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Is it too late to apply

Started by Dad1719
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Dad1719

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Hey I am new to the pharmacy application process and I’m curious about the deadlines for schools. The schools I am wanting to apply to have deadlines around the March/April. If I rush through my application and letters of recommendation do I even have a chance?
 
Dad1719 said:
Hey I am new to the pharmacy application process and I’m curious about the deadlines for schools. The schools I am wanting to apply to have deadlines around the March/April. If I rush through my application and letters of recommendation do I even have a chance?
Click to expand...

Good for you! Don’t delay applying , the slots fill up quickly and if I were you I’d not delay.
 
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Dad1719 said:
Hey I am new to the pharmacy application process and I’m curious about the deadlines for schools. The schools I am wanting to apply to have deadlines around the March/April. If I rush through my application and letters of recommendation do I even have a chance?
Click to expand...

www.bls.gov

Pharmacists

Pharmacists dispense prescription medications and provide information to patients about the drugs and their use.
www.bls.gov www.bls.gov
 
Everyone on this forum are kinda d*$#heads about it, but no it's not too late. Some of the better programs have probably already filled up their spots but there's still programs out there looking to get their seats filled.
Even though everyone is snarky about job prospects, there is some truth in what they say. It's become a tight job market. You can essentially have the job you want in pharmacy OR you can live where you want. It's extremely hard to find the job you want in the place that you want to live, but it does happen for some. Best of luck!
 
TateThePharmacist said:
You can essentially have the job you want in pharmacy OR you can live where you want.
Click to expand...
This implies that you will find a job at all to begin with, which is not true for 2019 grads and beyond.

I'd wager that of all the currently employed pharmacists, 5% are in a pharmacy job they truly want, 70% are in a job that they don't necessarily love but isn't bad enough for them to leave/quit because it pays the bills, and the remaining 25% or so hate their jobs and are literally only doing it to pay the bills (and will leave at the first opportunity they get).

Anyone can live wherever they want, regardless of employment status, but like you said, the chances of finding desirable employment in a desirable city is miniscule, probably <1%. If you are a new grad who is part of the lucky 5-10% that does manage to find a job, then there is a 95% chance that you will be apathetic to or hate your job and 99% chance you will need to relocate.
 
You probably won't have any issues getting accepted by at least a handful of programs, but as a soon-to-be-graduating P4 student, I would recommend that you at least research other careers you could possibly see yourself enjoying. I am in the process of applying to jobs and interviewing for residencies, and the market really is just as competitive as people here are saying. Even hospitals in middle-of-nowhere rural towns are now requiring applicants for staff pharmacist positions to either have extensive work experience as pharmacists or be residency program graduates.

Also, set up a LinkedIn account if you don't have one already and do a search for pharmacist jobs in essentially any city of your choosing. The neat thing about LinkedIn is that the site displays the number of applicants each job posting receives, so you can see exactly how many people are applying for the same jobs. You might be shocked to see that most hospital staff pharmacist positions are receiving 30-50+ applications. Keep in mind that this doesn't account for the applications that have been submitted for the same job listings through other websites like Indeed.com.
 
TateThePharmacist said:
This 25% of pharmacists also makes up 95% of student doctor network
Click to expand...

Some graduating classes of 2019 have reported >50% unemployment rates. This is one large group you won't see posting on SDN.

It's unlikely that someone will admit publicly that graduated with $200k+ in loans from a doctorate program only to end up unemployed or severely underemployed.
 
TateThePharmacist said:
Everyone on this forum are kinda d*$#heads about it, but no it's not too late. Some of the better programs have probably already filled up their spots but there's still programs out there looking to get their seats filled.
Even though everyone is snarky about job prospects, there is some truth in what they say. It's become a tight job market. You can essentially have the job you want in pharmacy OR you can live where you want. It's extremely hard to find the job you want in the place that you want to live, but it does happen for some. Best of luck!
Click to expand...
Are you sure?
38% of class 2019 have a job, 22% to residency, 20% still looking and say they're willing to move anywhere. The question is Can we apply for a job in a state that we have not had the license yet? or Should we get licensed in most of the states first before appying?
20% haven't answered the survey.
I'm in class 2020, if the market will hire the same amount of new grads, our class will compete with 40% of class 2019 plus 22% of residents of 2019.
 
