Current PY4 witnessing grad-interns not getting hired. Need Advice!

[PA_required_uh_oh]

Hey everyone! I would first like to thank the SDN community as I have been on these forums for years but this will be my first time posting. As we all know, job market for pharmacy sucks and hours are getting cut left and right. I knew this when I started pharmacy school in 2015, and my strategy to counter this was to intern as much as I can and work my ass off without ever complaining.

I have been with the same grocery-store chain for the past 4 years and literally gave them everything I had, never saying no to any requests. I would work any weekends and evenings they asked of me (holidays and all), come in every time a tech called in sick with 30 minutes notice - literally cancelling any plans I had (I even left in the middle of lunch dates with my girlfriend on several occasions…luckily she’s very understanding), and no matter how little sleep I had or if my schoolwork was hurting, I would never say no (Pass/Fail system at school). I was their “yes” man and they knew it. My metrics were one of the highest, my customer service skills are outstanding (from years of experience as a waiter/server), and as the years progressed my knowledge based expanded, I was literally running circles around some of the older pharmacists.

Now here comes the cold water…you would think after the sacrifices and paying your due diligence that the company would recognize you and hire you on as one of their own. But NOPE! Current Rph hours just got cut even more, so not only the Rph’s who are already employed fighting amongst each other for more hours, but all the grad-interns of 2018 pretty much all got laid off. In my district there were about 15-18 of them and from what I’ve seen, only 1-2 were hired on but they are far far farrrrr from full time lol…maybe even per diem.

To make matters worse, I know for sure this is happening in other organizations as well. A friend of mine is in the same boat as I am and currently interns for a well-known company (won’t say the name but it is German if you can guess it). My friend told me that they witness with their very own eyes a post grad who just passed their NAPLEX/Law and was an officially licensed pharmacists get laid off as a grad intern the moment they passed their boards. Now can you imagine…this moment in your life that is supposed to be one of the happiest…after 8 years of grinding through school and accumulating 6 figure student loans and instead of celebrating the pinnacle of your hard work with your license in hand…you instead get laid off due to no available positions regardless of your competencies/loyalty/experience.

So here I am on my APPE rotations…1 year away from meeting the fate of this year’s graduates and never feeling more hopeless than I have ever felt in my life. Any piece of advice would be greatly appreciated. I live in the northwest and still busting my ass. My rotation site is 3 hours from my home store so I would do my rotations from 9-6pm M-F and drive home. Work both days on weekends and after getting off at 6pm on Sunday drive another 3 hours back to my site. Rinse and repeat – no days off. Should I start interning at other chains – it does seem like the big 3 have more prospects from reading forums and talking to my classmates. BTW my company doesn’t do contracts, so you won’t know your fate until you have license in hands. At this point I will work anywhere and for anyone, $200k+ in loans and still growing.

TL;DR – worked my ass off during pharmacy school. Current job market is crap, my company just cut more hours. I have 6+ years of retail experience, any advice on getting hired on when I graduate in a year?

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[sdh02]

Does you school offer career fair? I got my job offer through career fair and I had my offer letter by January. FYI I was a hospital pharmacy intern for 3+ years with no retail experience other than 2 community rotations I had during my APPE. I intentionally chose an undesirable region which is 1.5 hours away from city due to city tax and higher cost of living in the city, but you have to be willing to relocate in order to get a job nowadays. You will be surprised how many opportunities you will have once you move away from saturated area.

 

[PA_required_uh_oh]

Does you school offer career fair? I got my job offer through career fair and I had my offer letter by January. FYI I was a hospital pharmacy intern for 3+ years with no retail experience other than 2 community rotations I had during my APPE. I intentionally chose an undesirable region which is 1.5 hours away from city due to city tax and higher cost of living in the city, but you have to be willing to relocate in order to get a job nowadays. You will be surprised how many opportunities you will have once you move away from saturated area.

Yes my school does have a career fair! It's usually in October/November so I will definitely make sure to attend. How long did it take for you to receive your offer letter from the time of your interview? I would be very happy if I got an offer in January or around 6 months prior to graduation. That would basically rejuvenate all my hope back lol. Did you get a floater position or close to 40 hours/week? I am very realistic so I am not expecting an offer to work full time right off the bat. I'm also flexible in terms of relocating, so I don't mind moving at all wherever the company needs me. I still maintain my current mentality of working my ass off without an ounce of complaining.

 

[quickpic007]

Hey everyone! I would first like to thank the SDN community as I have been on these forums for years but this will be my first time posting. As we all know, job market for pharmacy sucks and hours are getting cut left and right. I knew this when I started pharmacy school in 2015, and my strategy to counter this was to intern as much as I can and work my ass off without ever complaining.

TL;DR – worked my ass off during pharmacy school. Current job market is crap, my company just cut more hours. I have 6+ years of retail experience, any advice on getting hired on when I graduate in a year?

