,the last thing you should do is let yourself down.I am hoping you find your calling based on your internship experiences and if retail is still your calling as a Pharmacist,May u find a place where you are happy and cherished.

Poor training is the bane of every new pharmacist. I don't care if you're retail, clinical, have a residency or not. Starting that first job will be a challenge and it won't be easy without adequate training. Pharmacy school doesn't teach you real pharmacy practice. Even in the clinical setting, residency is very broad and you won't be ready for the day to day without some solid instruction. Try not to let it get you down. Do whatever it takes to get that next position, even if you have to move to the opposite side of the country. This is your professional future and your life. A few years away from friends and family is a small sacrifice if it leads to success.

 

[sosoo]

the only strategy i can come up with to help you exit that rat hole you're in right now is to go out of the country. go to a third world country. you can shadow or find employment for cheap salary for a period of time, then come back to america and be great again. tell employers you've been out of the country to learn expand your knowledge/experience.

 

[lord999]

Fascinating post, a patient back in the day in the industry claimed that schooling doesn't matter when he was talking it up; technically true. I should contact him directly. What might be a way to get into industry?


Sounds like an easy job. Would you happen know how they keep track of employee hours. If it's work at own pace and get it done by deadline it could be amazing

If you are already a practicing pharmacist (and it doesn't matter where and just some possibilities):

1. In almost all normal cities > 60000, there's probably a clinical trials unit in the city. It's a nice starting gig, it pays ok (probably about 80-90% of high retail), and it eases you back into the habit of writing and learning.
2. If you are a graduate at one of the above schools (Rutgers and Purdue in particular), basically figure out what alumni work in the company and network in. Rutgers is especially strong in cross-recruiting into non-marketing industry.
3. If you live in a CMS Regional City, MD, or northern VA, consider working for the civil service. Pay is low, but having spent the rotations at Woodlawn and HHH (CMS), Rockville (AHRQ), and VA (because I wanted to leave the District), it's quite the revolving door and the government depending on the particular environment is really lenient about reporting. If my health would allow (can't stand smoking), I would have kept my GS-14 Consumer Safety Officer in FDA's Office of International Programs office and tooled around in Japan and China on the government's dime for the rest of my career (the amount of smoking cut that short for me though).
4. Write a couple of drug reviews for a trade publication. They'll find you.

I'm a civilian employee, so it's a hit or miss prospect about worker quality (you can get extremely good or extremely bad people). The Commissioned Corps tends to have better people overall but don't have the same lows and highs. But, most of us civil service will take the revolving door when it suits us; it's actively encouraged in CMS and FDA.

 

[wagrxm2000]

I'm sorry but these can't find work threads should have the same answer everytime.

You walk up to a Walgreens or cvs and tell them you will work anywhere and I guarantee you they will put you in an extremely hard to staff store in the middle of no where. If you aren't willing to that then you will continue to be unemployed. Prove you can do the job and over time they may move you.

You ever notice the OPs never say they have tried that?

 

[zelman]

I'm sorry but these can't find work threads should have the same answer everytime.

You walk up to a Walgreens or cvs and tell them you will work anywhere and I guarantee you they will put you in an extremely hard to staff store in the middle of no where. If you aren't willing to that then you will continue to be unemployed. Prove you can do the job and over time they may move you.

You ever notice the OPs never say they have tried that?

People in store don't hire pharmacists and don't care about staffing a store that isn't theirs.

 

[wagrxm2000]

People in store don't hire pharmacists and don't care about staffing a store that isn't theirs.

I meant talking to the dm.

Side note, there have been store managers that were allowed to have interviews for the staff position.

 

[Lnsean]

I'm sorry but these can't find work threads should have the same answer everytime.

You walk up to a Walgreens or cvs and tell them you will work anywhere and I guarantee you they will put you in an extremely hard to staff store in the middle of no where. If you aren't willing to that then you will continue to be unemployed. Prove you can do the job and over time they may move you.

You ever notice the OPs never say they have tried that?

this isn't 2002...no one does that anymore and if you walked up to my store, I wouldn't give two shts about you. I'll tell you to go online or email the dm. people working in the store have no interest in staffing other stores or time worrying about that.

 

[wagrxm2000]

this isn't 2002...no one does that anymore and if you walked up to my store, I wouldn't give two shts about you. I'll tell you to go online or email the dm. people working in the store have no interest in staffing other stores or time worrying about that.

Wow talk about completely misunderstanding my post, talk to the dm not the stores.

I do find it interesting that if a pharmacist walked up to you, you would tell them to f-off. That's just sad.

 

[Dred Pirate]

if it's a mistake on day supply...yes no one cares...but if you intentionally fudge day supply to lower copays for people then that's fraud. I've seen a couple of pharmacist do this for their "favorite" patients and it's appalling. Just a no no in my book.

I knew a local doc (when I was a tech, not even started pharm school)- that would do this for his dad - write toprol xl tid and then told him to take it daily - my RPh was buddies with the Doc, and would fill it for a 30 day supply. Seriously your a doctor, if you are trying to save your dad money - give him samples or just pay for it yourself???

 

[Lnsean]

Wow talk about completely misunderstanding my post, talk to the dm not the stores.

I do find it interesting that if a pharmacist walked up to you, you would tell them to f-off. That's just sad.

You misunderstood my post also. I would not tell you to fuk off. I would just simply nod at whatever you had to say and then carry on with my job.

 

[wagrxm2000]

You misunderstood my post also. I would not tell you to fuk off. I would just simply nod at whatever you had to say and then carry on with my job.

Might want to read what you put then by ignoring the person you are essentially telling him to f-off. It wouldn't kill you to talk to a pharmacist in need.

 

[Lnsean]

Might want to read what you put then by ignoring the person you are essentially telling him to f-off. It wouldn't kill you to talk to a pharmacist in need.

huh? that's your interpretation. that's not what I wrote. so please stop putting words in my mouth.

 

[Deja]

nobody cares about days supply except for expensive ****


insurance don't care about days supply on amlodipine

I would hate working with you and the ppl who liked this ridiculous post.

would be less of a problem if you put less day supply than what it was supposed to be, but I can just imagine all the **** I have to fix if someone comes in and it's refill too soon, all b/c you think no one cares

don't even get me started on random audits, esp if this is a reoccurring problem

 

[PharmDBro2017]

Whatever you do, don't lie on your resume/CV about your job gap like some idiots above have mentioned. I agree it will be tough to find a job with a time gap, but ffs you shouldn't lie about it on a resume... that is a sure way to not get the job when you get interviewed and questioned on it, and they analyze you stumbling over your words.

 

[Lnsean]

Whatever you do, don't lie on your resume/CV about your job gap like some idiots above have mentioned. I agree it will be tough to find a job with a time gap, but ffs you shouldn't lie about it on a resume... that is a sure way to not get the job when you get interviewed and questioned on it, and they analyze you stumbling over your words.

what's the worst that can happen? so he won't get the job. Don't blatantly lie about things yes...but if there is a gap...he could stretch the reasoning a bit by saying he took off for family reasons. It's cut-throat out there...do what you have to in order to land the job.

I think this thread is best left to actual practitioners looking for jobs rather than pharmacy students commenting on their experience applying for internships and whatever gig is out there during the summer. When you have student loans payment due, mortgages, and other life obligations then come back and comment on whether lying about your gap is worth it to land the job. Applying as a student is not even on the same level. Oh, you didn't get that summer job? Better make plans to travel with the girlfriend then.

 

[PharmDBro2017]

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