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PharmtoCS said:
Some graduating classes of 2019 have reported >50% unemployment rates. This is one large group you won't see posting on SDN.

It's unlikely that someone will admit publicly that graduated with $200k+ in loans from a doctorate program only to end up unemployed or severely underemployed.
Click to expand...
Why would you not admit it? This is an anonymous forum, wouldn't be very embarrassing to admit.

CaNvWa farm said:
Are you sure?
38% of class 2019 have a job, 22% to residency, 20% still looking and say they're willing to move anywhere. The question is Can we apply for a job in a state that we have not had the license yet? or Should we get licensed in most of the states first before appying?
20% haven't answered the survey.
I'm in class 2020, if the market will hire the same amount of new grads, our class will compete with 40% of class 2019 plus 22% of residents of 2019.
Click to expand...
I'm a 2019 grad and all of my classmates currently have jobs that are pharmacy related. Some had to move to less desirable areas but they got more desirable jobs. Some refused to leave a certain geographical area and have less desirable jobs. Which brings me back to my original point: you can essentially have the job you want in pharmacy OR you can live where you want.
 
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CaNvWa farm said:
Are you sure?
38% of class 2019 have a job, 22% to residency, 20% still looking and say they're willing to move anywhere. The question is Can we apply for a job in a state that we have not had the license yet? or Should we get licensed in most of the states first before appying?
20% haven't answered the survey.
I'm in class 2020, if the market will hire the same amount of new grads, our class will compete with 40% of class 2019 plus 22% of residents of 2019.
Click to expand...

I will answer this question for you. No survey needed. No you do not need a license to become employed in a different state.

With that being said - yes, you need a license to randomly apply (without connections) in a different state and hope to actually get a job.
 
TateThePharmacist said:
Why would you not admit it? This is an anonymous forum, wouldn't be very embarrassing to admit.


I'm a 2019 grad and all of my classmates currently have jobs that are pharmacy related. Some had to move to less desirable areas but they got more desirable jobs. Some refused to leave a certain geographical area and have less desirable jobs. Which brings me back to my original point: you can essentially have the job you want in pharmacy OR you can live where you want.
Click to expand...

Do you mind if I ask what region you're in? Sounds like the job market there is better off than the southeast's, at least
 
Hedgehog32 said:
Do you mind if I ask what region you're in? Sounds like the job market there is better off than the southeast's, at least
Click to expand...
Midwest to southwest is where I have experience. However in the big metropolitan areas, it's really saturated so there is some truth to what is being said on this forum. With that said, I still think everyone on here is way more doom and gloom than they really should be.
 
TateThePharmacist said:
Midwest to southwest is where I have experience. However in the big metropolitan areas, it's really saturated so there is some truth to what is being said on this forum. With that said, I still think everyone on here is way more doom and gloom than they really should be.
Click to expand...
The availability of jobs may be a little subjective because like you said it depends on the specific region, but can we at least agree that there is no hyperbole when it comes to salaries?
 
TateThePharmacist said:
Midwest to southwest is where I have experience. However in the big metropolitan areas, it's really saturated so there is some truth to what is being said on this forum. With that said, I still think everyone on here is way more doom and gloom than they really should be.
Click to expand...
Hey, I'm so glad to hear all your class of 2019 got a job!!! 'Cos I'm willing to move anywhere and hope I have no problem finding a job!
 
JustFillIt said:
I will answer this question for you. No survey needed. No you do not need a license to become employed in a different state.

With that being said - yes, you need a license to randomly apply (without connections) in a different state and hope to actually get a job.
Click to expand...
Ah, so the answer is Yes
 
CaNvWa farm said:
Ah, so the answer is Yes
Click to expand...

Yes - the answer is essentially , “yes”

Something else that may help is a fabricated address. Rent a hotel room for a few days so it’s not exactly a lie.. use the hotel address as your address.

If anyone asks (which they won’t) just say it was temporary as you were job hunting in the area.