1-866-Work-4-Wag

1-800-GO-Guard

Honestly 2015 was very late to the game, but lets not cry over spilled milk.
Maybe residency?

 

[Lnsean]

Career fairs these days are a crapshoot. Most of the companies are just there to keep connection with the school and stay relevant. My DM goes every year but he never hires anyone...he's got a ton of apps and interns to choose from already. I'd suggest focusing on graduating and passing the boards...think of a 2-3 states besides yours that you wouldn't mind moving to. This will be your backup plan if nothing pans out from now until then...and yes...you need a backup plan unless your parents got money and you don't give af.

Healthcare is super saturated and will continue to be...switch over to comp sci and make the big bucks...lol

 

[sdh02]

Yes my school does have a career fair! It's usually in October/November so I will definitely make sure to attend. How long did it take for you to receive your offer letter from the time of your interview? I would be very happy if I got an offer in January or around 6 months prior to graduation. That would basically rejuvenate all my hope back lol. Did you get a floater position or close to 40 hours/week? I am very realistic so I am not expecting an offer to work full time right off the bat. I'm also flexible in terms of relocating, so I don't mind moving at all wherever the company needs me. I still maintain my current mentality of working my ass off without an ounce of complaining.

Yes our career fair was around October too and I received my offer letter in January. Its true that company like WAGs will be just there for entertainment purpose (they asked me if I can work as a per diem and I told them heck no lol) and not really serious about hiring but if you are willing to relocate and have enough experience in retail, they will consider you. I'm gonna get close to 80 hours bi-weekly and will start as a floater. Don't get stressed out too much since it's still early, just focus on getting your APPEs done first.

 

[PA_required_uh_oh]

1-866-Work-4-Wag

1-800-GO-Guard

Honestly 2015 was very late to the game, but lets not cry over spilled milk.
Maybe residency?

Let me tell you, hindsight is a powerful thing lol. Maybe I'll put those numbers on my speed dial haha thank you. And no residency for me, I have no interests and my student loans are getting uncomfortably high. I'm also a bit older so looking to start a family asap before my back gives out lol

 

[zelman]

You were warned. This is the unemployment/debt we promised.

 

[PA_required_uh_oh]

Career fairs these days are a crapshoot. Most of the companies are just there to keep connection with the school and stay relevant. My DM goes every year but he never hires anyone...he's got a ton of apps and interns to choose from already. I'd suggest focusing on graduating and passing the boards...think of a 2-3 states besides yours that you wouldn't mind moving to. This will be your backup plan if nothing pans out from now until then...and yes...you need a backup plan unless your parents got money and you don't give af.

Healthcare is super saturated and will continue to be...switch over to comp sci and make the big bucks...lol

Trust me I thought about the comp sci path already haha but it's just hard to let go of 8 years of education just to jump ship. Ideally I still want to live in the same state as my parents are getting older and I'm expected to care for them, but at this point beggers can't be choosers

 

[PA_required_uh_oh]

Yes our career fair was around October too and I received my offer letter in January. Its true that company like WAGs will be just there for entertainment purpose (they asked me if I can work as a per diem and I told them heck no lol) and not really serious about hiring but if you are willing to relocate and have enough experience in retail, they will consider you. I'm gonna get close to 80 hours bi-weekly and will start as a floater. Don't get stressed out too much since it's still early, just focus on getting your APPEs done first.

Thank you for your insight, I will still attend my school's career fair and put my best foot forward, who knows what will come out of it but it won't hurt to try. Congrats on getting so many hours from the get-go! I'm doing my best to stay positive, although I'll admit it's been difficulty to go to work for an employer knowing that it's pretty much a dead end with them. Good thing noone can see pass my smile lol

 

[lord999]

PA has always been an especially difficult market if your username is a geographic indicator. Even when it was only 4 schools, there were periods where it was near impossible to find a job in PA. You're probably going to need to relocate away from there unless you have connections.

 

[PA_required_uh_oh]

You were warned. This is the unemployment/debt we promised.

To be honest, I was a pharmacy assistant for 2 years so I did get my feet wet before jumping in full force. From my 2 years of experience in retail setting floating around a metro area, I made a few observations which I knew I could do better in. 1. Some pharmacists are very slow, in particular the ones who are 50+ years old (some type with 1 finger at a time) - I knew I could be faster. 2. Some pharmacists are lazy or just don't care enough, they would drag their feet regardless if there are waiters or 10 people in line - I knew I would bust my ass. 3. Some pharmacists complain about EVERYTHING, from system changes to their commute to how much they get paid to working too much when they don't want to give up their hours...etc etc - I knew I was more thankful and appreciative than that. All in all, it seemed to me like some pharmacists got complacent and I knew that if I was the DM, I would easily hire someone like myself over someone who got "too comfortable." Boy oh boy was I wrong lol. One reason why DM's might still have these pharmacists on board is because of loyalty since they have been with the company for 15,20,25+ years. But this is corporate America...is there really such a thing as loyalty lol

 

[PA_required_uh_oh]

PA has always been an especially difficult market if your username is a geographic indicator. Even when it was only 4 schools, there were periods where it was near impossible to find a job in PA. You're probably going to need to relocate away from there unless you have connections.

