A message I got from a recruiter in Southern California

[blueclassring]

Dear XXX,

Thank you for your interest in working with XXX. Unfortunately, we are not adding new pharmacists at this time. This current market is unlike any that we have seen in the past 18 years since XXX has been in business. Although the demand for relief pharmacists remains strong, we have seen a dramatic increase in the availability of pharmacists to work on a relief basis. At this time, all of our available shifts are being taken by our current base of registered pharmacists and we are committed to providing them with the work that they have come to expect from XXX.

As you can imagine, this is a very fluid situation and the market is constantly changing. As the need arises, I will be back in contact with you in hopes that you will consider working with us in the future.

If you would like to discuss opportunities in greater detail, please don’t hesitate to contact me by phone at the number listed below.

Best regards,

XXX

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Members don't see this ad.

 

[BrightLight]

At least that guy cared to reply to your job request. When I sent my job inquiry to CVS district supervisors, no one returned a single word.

 

[Its Z]

that guy is wrong.. market was almost similar in 1995...which was 16 years ago. Not 18.

 

[blueclassring]

Yes, it was professional of the rep to get back to me. What a time to be looking for a job!

 

[blueclassring]

Enlighten us ItZ. What did most of the your colleagues do in that situation? Sit it out, go back to school, change careers???

 

[Its Z]

Enlighten us ItZ. What did most of the your colleagues do in that situation? Sit it out, go back to school, change careers???

Graduating class of 150+ I think about 50 of us went to residency.. Savon took 13 of us.. Walmart took 3... Longs turned me down and Walmart never called me. Savon said no room for me.

I interned 4 years at a Ped hospital...and I turned down their non-acred residency. I moved out of state to take over a non pharmacy related family business. While there, I begged the hospital manager to hire me. He hired me because PharmD was a novelty back then.

The rest is history.

My classmates eventually all found a job...but 15% of them didn't pass the CA board that year... that's when Ca actually had a pretty hard board exam.


1996...the floodgate of retail opened up with expanding Wags and CVS.

 

[spacecowgirl]

Time to start mandatory BS/BA for admission. That will cause an artificial shortage like the mandatory PharmD did

 

[Sparda29]

Time to start mandatory BS/BA for admission. That will cause an artificial shortage like the mandatory PharmD did

Touro CA and NY already do this.

 

[297point1]

Time to start mandatory BS/BA for admission. That will cause an artificial shortage like the mandatory PharmD did

Baby steps, my friend...it would go to three years of pre-pharmacy first- something that ~15 schools already require.

 

[p-rog]

Touro CA and NY already do this.

OSU requires a BS degree too

 

[confettiflyer]

OSU requires a BS degree too

i think it's gonna be a de facto requirement (if it isn't already), not having a BS/BA puts you behind in the admissions race.

Med schools don't require BS/BA degrees, they seem to be doing fine (didn't we discuss this before?)

 

[blueclassring]

Market forces are going to cause pharmacy schools to close down but unfortunately not in the near future. Pharmacy schools will continue to profit from the highly prized, overvalued degrees(Overvalued in the sense that tuition is very high and costly to repay.) they are handing out. One would hope our profession doesn't turn into a multitude of underpaid, overeducated individuals like lawyers.

On the other hand, our pharmacy schools can become the new "Universities of Phoenix" where a promising future with a handsome salary is guaranteed by admission committees, school counselors, other students, or whatever expert they decide to hire. Then the grim reality hits that huge student debt must be paid off with a lack of job prospects.

 

[steveysmith54]

Market forces are going to cause pharmacy schools to close down but unfortunately not in the near future. Pharmacy schools will continue to profit from the highly prized, overvalued degrees(Overvalued in the sense that tuition is very high and costly to repay.) they are handing out. One would hope our profession doesn't turn into a multitude of underpaid, overeducated individuals like lawyers.

On the other hand, our pharmacy schools can become the new "Universities of Phoenix" where a promising future with a handsome salary is guaranteed by admission committees, school counselors, other students, or whatever expert they decide to hire. Then the grim reality hits that huge student debt must be paid off with a lack of job prospects.