This will overcome both hurdles and make you a more “reasonable” prospect in an employers eyes.

Work smarter - not harder
 
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Pharmacy is a Scam said:
can we at least agree that there is no hyperbole when it comes to salaries?
Click to expand...
Yes and no haha.
I spoke with a Walgreen's PIC about a year ago and they admitted that they were dropping the starting salary of pharmacists by 1 dollar so I do think that salaries are going to at least stay stagnant or potentially drop for retail. However the health system I work for, I can see the salary range for all new job postings and pharmacists salaries are most definitely not remaining stagnant. The cap out is over 20 dollars an hour more than what I currently make for my exact position. Interestingly enough my health system spans multiple states and salary ranges in another state is about 3-5 dollars an hour lower, even though that state has about a 30-40% higher cost of living then my current state. This is most likely due to that state having 4 pharmacy schools there so they can cut starting salaries since they have plenty of applicants.
 
JustFillIt said:
Yes - the answer is essentially , “yes”

Something else that may help is a fabricated address. Rent a hotel room for a few days so it’s not exactly a lie.. use the hotel address as your address.

If anyone asks (which they won’t) just say it was temporary as you were job hunting in the area.

This will overcome both hurdles and make you a more “reasonable” prospect in an employers eyes.

Work smarter - not harder
Click to expand...
Oh wow. I see. I plan to get licenses in states where I have relatives first: CA, NV, WA, FL, TX. Not sure if I should do more 'cos it's expensive. Maybe OR, AZ...
 
TateThePharmacist said:
Yes and no haha.
I spoke with a Walgreen's PIC about a year ago and they admitted that they were dropping the starting salary of pharmacists by 1 dollar so I do think that salaries are going to at least stay stagnant or potentially drop for retail. However the health system I work for, I can see the salary range for all new job postings and pharmacists salaries are most definitely not remaining stagnant. The cap out is over 20 dollars an hour more than what I currently make for my exact position. Interestingly enough my health system spans multiple states and salary ranges in another state is about 3-5 dollars an hour lower, even though that state has about a 30-40% higher cost of living then my current state. This is most likely due to that state having 4 pharmacy schools there so they can cut starting salaries since they have plenty of applicants.
Click to expand...
I think hospital salaries are a little insulated because most hospitals are union. Are there actually new roles being created in the health system you work at? Most hospitals I know haven't been creating many new positions at all, they are simply backfilling roles when people leave. The "new" roles that do open up from time to time are for niche roles like 340b coordinator, insurance specialist etc. not staffing or "clinical pharmacist" roles (okay, maybe oncology from time to time).
 
CaNvWa farm said:
Oh wow. I see. I plan to get licenses in states where I have relatives first: CA, NV, WA, FL, TX. Not sure if I should do more 'cos it's expensive. Maybe OR, AZ...
Click to expand...

Use your relatives address in this case.

If it were me, I would start with 3 states and expand from there as needed.

Oregon is an interesting state where pharmacists are rapidly expanding into patient care fields similar to a PA/NP. I have several buddies that are working in clinics like this in Oregon. However these are residency trained positions and I think I read somewhere that you are only interested in retail?
 
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JustFillIt said:
Use your relatives address in this case.

If it were me, I would start with 3 states and expand from there as needed.

Oregon is an interesting state where pharmacists are rapidly expanding into patient care fields similar to a PA/NP. I have several buddies that are working in clinics like this in Oregon. However these are residency trained positions and I think I read somewhere that you are only interested in retail?
Click to expand...
Yes, I'm interested in retail only.
I see. I'll probably start with 3 states. For sure CA, my home, and NV, my second home and school.
 
