Do you think COVID-19 will impact pharmacy job interviews?

[Ailiniel]

I have been applying to jobs all over the state and it has been 2 weeks. Received a couple of rejection emails and have not heard anything back from the others.

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[mentos]

It's impacting everything but your situation has nothing to do with that. Have you talked to anyone in a hiring position over the phone (not text) or in person? If not then your resume/application is sitting in a pile of hundreds of others and probably isn't even read.

 

[Pharmacy is a Scam]

If the job market wasn't tight enough already, the whole COVID-19 epidemic is now forcing already-employed pharmacists to think twice about looking for a new job/relocating. I think everyone is just trying to buckle down and get through these next several months without looking to add more disruptions to their lives.

What that means for new grads is terrible news because similar to how old-timer pharmacists aren't retiring when they are supposed to retire, pharmacists who otherwise would be looking to move (from a BFE job to a metro job, etc.) are now no longer in a position to do so, therefore the projected number of "BFE jobs" you're counting on opening up around graduation time are not going to be there.

 

[awval999]

We've stopped interviews and recruiting.
We are worrying about our current staff right now.

 

[Sine Cura]

Walmart seems to have put a freeze on hiring, which would prob extend to pharmacist hiring. Dunno it's a regional thing though.

 

[asiankid]

Same, applied to over 20 jobs over the last month and haven’t heard back anymore since the national emergency was announced.

 

[TheBlaah]

Same, applied to over 20 jobs over the last month and haven’t heard back anymore since the national emergency was announced.

That's probably the norm rather than something caused by the pandemic.

 

[asiankid]

That's probably the norm rather than something caused by the pandemic.

I think most places froze their hiring process because there are less to none job postings are being uploaded online since last week.

 

[sfachine]

That's probably the norm rather than something caused by the pandemic.

Add recession to that also. This is why the shutdowns we are experiencing now can not be sustained.The damage to the economy will be much worse than the virus.

 

[Mambo#5]

Add recession to that also. This is why the shutdowns we are experiencing now can not be sustained.The damage to the economy will be much worse than the virus.

But in the near future I predict more opportunities in public health and I’m thinking they might need to use more pharmacists for the future immunizations.

 

[mentos]

Same, applied to over 20 jobs over the last month and haven’t heard back anymore since the national emergency was announced.

20 is nothing, that's less than 1 job application per day. Each job has 300+ applicants. You're not going to get hired by applying online and hoping to hear back. Now that there's a pandemic and almost a recession, there are going to be layoffs instead of new hires.

 

[Hedgehog32]

I applied last week for a 7 on/7 off nightshift pharmacist position posted for a government facility, but the day after the hiring announcement closed, I received an automated email stating that the job listing had been canceled altogether. Not sure if the cancellation was related to the virus situation or if they just decided at the last minute against hiring a new pharmacist.

 

[AM77]

But in the near future I predict more opportunities in public health and I’m thinking they might need to use more pharmacists for the future immunizations.

No, they won’t. They will force the same number of pharmacists to increase their numbers of immunizations. I know this because I worked in retail. Walmart and other retailers are already stepping up the plate to administer coronavirus tests. You can be darn sure that they’ll have their hand on the coronavirus vaccine before anyone else does.

 

[mentos]

But in the near future I predict more opportunities in public health and I’m thinking they might need to use more pharmacists for the future immunizations.

Have they added more Rph hours since introducing flu shots? Nope they have gone down ever since.

 

[nickw2401]

we dont have any pharmacist openings but are doing skype interviews for techs

 

[Gombrich12]

But in the near future I predict more opportunities in public health and I’m thinking they might need to use more pharmacists for the future immunizations.

Why are pharmacists needed for immunizations? Medical assistants give them all the time. If a COVID-19 vaccine comes out I can see the retail pharmacies lobbying states to allow technicians to give shots.

 

[AM77]

Why are pharmacists needed for immunizations? Medical assistants give them all the time. If a COVID-19 vaccine comes out I can see the retail pharmacies lobbying states to allow technicians to give shots.

Are you even a pharmacy school student? Pharmacists have been trained to administer vaccines over a decade ago. The immunization training has been incorporated into pharmacy schools and current pharmacists are required to complete their training. Why would retail chain pharmacies hire medical assistants just to administer flu shots during flu season? Why not have pharmacists administer them? It saves them from having to spend more money to hire and train medical assistants only to let them go after the flu season ends.

 

[mentos]

Are you even a pharmacy school student? Pharmacists have been trained to administer vaccines over a decade ago. The immunization training has been incorporated into pharmacy schools and current pharmacists are required to complete their training. Why would retail chain pharmacies hire medical assistants just to administer flu shots during flu season? Why not have pharmacists administer them? It saves them from having to spend more money to hire and train medical assistants only to let them go after the flu season ends.

Whooosh.

He was asking why do pharmacists give immunizations at all, since for decades people got them at their doctors office or hospital.

 

[Ailiniel]

I applied to more jobs but keep getting rejections even from CVS.

 

[Sine Cura]

Don't count on being hired any time soon.

 

[Hedgehog32]

I applied to more jobs but keep getting rejections even from CVS.