Most school still receive 10+ applicants for each spot, in CA it's more than 15+. Hell even the new schools receive a ton of apps.

Problem is most prepharm students still have no idea about the saturation and over flood of pharmacist and still believe they will be making 100K easy when they graduate. Hell, even half of my pharm class still think that way. When the applicant pool is so high, no way that any schools will be closing any time soon.

 

[owlegrad]

Most school still receive 10+ applicants for each spot, in CA it's more than 15+. Hell even the new schools receive a ton of apps.

Problem is most prepharm students still have no idea about the saturation and over flood of pharmacist and still believe they will be making 100K easy when they graduate. Hell, even half of my pharm class still think that way. When the applicant pool is so high, no way that any schools will be closing any time soon.

Why, its almost as though they believe BLS statistics, Pharmacy Manpower Project, and their own personal experiences. The fools.

 

[blueclassring]

I think that is part of the problem. Even when you try to inform pre-pharms or pharmacy students of the struggles to find employment right now, they call you a "doom and gloomer." Certainly, none of us has the power to see the future when it comes to the profession but looking at current supply and demand trends one can make a justifiable conclusion that things will be difficult for pharmacists looking for employment in the near future. I just don't see how this situation is going to get better when there is no foreseeable expansion in sight and droves of pharmacists being pumped out of these schools. Maybe I'm wrong in my thinking.

Granted having lots of pharmacists is good for corporations; it's just not good for the profession.

 

[blueclassring]

Again, I spoke to one recruiter in Southern California and according to his opinion this is the worst it's been in 18 years. One can hope that things are better elsewhere.

 

[pharmschooler]

Even when you try to inform pre-pharms or pharmacy students of the struggles to find employment right now, they call you a "doom and gloomer."

I think it's all in the way many go about it. If the writer uses hyperbole ("there will be NO JOBS when you graduate!!!! Have fun defaulting on your loans, idiots!!!"), of course nobody will believe them!

If you're more realistic ("It will probably be difficult. The jobs will probably be much scarcer. If you really want it, it might be worth it, but plan to work hard to find a job"), maybe you'll actually find some open minds.

On a second note, PharmCAS makes applications much easier for students, hence the high numbers of applicants for open slots. There really aren't that many applicants out there, but many duplicate their efforts, applying to large numbers of schools. This makes it appear more competitive than it is. Case in point....nearly half of the PharmCAS applicants for the U of M didn't even fill out the secondary portion of the application...

 

[owlegrad]

I think it's all in the way many go about it. If the writer uses hyperbole ("there will be NO JOBS when you graduate!!!! Have fun defaulting on your loans, idiots!!!"), of course nobody will believe them!

If you're more realistic ("It will probably be difficult. The jobs will probably be much scarcer. If you really want it, it might be worth it, but plan to work hard to find a job"), maybe you'll actually find some open minds.

^This. You beat me to it. I don't mind people being pessimistic or encouraging caution, but the constant hyperbole of NO JOBS! NONE! gets old.

 

[Its Z]

Again, I spoke to one recruiter in Southern California and according to his opinion this is the worst it's been in 18 years. One can hope that things are better elsewhere.

ehhh.. 16 years....

 

[njac]

And another reason to consider residency.

The job I signed for is in Southern California. They just hired 3 clinical specialists. didn't interview anyone without a PGY-2.

 

[Its Z]

And another reason to consider residency.

The job I signed for is in Southern California. They just hired 3 clinical specialists. didn't interview anyone without a PGY-2.

but but residency is a ploy to get cheap labor!!

 

[SpirivaSunrise]

And another reason to consider residency.

The job I signed for is in Southern California. They just hired 3 clinical specialists. didn't interview anyone without a PGY-2.

Awesome...I had seen that you were celebrating. Congrats!!!

 

[blueclassring]

Congrats, you have real job security.

 

[rph3664]

Graduating class of 150+ I think about 50 of us went to residency.. Savon took 13 of us.. Walmart took 3... Longs turned me down and Walmart never called me. Savon said no room for me.

