Is it better to....

[Bully Worm]

..work in a pharmacy or volunteer in a pharmacy but perform the tasks that of a pharmacy technician? Which would look better on the application?

I've recently went around local Walgreens, CVS, big-name grocery store pharmacies asking if they were hiring or if I could volunteer. None were hiring so I asked the latter and they said its possible.

I plan on applying after sophomore year which is for Fall 09 and am currently looking for experience in a pharmacy. I'm taking the PTCE exam this Saturday and am very confident I'll become certified afterwards. With that being said, which would have the greater weight/benefit, volunteering or working at a pharmacy?

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[DooberXL]

I'd think working in a pharmacy consistently is much better than volunteering. There's only so much that you're allowed to do as a volunteer and most of it doesn't allow you to really sink your teeth into the field. Have you tried applying to a hospital pharmacy? Hospitals seem to be more willing to hire...at least that seems to be the case in my area. Your interviews will be the place where you show how much experience you have in the field and the difference between what a volunteer and a paid part time tech knows is huge.

 

[DreamSeller]

Working is of course better, but since you don't have that option, then just volunteer for now and try to get a job later.

 

[Bully Worm]

Thanks for the inputs!

 

[Pharmpills]

just go to walgreens.com or cvs.com and fill out a pharm tech application simple as that. dont volunteer, volunteering is for suckers and u arnt a sucker are u? well in this case it is, just try to get a tech job and u get paid too. i applied at walgreens.com a few years back and after a month i got a call and hired at the interview. i know i know im too good

 

[Twins fan]

Do all you can to get a job as a tech in whatever setting you can...the experience is great and it's nice to get paid (at least a little bit of $!) Get volunteering hours through community service type things, schools really like to see that sort of thing along with your pharm experience.

 

[ngynththo]

Do all you can to get a job as a tech in whatever setting you can...the experience is great and it's nice to get paid (at least a little bit of $!) Get volunteering hours through community service type things, schools really like to see that sort of thing along with your pharm experience.

Hi Twins fan,
Please advise which one is better: volunteering as a tutor in life science dept or volunteering in child development center? Which one is more likely a community service? I like both but can do only one. Thanks very much.

 

[Twins fan]

Hi Twins fan,
Please advise which one is better: volunteering as a tutor in life science dept or volunteering in child development center? Which one is more likely a community service? I like both but can do only one. Thanks very much.

I take it this tutoring would be at the college level? Seems to me tutoring for something like this should be something you could (and should) be paid for. I have served as a tutor for chemistry classes at my community college and most definitely got paid for it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a total money grubber, but to me if you have a certain level of expertise in something (as a pharmacy tech, enough knowledge to tutor, etc.) you should be able to get paid for it and chalk it up to work experience conducive to getting you into pharmacy school.

However, if the tutoring is something that you cannot get paid for, and assuming you would enjoy both tasks equally, I would volunteer as a tutor because it will probably look a little bit better to most adcoms. But by all means if the child development center gig would be a lot more fun for you do that! The vast majority of my volunteering hours have come from mentoring a middle school aged child...absolutely nothing to do with pharmacy or science....but to me it's a lot of fun so it's easy to rack up the volunteering hours hangin' out with my mentee!

 

[PaperDome]

I think working as a technician is the most ideal choice, but since you don't have the license yet, I think your decision should be based on what you can learn from working/volunteering and the people you are working with, rather than the title. I decided not to work at a retail setting because all you can do is bag groceries when the pharmacy isn't busy and when you get to do things, you just dispense expired medicines. After hearing about that from my friend, I decided to volunteer at a hospital pharmacy so that I can learn about the technical aspects of pharmacy. I learned so much that I was able to talk about them on my essays and during the interview. Plus, I got close to many pharmacists that they helped me with the rec letter and interview prep. Either way, I guess pharmacy schools will be impressed that you have some experience in pharmacy setting, whether it be retail or hospital. Good luck

 

[Sea Pharm]

For what it's worth, I have had a successful aplication "season" and I only volunteer four hrs/wk in a hospital pharmacy. I work in NIH funded clinical type 1 diabetes drug research so maybe that is good enough? I made it pretty clear that I do NOT want to work retail and that I want to stay in the clinical/research realm of pharmacy. My background backs that up.

I guess what I am saying is that I think it is different for everyone and for every school. I think adcoms look more at what life knowledge and experience you bring to the table and how you plan to use it.

 

[ngynththo]

I take it this tutoring would be at the college level? Seems to me tutoring for something like this should be something you could (and should) be paid for. I have served as a tutor for chemistry classes at my community college and most definitely got paid for it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a total money grubber, but to me if you have a certain level of expertise in something (as a pharmacy tech, enough knowledge to tutor, etc.) you should be able to get paid for it and chalk it up to work experience conducive to getting you into pharmacy school.

However, if the tutoring is something that you cannot get paid for, and assuming you would enjoy both tasks equally, I would volunteer as a tutor because it will probably look a little bit better to most adcoms. But by all means if the child development center gig would be a lot more fun for you do that! The vast majority of my volunteering hours have come from mentoring a middle school aged child...absolutely nothing to do with pharmacy or science....but to me it's a lot of fun so it's easy to rack up the volunteering hours hangin' out with my mentee!

Thank you very much, Twins fan. I will go with the tutor job. I accept both volunteer and work study in case I am not qualified for the work study.