Oh no the PA in my username is referring to Prior Authorizations lol. I'm in the pacific northwest area. At least I'm not alone knowing that other geographic regions are saturated as well

 

[JamesL1585]

Asking a pharmacist for tips to get a job in the face of competition is like asking Donald Trump tips for how to stay in great shape, he doesn’t work out, but will talk around the issue without actually saying anything inherently helpful.

Message me if you want tips. Also, I worked in the PNW for 4 years until a few years ago, so familiar with the market there.

My first tip, is if you’re really good, you’ll never have to a apply for a job in your life, as soon as you are available, you reach out to the people you’ve met on your rotation, or at your job, and they’ll apply for you via word of mouth. It starts as your fourth year as a student (i.e. now).

Hey everyone! I would first like to thank the SDN community as I have been on these forums for years but this will be my first time posting. As we all know, job market for pharmacy sucks and hours are getting cut left and right. I knew this when I started pharmacy school in 2015, and my strategy to counter this was to intern as much as I can and work my ass off without ever complaining.

I have been with the same grocery-store chain for the past 4 years and literally gave them everything I had, never saying no to any requests. I would work any weekends and evenings they asked of me (holidays and all), come in every time a tech called in sick with 30 minutes notice - literally cancelling any plans I had (I even left in the middle of lunch dates with my girlfriend on several occasions…luckily she’s very understanding), and no matter how little sleep I had or if my schoolwork was hurting, I would never say no (Pass/Fail system at school). I was their “yes” man and they knew it. My metrics were one of the highest, my customer service skills are outstanding (from years of experience as a waiter/server), and as the years progressed my knowledge based expanded, I was literally running circles around some of the older pharmacists.

Now here comes the cold water…you would think after the sacrifices and paying your due diligence that the company would recognize you and hire you on as one of their own. But NOPE! Current Rph hours just got cut even more, so not only the Rph’s who are already employed fighting amongst each other for more hours, but all the grad-interns of 2018 pretty much all got laid off. In my district there were about 15-18 of them and from what I’ve seen, only 1-2 were hired on but they are far far farrrrr from full time lol…maybe even per diem.

To make matters worse, I know for sure this is happening in other organizations as well. A friend of mine is in the same boat as I am and currently interns for a well-known company (won’t say the name but it is German if you can guess it). My friend told me that they witness with their very own eyes a post grad who just passed their NAPLEX/Law and was an officially licensed pharmacists get laid off as a grad intern the moment they passed their boards. Now can you imagine…this moment in your life that is supposed to be one of the happiest…after 8 years of grinding through school and accumulating 6 figure student loans and instead of celebrating the pinnacle of your hard work with your license in hand…you instead get laid off due to no available positions regardless of your competencies/loyalty/experience.

So here I am on my APPE rotations…1 year away from meeting the fate of this year’s graduates and never feeling more hopeless than I have ever felt in my life. Any piece of advice would be greatly appreciated. I live in the northwest and still busting my ass. My rotation site is 3 hours from my home store so I would do my rotations from 9-6pm M-F and drive home. Work both days on weekends and after getting off at 6pm on Sunday drive another 3 hours back to my site. Rinse and repeat – no days off. Should I start interning at other chains – it does seem like the big 3 have more prospects from reading forums and talking to my classmates. BTW my company doesn’t do contracts, so you won’t know your fate until you have license in hands. At this point I will work anywhere and for anyone, $200k+ in loans and still growing.

TL;DR – worked my ass off during pharmacy school. Current job market is crap, my company just cut more hours. I have 6+ years of retail experience, any advice on getting hired on when I graduate in a year?

 

[Momus]

lol is my only respond to this... We knew it 2 years ago saturation is gonna hit hard in 2018, all the new schools churning their first batch of grads this yr. Good luck. We are all gonna need it.

 

[BidingMyTime]

TL;DR – worked my ass off during pharmacy school. Current job market is crap, my company just cut more hours. I have 6+ years of retail experience, any advice on getting hired on when I graduate in a year?

Reality is, it's extremely hard to get a pharmacist job in certain cities/areas of the country....and those cities/areas are the places where 65% of pharmacists desire to live. You've done all you could. Best thing you can do now, as others have noted above, be prepared to move once you graduate. When you are closer to licensing, see what kind of openings your grocery chain has in other states/areas of the country, and the work on getting licensed there. Let your DM know that you are prepared to get licensed and to move to wherever the company needs you. Get a few years of experience, and then you can try to transfer back to the saturated area you are in. Transferring won't be easier, but I can guarantee that the vast majority of time, experience will be a requirement to get a job in a saturated area. Crazy reality is, there are many new pharmacists who refuse to relocate and would rather remain unemployed or working at Starbucks.

