Choosing between two jobs

[kiwon]

Hi all,

I graduated a few years ago, did a residency - found myself not too interested in clinical pharmacy as I thought - and am now working in industry as an MSL (first job post residency). A friend of my has reached out to me and offered me a pharmacy administration position at a top hospital - this will be a 8-5 office job with great benefits (pension) and even higher pay than my current position.

I’ve been struggling to decide what I want and what is best for me. I still love industry and its endless opportunities - but as everyone knows it could be unstable. The schedule and quality of life in industry is probably unbeatable.

But pharm admin doesn’t sound too bad either though I’ve never worked it and honestly unsure other than the higher pay. But I am afraid I could be pulled in to cover staff pharmacists if there is a shortage - something I dread (I haven’t staffed since residency).

Any input? What would you do if you were in my shoes?

Thank you

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[Momus]

If you are a type A, go getter with social skills, pick industry for potential ladder climbing and making half a mil to a mil in 10-20 yrs later.

If not, choose a stable paycheck.

 

[TheBlaah]

I agree with Momus, there's less of a ceiling with MSL. However, there's very little to go on as we don't know the schedules, pay, benefits, and pay ceilings of either jobs.

Though quite frankly, if you have little experience staffing and you have no previous experience at this particular hospital, I don't see how you could be effective as administration if you don't know how things work. You'll be starting off from way behind.

 

[bacillus1]

Hospital admin might not truly be 8-5, as you'll likely need to be on call at all hours to deal with any issues that arise IF it is a managerial/supervisory position. To me, it seems like MSLs quickly bounce back to other pharma jobs once they are laid off. That and lack of experience at the hospital might not make you an effective administrator, even if you did your residency at that hospital. I'd personally stay in the MSL role and reassess your situation once you are actually laid off (they typically give severance packages for you to have time to pick yourself back up).

 

[lord999]

This is one that I would not trust myself giving advice without knowing how you actually operate. If you are in the Northeast near Piscataway, it's a matter of whether you can get to the next level before age or politics lay you off.

However, if you have to staff, it's not all that high a rank.

 

[Melazine]

Can you turn back if you don’t like the pharm admin job? Will you have better job security in the hospital?

Not sure how familiar you are with the workflow with residency experiences. You might be looked down upon. I have worked in hospitals with managers worked beside us, and managers stood on the sideline. Personally, I prefer them staffing a little, because it helps them understand our situations better. Dramas in hospital pharmacies are no joking matters. They can lead to family breakage at it’s worst.

Those jobs are usually full of meetings, projects, responsibilities, expectations from subordinates an superiors. Stress level depends on the culture of each hospital.

You are so lucky to have two options to pick while many pharmacists are still jobless in this day and age! Hope you find your answer!

 

[projektreverb]

I’ll speak based on the little experience I had: I had a rotation with an inpatient manager at a ~200 bed hospital that was part of a larger hospital network. I feel like he would be there for at least 10-12 hours every day. He was supposed to be 8-5.

Inpatient politics at that hospital were terrible. I credit my time there for steering me away from hospital residency. I credit my time with the outpatient pharmacy manager for making me do a community residency.

 

[TianjinNVhai]

Rich people problems..

 

[projektreverb]

Rich people problems..

I mean, OP’ dilemna isn’t so common in the pharmacy world. Most of us are happy to have full time employment and any form of job satisfaction. OP has the choice of MSL or inpatient manager. Not a bad place to be as a pharmacist in 2018!

 

[bacillus1]

I mean, OP’ dilemna isn’t so common in the pharmacy world. Most of us are happy to have full time employment and any form of job satisfaction. OP has the choice of MSL or inpatient manager. Not a bad place to be as a pharmacist in 2018!

It is quite depressing that "any kind of job satisfaction" is what most people strive for nowadays...But there are people out there with these choices, and important to choose wisely!