Don't count on being hired any time soon.

I'm not sure if it's a corporate-level policy that applies to all their stores, but the CVS DM for my region told me that she is no longer considering hiring anyone who either didn't work as an intern for CVS during pharmacy school or has experience working as a retail pharmacist for another chain. This was relayed to me back during the fall/winter (pre-pandemic times).

 

[nickw2401]

and how much do you get paid per flu shot? yet another cvs gain. the worst company on earth.

 

[Farmgurl20]

I'm not sure if it's a corporate-level policy that applies to all their stores, but the CVS DM for my region told me that she is no longer considering hiring anyone who either didn't work as an intern for CVS during pharmacy school or has experience working as a retail pharmacist for another chain. This was relayed to me back during the fall/winter (pre-pandemic times).

this is true, I heard same from DM that interviewed me last year.

 

[Hedgehog32]

this is true, I heard same from DM that interviewed me last year.

Sounds like it must be a corporate policy that applies to all CVS stores, then. Apparently even the least desirable retail chain to work for is now saturated as well.

 

[iiibbystar]

Does anyone know how this will affect hiring in general? Has hiring been freezing at all retail pharmacies?

 

[Pharmacy is a Scam]

Does anyone know how this will affect hiring in general? Has hiring been freezing at all retail pharmacies?

I'm not in retail but we aren't hiring pharmacists anytime soon. Though we obviously might if people start falling over due to the coronavirus.

We've been focusing a lot of time and attention on dealing with the coronavirus and its disruption to our schedules, workflow etc. so hiring is the last thing on our minds right now.

 

[Ailiniel]

I think I made a dumb mistake taking 7 months to prepare for NAPLEX and MPJE when I realized just how overprepared I was.

 

[iiibbystar]

Me too. Me too. At this point, I don' t know how I'm going to get hired.

 

[jecpharm89]

Why are pharmacists needed for immunizations? Medical assistants give them all the time. If a COVID-19 vaccine comes out I can see the retail pharmacies lobbying states to allow technicians to give shots.

That is a scary thought

 

[Sine Cura]

Some techs don't even know how to count

Then again a lot of MAs don't even know how to read

 

[VictorOfHungerGames]

I have been applying to jobs all over the state and it has been 2 weeks. Received a couple of rejection emails and have not heard anything back from the others.

Not sure if anyone was hiring before this. Most of posting were I'm sure filled internally and half of postings are trolls anyways lol

 

[VictorOfHungerGames]

Why are pharmacists needed for immunizations? Medical assistants give them all the time. If a COVID-19 vaccine comes out I can see the retail pharmacies lobbying states to allow technicians to give shots.

I'm sure at some point, pharmacists will be obsolete. You don't need a doctorate degree to make sure what is written on paper is correctly typed on labels.

 

[Pharmacy is a Scam]

I'm sure at some point, pharmacists will be obsolete. You don't need a doctorate degree to make sure what is written on paper is correctly typed on labels.

Pharmacists are already obsolete, they are just putting up a fight to delay the end of their existence by whining and moaning and pointing to red herrings such as MTM.

Technology is already advanced enough in the last decade to completely obliterate pharmacy, and commercially available drug information databases, OCR, robots/mail order etc are all signs of this -- problem is, it is just not scalable yet. But once someone figures that piece out and legislation changes then pharmacists will be outed immediately.

 

[VictorOfHungerGames]

Pharmacists are already obsolete, they are just putting up a fight to delay the end of their existence by whining and moaning and pointing to red herrings such as MTM.

Technology is already advanced enough in the last decade to completely obliterate pharmacy, and commercially available drug information databases, OCR, robots/mail order etc are all signs of this -- problem is, it is just not scalable yet. But once someone figures that piece out and legislation changes then pharmacists will be outed immediately.

Agree. Am working on a back up plan. Hope it works lol If it does, I'm out.

 

[Hedgehog32]

Pharmacists are already obsolete, they are just putting up a fight to delay the end of their existence by whining and moaning and pointing to red herrings such as MTM.

Technology is already advanced enough in the last decade to completely obliterate pharmacy, and commercially available drug information databases, OCR, robots/mail order etc are all signs of this -- problem is, it is just not scalable yet. But once someone figures that piece out and legislation changes then pharmacists will be outed immediately.

What are your long-term career plans, if you don't mind me asking? Are you going to try and make a full career out of being a pharmacist or do you see yourself transitioning into another career at some point?

 

[Pharmacy is a Scam]

What are your long-term career plans, if you don't mind me asking? Are you going to try and make a full career out of being a pharmacist or do you see yourself transitioning into another career at some point?

I am not sure yet. I'd still like to ride it out in pharmacy as long as I can while investing and building that passive income. Real estate investing does intrigue me, but many of my friends who have gone into that business are really struggling right now (especially those who have invested in AirBnB rental properties) with all this COVID stuff going on.

 

[wazoodog]

There seems to be some demand in certain areas.

https://www.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-ernest-mario-school-pharmacy-move-graduation-new-pharmacists

 

[deleted562805]

That is a scary thought

RNs used to give immunizations in Doctors offices.