 

[Thoughtfulsinner]

All you have to do is offer to work for a reduced salary. Let's be honest, there is no way pharmacists should be making the money they do.

 

[AlPacino]

Thats unfortunate that the chain you work for did this but it is expected. Just too much demand and not enough supply. It sounds like you are not interested in residency and want to just grab the first job that comes your way; dont blame you. Being that you are on rotation I would make sure to let every site you go to known that you are very interested in acquiring employment with them. All that sacrifice you made to your chain in school now do that for rotation sites. You never know when a spot might open up.

First you need to get licensed so once you pass your boards I would apply to every available position you see. Dont just apply to retail. Its unstable and no reassurance of job security in the future(as your seeing with your current rphs). Some students in my class took a paycut to work in MTM other got their consultant license to work in a LTCF. There are jobs if you are willing to travel just need to look.

Also keep your foot in the door in that chain you been at for 6 years. Get on board with them and at least put in some per diem hours until something else opens up. You never know who has to leave.

 

[AlPacino]

Reality is, it's extremely hard to get a pharmacist job in certain cities/areas of the country....and those cities/areas are the places where 65% of pharmacists desire to live. You've done all you could. Best thing you can do now, as others have noted above, be prepared to move once you graduate. When you are closer to licensing, see what kind of openings your grocery chain has in other states/areas of the country, and the work on getting licensed there. Let your DM know that you are prepared to get licensed and to move to wherever the company needs you. Get a few years of experience, and then you can try to transfer back to the saturated area you are in. Transferring won't be easier, but I can guarantee that the vast majority of time, experience will be a requirement to get a job in a saturated area. Crazy reality is, there are many new pharmacists who refuse to relocate and would rather remain unemployed or working at Starbucks.

This is so true and scary at the same time. I've seen recent grads get no full time offers and grab the first low paying/low demand job just so they can keep their downtown living style. So stupid. Honestly if you are willing to relocate to a less then desired area you can find a great job out of school without residency. There is one individual that graduated in my class and ended up moving to some no name place in Nabraska or something and got a sweet industry job. If you are willing to do the things that most dont want to, you will find a job.

 

[pencilandpen]

If you are really willing to relocate and also bust your ass unlike some of the lazy pharmacists out there then I see no reason why you would have any issue find a full time job.

That's what I did. I graduated and relocated to a less saturated area and found a full time position. If I had just refused to relocate I would most likely still be without a job.

 

[gwarm01]

All you have to do is offer to work for a reduced salary. Let's be honest, there is no way pharmacists should be making the money they do.

If the pharmacy can profit paying current salaries then I wouldn't say we are overpaid.

 

[Modest_anteater]

Hey everyone! I would first like to thank the SDN community as I have been on these forums for years but this will be my first time posting. As we all know, job market for pharmacy sucks and hours are getting cut left and right. I knew this when I started pharmacy school in 2015, and my strategy to counter this was to intern as much as I can and work my ass off without ever complaining.

I have been with the same grocery-store chain for the past 4 years and literally gave them everything I had, never saying no to any requests. I would work any weekends and evenings they asked of me (holidays and all), come in every time a tech called in sick with 30 minutes notice - literally cancelling any plans I had (I even left in the middle of lunch dates with my girlfriend on several occasions…luckily she’s very understanding), and no matter how little sleep I had or if my schoolwork was hurting, I would never say no (Pass/Fail system at school). I was their “yes” man and they knew it. My metrics were one of the highest, my customer service skills are outstanding (from years of experience as a waiter/server), and as the years progressed my knowledge based expanded, I was literally running circles around some of the older pharmacists.

Now here comes the cold water…you would think after the sacrifices and paying your due diligence that the company would recognize you and hire you on as one of their own. But NOPE! Current Rph hours just got cut even more, so not only the Rph’s who are already employed fighting amongst each other for more hours, but all the grad-interns of 2018 pretty much all got laid off. In my district there were about 15-18 of them and from what I’ve seen, only 1-2 were hired on but they are far far farrrrr from full time lol…maybe even per diem.

To make matters worse, I know for sure this is happening in other organizations as well. A friend of mine is in the same boat as I am and currently interns for a well-known company (won’t say the name but it is German if you can guess it). My friend told me that they witness with their very own eyes a post grad who just passed their NAPLEX/Law and was an officially licensed pharmacists get laid off as a grad intern the moment they passed their boards. Now can you imagine…this moment in your life that is supposed to be one of the happiest…after 8 years of grinding through school and accumulating 6 figure student loans and instead of celebrating the pinnacle of your hard work with your license in hand…you instead get laid off due to no available positions regardless of your competencies/loyalty/experience.