Dred Pirate said:
same here!
Click to expand...
@Dred Pirate from your post history I actually believe that you're in that 5%, @Pharmacy is a Scam ......given your user name alone I can't quite come to that same conclusion lol.
Pharmacy is a Scam said:
I think hospital salaries are a little insulated because most hospitals are union. Are there actually new roles being created in the health system you work at? Most hospitals I know haven't been creating many new positions at all, they are simply backfilling roles when people leave. The "new" roles that do open up from time to time are for niche roles like 340b coordinator, insurance specialist etc. not staffing or "clinical pharmacist" roles (okay, maybe oncology from time to time).
Click to expand...
I'm actually not part of a union and I don't believe that there is an option to join a union at either hospital that I work at. I do agree though that there really aren't many new positions being created in hospitals. Most of the positions opening up are from someone leaving or retiring (but I have still seen a few new positions created in my short time working).
 
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I often wonder if being a homeless crack addict is considered in the stats as doing "something related to pharmacy" as it makes employment options look better to attract these gullible new grads..... As a crack addict, you do frequently handle pharmaceuticals so they aren't exactly lying....
 
TateThePharmacist said:
@Dred Pirate from your post history I actually believe that you're in that 5%, @Pharmacy is a Scam ......given your user name alone I can't quite come to that same conclusion lol.

I'm actually not part of a union and I don't believe that there is an option to join a union at either hospital that I work at. I do agree though that there really aren't many new positions being created in hospitals. Most of the positions opening up are from someone leaving or retiring (but I have still seen a few new positions created in my short time working).
Click to expand...
thanks - in response to the second half - my hospital in the last decade has double its staff - (albiet we are a growing hospital in a fast growing area). In the past 3 years we have probably added ~10 Rph positions - in a 80 RPh staff. We luckily have had great support from the C suite to continue to expand services - so it can happen, but I also realize we are the exception, not the rule.
 
Dred Pirate said:
thanks - in response to the second half - my hospital in the last decade has double its staff - (albiet we are a growing hospital in a fast growing area). In the past 3 years we have probably added ~10 Rph positions - in a 80 RPh staff. We luckily have had great support from the C suite to continue to expand services - so it can happen, but I also realize we are the exception, not the rule.
Click to expand...
That's pretty dang good to have that much expansion! Like I said, I've already seen a few positions added in the short time that I've been working, but I really don't think it's enough for the amount of residents graduating every year and especially not enough for all the new grads every year.
And really I believe the only reason that I've even seen the positions added that I have is because we are super territorial at one of the hospitals I work at. We really don't let the nurses do anything pharmacy related, which makes it seem like we're much busier then we really would be otherwise.

@Dad1719 Something I forgot to mention originally is that you really need to look at tuition costs. If you're applying this late in the cycle, my guess is that the only schools that will accept you are private programs. I really wouldn't recommend going to a private program, it'd be worth waiting a whole year to get accepted to a public school. My rule of thumb is look up the average salary of whatever profession you're interested in and what they'd make their first year out of school on average. Now look at how much tuition it will cost you to get the degree necessary for that profession. The added up cost of tuition should never be more that the average annual salary of a new grad. The number of pharmacy schools that meet this rule are dwindling (and honestly many other professions aren't able to meet this rule anymore). The best analogy that I can come up with is going to a private pharmacy school is the equivalent of taking out 120k in student loans to be an elementary school teacher. Doesn't make a lot of sense does it? Yet this forum is filled with people who did exactly that.
 
rxkrafted said:
So why can't we have the job we want in pharmacy where we want to live?
Click to expand...
Oh I definitely think you can! It's just extremely hard to have that straight out of school. I believe with the correct career moves and geographical moves that you can attain both, in fact I think I'll be able to have both in about a year or two and I graduated in 2019.
 
Dad1719 said:
Hey I am new to the pharmacy application process and I’m curious about the deadlines for schools. The schools I am wanting to apply to have deadlines around the March/April. If I rush through my application and letters of recommendation do I even have a chance?
Click to expand...

Specifically answering your question alone: Yes.

Apply on PharmCAS as most schools harbor that route and submit transcripts / LORs / and secondary supplementations as needed. So long as everything is on time there is always a chance.
 
To the OP, the past few years schools have had empty seats, and people have gotten offers from schools very late (someone here posted about a school wanting them a week after classes had started!) Pharmacy is currently extremely non-competitive, you will have no problem finding a school to take you, right up to the start date. If you are wise, you will realize that means their is a major problem with pharmacy.
 
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