I work in hospital outpatient. Some of the advantages include direct contact with the doctors (lots of drug info questions, etc), good hours (depending on the site mostly M-F 9-5, but big hospitals usually have 1 outpatient clinic that is 7days/week with late hours), lots of exposure to inpatient pharmacy (transitions of care is a growing area in pharmacy), lots of specialty services (depending on what the hospital offers-- I see lots of transplant, pediatric, compound, and fertility), access to electronic medical records, and access to all hospital drug information resources (which are extensive at all academic hospitals). Also, the internal candidate status I have developed at my hospital gives me a chance to apply to other areas such as infusion, inpatient, ambulatory care. In the last few years, the outpatient services have really expanded to encompass many of the things residency-trained pharmacists might do such as med rec, drug info, and transitions of care. That said, the bulk of what an outpatient pharmacist does is lick and stick retail pharmacy. However, I do like that we don't have to do vaccines (which is a job duty of nurses and clinics). One last benefit is that outpatient pharmacists get all the benefits of the hospital which can be quite nice (pension plans, generous vacation, etc).
The drawbacks are that it is extremely difficult to obtain a hospital outpatient job. There are always big projects that management wants to roll out, and these projects may involve major overtime. Hospitals can be very disorganized places, and this definitely extends into outpatient pharmacy settings. The chaotic release of patients, especially those with no insurance/money can create major headaches in the pharmacy. It is a common ordeal to see a psychiatric discharge with no insurance, no money, and an unsure place of living. Outpatient pharmacists are not treated with the reverence of the inpatient and clinical pharmacists. We have many less training opportunities than the other pharmacists since we are always so business dispensing medications (inpatient pharmacists usually have lots of time to go to meetings and attend special trainings). In outpatient it is hard sometimes to even take a lunch-break. I know for a fact that outpatient pharmacists have to work harder than any other pharmacist in the hospital (counting job duties only, not publications, etc). Finally, one disadvantage is that there are many seniority rules in hospitals. Being low in seniority means it is extremely difficult (impossible actually) to take a vacation when you want one. It can take 10-15 years before seniority builds up to a nice level. Also, seniority rules with all job bids. So it can be difficult to move into another desired position until you have enough seniority.
That said, outpatient jobs are extremely difficult to get. Kaiser Permanente is known for having many outpatient jobs that are just about impossible to get unless you were an intern or have strong internal connections. These jobs are very sought after, especially once people have been burned out on retail. My hospital even has had residency-trained pharmacists dabble in outpatient, but they usually leave once they get an opening elsewhere in the company.