So here I am on my APPE rotations…1 year away from meeting the fate of this year’s graduates and never feeling more hopeless than I have ever felt in my life. Any piece of advice would be greatly appreciated. I live in the northwest and still busting my ass. My rotation site is 3 hours from my home store so I would do my rotations from 9-6pm M-F and drive home. Work both days on weekends and after getting off at 6pm on Sunday drive another 3 hours back to my site. Rinse and repeat – no days off. Should I start interning at other chains – it does seem like the big 3 have more prospects from reading forums and talking to my classmates. BTW my company doesn’t do contracts, so you won’t know your fate until you have license in hands. At this point I will work anywhere and for anyone, $200k+ in loans and still growing.

TL;DR – worked my ass off during pharmacy school. Current job market is crap, my company just cut more hours. I have 6+ years of retail experience, any advice on getting hired on when I graduate in a year?

"my customer service skills are outstanding (from years of experience as a waiter/server)" yeah no buddy. Customer serice skills are inate and can be summed up as "being nice to people" so that's near worthless.

Also it was foolish of you to bend over backwards and waste excessive time slaving away for the chains. Once you have 1,000 hours or so you already know the game and are good. Instead of cutting the lawn with sissors by working so much you should have been using a lawn mower aka networking. You should have been researching the DMs in districts you want to work in. Find where they live, where they work, where they shop. Bump into them "by accident" suck up to them. DMs and VPs of companies can land you positions. PIC and street level pharmacist barely have any power. Slaving away as some dime a dozen intern retail scrub will not help much.

Why is it surprising to you that new grads are having difficulties getting jobs? there isn't an unlimited amount of money to be given out to people with special pieces of paper with their names on it. You failed to select a good in demand major and now you will get the reward of your lack of foresight. Pharmacy is not the money tree it once was.

17,400/10 = 1,740 new jobs made a year\ from government* bls.gov which pulls data directly from IRS data roughly 3,000 pharmacists retiring/dying a year

14087 (from naplex data) - 4,740 = 9,347 new grads unemployed a year

This is 9,347 students that will not have a pharmacy job each year... in 10 years that is 93,000 unemployed pharmacists...

Have you considered going back to school for computer science or physicians assistant?

 

[owlegrad]

Customer serice skills are inate and can be summed up as "being nice to people" so that's near worthless.

And yet so few people do that!

 

[PharmDBro2017]

There are jobs in BFE. Go on Indeed.com and start looking, work on the Indian health reservation for 4 years and they'll pay off your loans, or join the military pharmacist program and have them pay off your loans. Military would be my choice, and still is if I lose my current gig and can't find another.

 

[APN-59 rph]

Had a few brewskis with my brother this pm....CDL drivers are getting 40 bucks/hr..there is talk that the economy may crater due to a lack of drivers...Wear a white coat while driving..very little difference...

 

[APN-59 rph]

There are jobs in BFE. Go on Indeed.com and start looking, work on the Indian health reservation for 4 years and they'll pay off your loans, or join the military pharmacist program and have them pay off your loans. Military would be my choice, and still is if I lose my current gig and can't find another.

Likely not much real difference with lighting up a nest of AK's and dealing with some battle hag customer...go, for it..

 

[Momus]

If you are really willing to relocate and also bust your ass unlike some of the lazy pharmacists out there then I see no reason why you would have any issue find a full time job.

That's what I did. I graduated and relocated to a less saturated area and found a full time position. If I had just refused to relocate I would most likely still be without a job.

Assuming there are 0 lazy pharmacists still employed... Busting your ass doesn't give you a job. When there is no position open, it's just that, there is no positions. They aren't gonna fire a lazy pharmacist to take you in or you would be where you want to be now. A known 2018 fact a majority of new grads will not get full time job immediately, a lot of them will be unemployed, do part time float forever 0-24h/w or go to sh1t towns dreaming they can go back home later for a transfer that never happens.

 

[PharmDBro2017]

Likely not much real difference with lighting up a nest of AK's and dealing with some battle hag customer...go, for it..

The only people I currently battle with are nurses that lack common sense. Lucky for me.

 

[ImmunoglobulinE]

I am a recent 2018 graduate and I have four offers already. Let me shed some light on my observations on my job search so far.

1. Easiest place you can land a job is where you already work. Whether you work as a technician or as an intern, you need to make sure that you apply to all the internal position available in your work place. The only catch to it, is to reach out early. You gotta beat other interns or technicians graduating this year. However, it doesn’t hurt to reach out now still, as there are several people who would change their minds about their offers later on in the year. If it is a chain, I suggest you reach out to the area supervisor ( usually the person above the DMs). They would forward your emails to several DMs. Within a few days, several DMs would be reaching out to you for potential opportunities. I am an intern at Walgreens and 3 out of 4 offers came from Walgreens in different geographical area ( Infact one of them comes with H1B sponsorship). So definitely reach out to the company you re working for and be willing to move if the opportunities are not available in your home city.