I interned 4 years at a Ped hospital...and I turned down their non-acred residency. I moved out of state to take over a non pharmacy related family business. While there, I begged the hospital manager to hire me. He hired me because PharmD was a novelty back then.

The rest is history.

My classmates eventually all found a job...but 15% of them didn't pass the CA board that year... that's when Ca actually had a pretty hard board exam.


1996...the floodgate of retail opened up with expanding Wags and CVS.

That sure wasn't the case in the Midwest. Employers were lining up to hire us when I graduated in 1994. The profs were really trying to sell the Pharm.D., but the people from my class who went that route were planning to specialize anyway, and were able to work while the school got 2 more years of tuition. Maybe 10% of my classmates pursued graduate studies.

And yes, that whole Walgreens/Osco fiasco came along a couple years later. We all know how THAT worked out.

 

[PharmDstudent]

I just got paid for 2 hours to be on call and to do nothing. Now that's a sense of security!

 

[BrightLight]

I just got paid for 2 hours to be on call and to do nothing. Now that's a sense of security!

I got paid 3 hours sitting in a chair reading a comic book in a pharmacy corner.

 

[Hope1974]

but but residency is a ploy to get cheap labor!!

I totally agree. Instead of hiring one pharmacist, they can hire 3 pharmacy residents. The residents I've seen at the hospitals are doing the exact same thing pharmacists are doing.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

but but residency is a ploy to get cheap labor!!

No, its a ploy to transfer the cost of training onto the employee. This is just fact. We had specialists up the wazoo 15 years ago before the powers that like to cut labor costs decided that they could get away with creating a bull**** system of hoops for people to jump through. But because labor has no power in this country, its just the way it has to be.

Soon, the retail giants will get onto this boat, too. There is *just enough* of a shortage left that they can't really get away with it. But they will eventually see the money they can save and will some day make their new employees do "residencies" as they learn the ins and outs of community pharmacy, too.

 

[Praziquantel86]

I totally agree. Instead of hiring one pharmacist, they can hire 3 pharmacy residents. The residents I've seen at the hospitals are doing the exact same thing pharmacists are doing.

I really hope that's sarcasm. Aside from the weekend staffing component and dedicated staffing blocks (minimal for most programs), residents hardly ever do the "exact same thing"as pharmacists. What pharmacist spends an entire year doing nothing other than learning and furthering their knowledge in nearly every setting possible? What pharmacist has dedicated research time? What pharmacist both gives and receives didactic lectures?

If you can find me a pharmacist that does all of this routinely, day in and day out, then I'll believe you. I understand not doing a residency, but to say that you get an equivalent experience working as a pharmacist is just unbelievable.

 

[ucrx]

I really hope that's sarcasm. Aside from the weekend staffing component and dedicated staffing blocks (minimal for most programs), residents hardly ever do the "exact same thing"as pharmacists. What pharmacist spends an entire year doing nothing other than learning and furthering their knowledge in nearly every setting possible? What pharmacist has dedicated research time? What pharmacist both gives and receives didactic lectures?

If you can find me a pharmacist that does all of this routinely, day in and day out, then I'll believe you. I understand not doing a residency, but to say that you get an equivalent experience working as a pharmacist is just unbelievable.

It happens at crappy residency programs where the residents don't get to do any of those things.

 

[PharmDstudent]

I really hope that's sarcasm. Aside from the weekend staffing component and dedicated staffing blocks (minimal for most programs), residents hardly ever do the "exact same thing"as pharmacists. What pharmacist spends an entire year doing nothing other than learning and furthering their knowledge in nearly every setting possible? What pharmacist has dedicated research time? What pharmacist both gives and receives didactic lectures?

If you can find me a pharmacist that does all of this routinely, day in and day out, then I'll believe you. I understand not doing a residency, but to say that you get an equivalent experience working as a pharmacist is just unbelievable.

What I find unbelievable is that you like that stupid blue dog! Bogus artist...

 

[Praziquantel86]

What I find unbelievable is that you like that stupid blue dog! Bogus artist...

 

[All4MyDaughter]