 

[deleted562805]

There seems to be some demand in certain areas.

https://www.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-ernest-mario-school-pharmacy-move-graduation-new-pharmacists

Again, Rutgers count post graduate students education as being “unemployed” there is nothing in the New England. Why do you think Rutgers pharmacy school partnered with the medical school and made a PharmD/ MD program? Because the pharmacists that still did a PGY-1/2 still could not get jobs in the New England and had to relocate to BFE for a PRN position

 

[sfachine]

There seems to be some demand in certain areas.

https://www.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-ernest-mario-school-pharmacy-move-graduation-new-pharmacists

This looks like some Pharmacy School public relations bull****.Complete nonsense.

 

[Ailiniel]

I haven't had much luck with job offers, even in big box retail. I had 3 interviews out of 100 jobs.

I did manage to set up a phone call which I am guessing is a phone screen from the recruiter for a Per Diem hospital position. It's in BFE and so far from home. I need help in deciding what kinds of questions I should be expecting. Or what questions I should ask to make myself appear more knowledgeable. I probably won't talk about salary. Should I look out for clinical questions? It's been a year and I'm not sure if my clinical is that strong. I'll admit I wasn't the best at clinical during APPE, I felt pretty worthless.

 

[Traziiramate09]

Didn't really affect me as an intern. A hospital was glad to take me on as a rising 6th year.

 

[sfachine]

I haven't had much luck with job offers, even in big box retail. I had 3 interviews out of 100 jobs.

I did manage to set up a phone call which I am guessing is a phone screen from the recruiter for a Per Diem hospital position. It's in BFE. I need help in deciding what kinds of questions I should be expecting. Or what questions I should ask to make myself appear more knowledgeable. I probably won't talk about salary. Should I look out for clinical questions? It's been a year and I'm not sure if my clinical is that strong. I'll admit I wasn't the best at clinical during APPE, I felt pretty worthless.

Unemployment blues?.Something will turn up.

 

[gwarm01]

I haven't had much luck with job offers, even in big box retail. I had 3 interviews out of 100 jobs.

I did manage to set up a phone call which I am guessing is a phone screen from the recruiter for a Per Diem hospital position. It's in BFE and so far from home. I need help in deciding what kinds of questions I should be expecting. Or what questions I should ask to make myself appear more knowledgeable. I probably won't talk about salary. Should I look out for clinical questions? It's been a year and I'm not sure if my clinical is that strong. I'll admit I wasn't the best at clinical during APPE, I felt pretty worthless.

If a clinical issue arises and you don't know the answer, you will look toward clinical references, hospital policies, or seek help from an experienced staff member. No one wants a per diem pharmacist to come in and do things their own way - you'll be a team player and a by-the-book employee.

Ask about staffing, patient load, scheduling, day to day duties. Get a feel for how often you'll be scheduled and show enthusiasm at the prospect of working. You never know, maybe they are hiring per diem pharmacists as the first step toward full-time. I knew a few places that did that. They also got full-time hours and no benefits, which was shady, but you take what you can get.

 

[TateThePharmacist]

I haven't had much luck with job offers, even in big box retail. I had 3 interviews out of 100 jobs.

I did manage to set up a phone call which I am guessing is a phone screen from the recruiter for a Per Diem hospital position. It's in BFE and so far from home. I need help in deciding what kinds of questions I should be expecting. Or what questions I should ask to make myself appear more knowledgeable. I probably won't talk about salary. Should I look out for clinical questions? It's been a year and I'm not sure if my clinical is that strong. I'll admit I wasn't the best at clinical during APPE, I felt pretty worthless.

They're not very likely to ask you many clinical questions. More situational based questions to determine your personality and how you approach problems. I think the only hospital related question I got was what a standard insulin drip concentration was. (I said I wasn't quite sure, it's 100 iu per 100 ml in case you're curious, but I was still offered the job). Once you actually start working a staff hospital pharmacist position, you'll realize that about 70% of your job is purely logistical (i.e. nothing you learned in school) and 30% clinical (which is basic clinical stuff and occasional consulting to the providers).
I'd definitely jump all over that job if it gets offered to you. Having even a per diem hospital pharmacist job will open so many more doors for you. Best of luck!

 

[Ailiniel]

Unemployment blues?.Something will turn up.

I've graduated in 2019 and haven't been working since.

 

[sozetone]

Whooosh.

He was asking why do pharmacists give immunizations at all, since for decades people got them at their doctors office or hospital.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!!!!!!!!!!!! vaccines are number one for profit now..... period. they dont care if your "protected or not" the markup is huge on vaccines ....Its a nice thing to say though.... "we care about your health and wellness, cmon in and get protected from flu, tetanus, pneumonia, HPV, shingles, measles, mumps...etc...

 

[Ailiniel]

Okay so for the update I have been applying and interviewing at places and have yet to receive a job offer.

 

[Hels2007]

At least you are getting interviews, that's a good sign that some activity is happening at least, and on paper you are good enough to be invited. Are you actually speaking with hiring managers or just HR?

 

[Ailiniel]

It is usually human resources who screen me first who then schedule me to interview with hiring managers. I don't seem to get hired and some just fell through midway.