2. My second observation is to reach out to your connections and network. All your preceptor’s and potentially any Pharmacist you have worked with, any professor you be worked with on a more intimate level ( Rotation, research). Reach out to them. My fourth offer came from me reaching out to a Pharmacist who I use to worked with. He put in some good work for me. I landed the interview and landed an offer. Your network would be crucial to increasing your net worth. Reach out to every pharmacist you know and even technicians too ( you will be surprised how well connected some technicians are)

3. My third observation, applying to job posting on indeed and the rest of them is a waste of time. However take this advise with a grain of salt. I applied to over 200 jobs in like 3 days and I landed zero interviews and I have been waiting almost two months now. Maybe I was just unlucky, or maybe my application wasn’t as competitive as the other candidates.One thing I can say however is that this method is very time consuming and it’s not even worth the effort. But like I said, take this advise with a grain of salt.

My last advice is pray and be steadfast in whatever religion you believe in.

Good luck with everything

 

[Modest_anteater]

I am a recent 2018 graduate and I have four offers already. Let me shed some light on my observations on my job search so far.

1. Easiest place you can land a job is where you already work. Whether you work as a technician or as an intern, you need to make sure that you apply to all the internal position available in your work place. The only catch to it, is to reach out early. You gotta beat other interns or technicians graduating this year. However, it doesn’t hurt to reach out now still, as there are several people who would change their minds about their offers later on in the year. If it is a chain, I suggest you reach out to the area supervisor ( usually the person above the DMs). They would forward your emails to several DMs. Within a few days, several DMs would be reaching out to you for potential opportunities. I am an intern at Walgreens and 3 out of 4 offers came from Walgreens in different geographical area ( Infact one of them comes with H1B sponsorship). So definitely reach out to the company you re working for and be willing to move if the opportunities are not available in your home city.


2. My second observation is to reach out to your connections and network. All your preceptor’s and potentially any Pharmacist you have worked with, any professor you be worked with on a more intimate level ( Rotation, research). Reach out to them. My fourth offer came from me reaching out to a Pharmacist who I use to worked with. He put in some good work for me. I landed the interview and landed an offer. Your network would be crucial to increasing your net worth. Reach out to every pharmacist you know and even technicians too ( you will be surprised how well connected some technicians are)

3. My third observation, applying to job posting on indeed and the rest of them is a waste of time. However take this advise with a grain of salt. I applied to over 200 jobs in like 3 days and I landed zero interviews and I have been waiting almost two months now. Maybe I was just unlucky, or maybe my application wasn’t as competitive as the other candidates.One thing I can say however is that this method is very time consuming and it’s not even worth the effort. But like I said, take this advise with a grain of salt.

My last advice is pray and be steadfast in whatever religion you believe in.

Good luck with everything

"My third observation, applying to job posting on indeed and the rest of them is a waste of time. However take this advise with a grain of salt. I applied to over 200 jobs in like 3 days and I landed zero interviews and I have been waiting almost two months now. "

There you have it people. If you don't know how to nepotism or cronyism or 'network' you will be one of the 9,000+ new grads without a job this year.

17,4001/10 = 1,740 new jobs made a year () roughly 3,000 pharmacists retiring/dying a year 140872 - 4,740 = 9,347 new grads unemployed a year This is 9,347 students that will never have a pharmacy job each year... in 10 years that is 93,000 unemployed pharmacists...


Ref 1 from government bls.gov which pulls data directly from IRS data

Ref 2 from NAPLEX first time test takers in 2017

 

[Saisri_PharmStdnt]

Something to consider - a lot of companies are starting to hire more contingent workers, including temp pharmacists. At least where I am, these positions can easily go from temp to full-time hire if you put the work in. It's the "It's your job to lose" philosophy.

Not saying you *should* go this route, but it is an avenue you can look into it if needed.

 

[Chriskahn]

If you are in the PNW and had pass/fail grading system then I probably went to the same school as you. And judging by the number of interns you mentioned, the chain you interned for is probably the one that most students in the area are trying to land a job with.

I did'nt intern for them but was given an interview because I got honors during my APPE with them. The DM straight up told me that they have around 18 interns and they were only hiring one. He told me to contact him in 5 years after I am a seasoned pharmacist and he might have an opening for me. So basically it was a soft no lol. This was after the rx manager and one pharmacist putting in a good word for me.

