is tech experience necessary to find a good pharmacist position

[suying]

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I am finishing my 3rd year pharmacy school. I decide to work as a hospital pharmacist after graduation. I do not have any hospital technician working experience.
My friend told me that hospital usually only looks for new graduate with some tech working experience. Is this true? I have tried to contact my previous preceptors or people working in hospital, but I get bad luck so far and could not find any current opening. This makes me feel frustrated and worried that I am not competitive for getting a good pharmacist position offer after graduation.

so here are my questions:
1. how important is the tech working experience for locating a pharmacist position in retail or hospital?
2. Is there any good suggestion for finding a tech job in hospital?
3. How early should forth year pharamcy student begin to look for jobs after graduation?

Sorry my post is long. Any advice and suggestion will be greatly appreciated!

 

[DownonthePharm]

A lot of hospitals want techs with previous experience. I dont know why they would care if their pharmacists had tech experience.

 

[spacecowgirl]

A lot of hospitals want techs with previous experience. I dont know why they would care if their pharmacists had tech experience.

It's harder to supervise people when you don't know what their job entails, so I think it does help. I would keep trying to get a hospital job as an intern, even if it's just a couple of hours filling in when needed. I work in a hospital and I do think it is so drastically different from retail that experience would be a bonus.

What kind of hospital position are you looking for?

 

[dgroulx]

All the hospital staff pharmacist positions around here require a year of hospital experience. You may be able to count rotation experience towards this. Out of all my rotations, 7 months will be spent in a hospital setting. None of it has been tech work, but I helped them out when I wasn't busy. You may want to sign up for a rotation in hospital practice, too.

Are you just starting year three, or are you finished with year three and on rotations now? Try to do well on rotations and make sure you make a favorable impression on your preceptors. They could be the person who makes the hiring decisions. They may also write a letter of recommendation for you. A residency will also give you a year of experience.