People want to work for that chain because it is the easiest pharmacist job I have ever witnessed. Central fill fills all of the maintenance scripts and the pharmacists literally only verifies drop offs and do immunizations. No counting (except CII), rarely any counseling, and rarely any MTMs. No wonder the hours got cut for pharmacists working for that chain. It never got busy the 6 weeks I was there.

It's probably too late for you to do APPE at one of the big 3 since your APPE rotations are already set. But I got honors in one of them and got offered a job. The key is to ask your preceptor what you can do in order to get honors. That way, its in their mind that you want to do the best you can and you also know what you actually have to do to get it. I ended up with 3 honors during APPE because I asked and knew what I was supposed to do.

If your preceptor is not a store manager, ask your preceptor to put in a good word to the store manager, who will then put in a good word with the DM. That's how you get jobs during APPE during this saturation. Separate yourself from every other student by getting honors, which will make you a more desirable candidate for hire.

 

[pakho123]

You have to be willing to relocate in order to get a job nowadays. I am from NYC, and I only got job offer in west coast. You could never get a job in big city without strong connection. By strong I mean you are a closed friend with the director or DM.

 

[Melazine]

I’m just sad from reading all these

 

[BenJammin]

5 guys in my graduating class have already moved onto a different profession. One doctor, one truck driver, and the other 3 are teachers.

 

[DruggieDoRight]

Watched most of my classmates not get jobs this year. Pretty rough.

 

[pencilandpen]

You have to be willing to relocate in order to get a job nowadays. I am from NYC, and I only got job offer in west coast. You could never get a job in big city without strong connection. By strong I mean you are a closed friend with the director or DM.

When I graduated in 2016 in NJ there were 400 grads from this St. John's pharmacy school. 400 freaking hundred grads how exactly do all of them find employment???
These pharmacy school are nothing better than scammers

 

[beautifulrobot]

There are jobs in BFE. Go on Indeed.com and start looking, work on the Indian health reservation for 4 years and they'll pay off your loans, or join the military pharmacist program and have them pay off your loans. Military would be my choice, and still is if I lose my current gig and can't find another.

Not to be a buzzkill, but at least for the foreseeable future, military pharmacy is pretty competitive to get into. If you're older or have any medical conditions (including things like hypertension which is pretty easy to get diagnosed with these days), you probably won't be able to go the uniformed route, and the civilian route isn't easy to break into either. You could maybe get a contractor job, but there isn't as much job security with those gigs. YMMV if you're a veteran or eligible for another special hiring status.

 

[johnpharm01]

So, it sounds like you need a new strategy. Being a textbook perfect employee did not land you a spot. So I would find a new tech position/grad intern at a major retailer i.e. CVS/WAGs asap. You can use your experience in and wow your new pharmacy manger and dm. But leave your old job on good terms. The reason I suggest retail is that this is probably your best fit and a job you could reasonably get. Once you are close to being licensed apply EVERYWHERE for ANYTHING and take anything. Then you can work yourself up. And although I share your work values the most important thing is that the hiring manager LIKES you.

 

[gwarm01]

5 guys in my graduating class have already moved onto a different profession. One doctor, one truck driver, and the other 3 are teachers.

I'm still trying to figure out what I'll do if the market completely flips in the coming years. I could easily work in my same field and earn 70-80k/yr, but I'm more tempted to work overseas

5 guys in my graduating class have already moved onto a different profession. One doctor, one truck driver, and the other 3 are teachers.

What is everyone's exit strategy?

I've already left traditional practice. Informatics has given me a healthier lifestyle, greater job satisfaction, and increased job prospects - yes, even in desirable coastal cities.

Will it last? I'm not confident. If pharmacist salaries go into freefall then there is no reason for me to expect my current level of pay. After all, plenty of clever and capable people would happily do my job at half my pay. I suppose I would to if the alternative was going back to school.

I would seriously considering working overseas. American EHR companies have been making a push into Europe and Australia lately. I could potentially keep the gravy train going for a while longer. Otherwise it's either work at the reduced rate or move into a trailer back home and retire. I could focus on my fishing at least.

 

[deleted898085]

I'm still trying to figure out what I'll do if the market completely flips in the coming years. I could easily work in my same field and earn 70-80k/yr, but I'm more tempted to work overseas


What is everyone's exit strategy?

I've already left traditional practice. Informatics has given me a healthier lifestyle, greater job satisfaction, and increased job prospects - yes, even in desirable coastal cities.

Will it last? I'm not confident. If pharmacist salaries go into freefall then there is no reason for me to expect my current level of pay. After all, plenty of clever and capable people would happily do my job at half my pay. I suppose I would to if the alternative was going back to school.

I would seriously considering working overseas. American EHR companies have been making a push into Europe and Australia lately. I could potentially keep the gravy train going for a while longer. Otherwise it's either work at the reduced rate or move into a trailer back home and retire. I could focus on my fishing at least.

I don't think pharmacist hourly rate will go lower. If you have a full time job, you don't have to worry.
If rate is lower, at that point no one cares to work and patients' safety is at risk.

 

[pakho123]

When I graduated in 2016 in NJ there were 400 grads from this St. John's pharmacy school. 400 freaking hundred grads how exactly do all of them find employment???
These pharmacy school are nothing better than scammers

I know right. The school really dont give a crap about students can get a job or not. All they want is money money and money from government.

 

[Mambo#5]

I don't think pharmacist hourly rate will go lower. If you have a full time job, you don't have to worry.
If rate is lower, at that point no one cares to work and patients' safety is at risk.

It doesn’t have to go lower. It could stay the same for the next ten years. The same people that can’t calculate or have no concept of compound interest, are the same ones that don’t understand inflation, and will still think in ten years, that they still have a good salary. Lol

 

[deleted898085]

It doesn’t have to go lower. It could stay the same for the next ten years. The same people that can’t calculate or have no concept of compound interest, are the same ones that don’t understand inflation, and will still think in ten years, that they still have a good salary. Lol

People are talking about more supply which will decrease the price and they're not talking about in 10 years but in 1-2 years. I think in 10 years, no one will go to pharm school and demand will be up.

 

[Modest_anteater]

People are talking about more supply which will decrease the price and they're not talking about in 10 years but in 1-2 years. I think in 10 years, no one will go to pharm school and demand will be up.

I disagree. Pharmacy schools are still being constructed. Look at Law today. That is how pharmacy will look in ten years.

 

[Modest_anteater]

You have to be willing to relocate in order to get a job nowadays. I am from NYC, and I only got job offer in west coast. You could never get a job in big city without strong connection. By strong I mean you are a closed friend with the director or DM.

A close friend or maybe a 5-15,000 USD friendship/network package to the DM.

 

[Modest_anteater]

I don't think pharmacist hourly rate will go lower. If you have a full time job, you don't have to worry.
If rate is lower, at that point no one cares to work and patients' safety is at risk.

"no one cares to work and patients' safety is at risk."

I disagree. Look at working as a cook at Wendy's. That is a job that could easily kill someone if the food is contaminated. They get paid 7.25 USD a hour. Pharmacists will be FORCED to accept whatever the market rate determines they should be paid. If you are currently making 115,000 USD annually at CVS you will be forced to reapply for your job for a much lower wage.

Once Bezo's masterplan starts to take hold new grads will be lucky to even make 70,000 USD a year. I don't see why it's such a big deal, the incoming reduction in pay. If you went into pharmacy for the money that was a huge mistake. I for one am willing to work for minimum wage as a pharmacist and could pay my debts easily with IBR. IF you went into pharmacy for money you went into it for the wrong reason and may be dissociated with the future saturation coming.

If you think it's bad currently wait 5 years when the full force of saturation begins. We are talking a 20% unemployment rate for pharmacists. There WILL be pharmacists stocking Walmart shelves, living at home with their parents jobless and working fast food.

 

[deleted898085]

I disagree. Pharmacy schools are still being constructed. Look at Law today. That is how pharmacy will look in ten years.

I'm not sure if law and pharmacy will be the same. With a law degree, ppl can do other jobs than just to be a lawyer (?).
With a pharm degree, I'm not sure if I can work as an intern and get paid $18. Ppl probably will switch their career and never work as a pharmacist again.
My classmates talk about the closing of my school of pharm in 5 years. My school is trying to open medical school and PA program.

 

[deleted898085]

"no one cares to work and patients' safety is at risk."

I disagree.

I for one am willing to work for minimum wage as a pharmacist and could pay my debts easily with IBR.

You're probably right. Haha
That's what I'm planning to do. I'm not sure if others will do the same. I'm old and don't want to switch career again. I'm not sure if young people are willing to do so.

P/s: If ever pharmacist makes 70k/yr, I'm sure pharmacy schools will have to be closed (or drop tuition?)

 

[Modest_anteater]

You're probably right. Haha
That's what I'm planning to do. I'm not sure if others will do the same. I'm old and don't want to switch career again. I'm not sure if young people are willing to do so.

P/s: If ever pharmacist makes 70k/yr, I'm sure pharmacy schools will have to be closed (or drop tuition?)

What do you mean "if" there are already tons of pharmacists starting at 70k. From what I have heard many of the clinical pharmacists starting in Cleveland and St. Louis start at 70-75,000 USD. In additon to all the part time retail CVS floaters they may have a base salary of 105,000 but realisitcally they are only working 30/40 hours a week so they are making .75*105,000 = 78,000 a year - tax - student loans real wage is closer to 33,000 USD or 15 bucks an hour.

Schools will stay in biz bc they have access to easy Fed money. Anyone can get fed money. Only once the fed cuts off the easy money pipe line will you see pharmacy schools start to close en mass.