just a heads up about attitude

[lorain]

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So a buddy of mine, worked non-hospital job for a few years out of school, got a staff inpatient hospital position in fairly large hospital...yes i know, shocking since most of these positions require a pgy1

why you ask? as his boss (the director) told him, paraphrased:

"I can teach you everything about how to do this job, but I cant make you into a teamplayer. we let the last rph go because he/she couldnt get along with anyone and created scenes, and the four others we interviewed aside from you are residency trained coming in here with a chip on their shoulder expecting the job b/c they did a residency. you are the only 1 who honestly told us your weakness in the interview instead of the others who gave me a generic bulls*** answer b/c they thought they had none and they came off to me as if they are better than everyone else"


thats right folks, a non residency trained guy got the job, b/c of his good attitude and willingness to learn. so just remember, no matter how trained you are and no matter how high your gpa in school was, be humble and ready to work as a teammate.

 

[crazybob]

So a buddy of mine, worked non-hospital job for a few years out of school, got a staff inpatient hospital position in fairly large hospital...yes i know, shocking since most of these positions require a pgy1

why you ask? as his boss (the director) told him, paraphrased:

"I can teach you everything about how to do this job, but I cant make you into a teamplayer. we let the last rph go because he/she couldnt get along with anyone and created scenes, and the four others we interviewed aside from you are residency trained coming in here with a chip on their shoulder expecting the job b/c they did a residency. you are the only 1 who honestly told us your weakness in the interview instead of the others who gave me a generic bulls*** answer b/c they thought they had none and they came off to me as if they are better than everyone else"


thats right folks, a non residency trained guy got the job, b/c of his good attitude and willingness to learn. so just remember, no matter how trained you are and no matter how high your gpa in school was, be humble and ready to work as a teammate.

👍

 

[All4MyDaughter]

Troll thread. We all know there are no jobs and it's impossible to find a job. If there were jobs, they would all require a PGY4 residency or greater to obtain. But there are no jobs!



J/K - good post! 👍

 

[crazybob]

Troll thread. We all know there are no jobs and it's impossible to find a job. If there were jobs, they would all require a PGY4 residency or greater to obtain. But there are no jobs!



J/K - good post! 👍

That sounds about as crazy as when I told a friend in middle school that I had a crazy dream about "playstation 9" coming out. And my friend said "you must be crazy. They haven't even come out with PS2 yet."

I hear about the 'attitude thing' with people at school who couldn't get along well with pharmacists and other employees.

 

[Cloud 9]

Some people get lucky breaks.

 

[Jabberwocky12]

Stop trollin'.

He got the job because he was the CEO's son. Face it, we all know it's true. They created the job for the RPH.




Good thing to hear, I'm a douche online but a cool guy IRL (I hope) so maybe there is hope for me yet.

 

[Electrode]

+1

 

[rxlea]

This is pretty much what my director has said... We just hired a new pharmacist and she is a biatch. I think they are regretting their decision. Hopefully the other 3 pharmacists we hired are much nicer.

You have to be a team player. You aren't going to know everything anyway -residency or not - because each institution does things their own way. You have to be open and willing to learn. There was a douchebag pharmacist that used to work for us and he got canned because he was such a tool.

 

[type b pharmD]

its amazing that there are so many tools out there, really. it makes me feel a little bit better about job prospects, actually

 

[Allure]

My hospital just hired this guy and he is the biggest tool out there. He is oblivious to his surroundings, loud, obnoxious and just plain annoying. On top of that, I've never seen anyone complain soooooooo much about EVERYTHING. He worked as an intern for the same hospital, but at a different location and they wouldn't hire him. I don't know why we did.

 

[Pharmavixen]

Most of the time, I'd hire on the basis of personality rather than brilliance. If someone lacks knowledge/training but has a good attitude and can read, they can be brought up to speed. But if someone is a d-bag, you can't do much.

 

[J ROD]

my attitude helped me over others....or the fact I am funny and easy to work with.

I know when we as a company are looking to hire anyone the biggest thing we look at after the basic qualifications is whether or not we think they will get along well in our work environment.

In fact, we are seriously considering firing one of our best techs because of attitude....work ethic is great and does alot but is not a team player...kills team moral.

basically, there is alot more to work than just being intelligent....especially since we all think we are the smartest in the room...

 

[rph3664]

In 2004, my last facility hired a newly graduated Pharm.D. who thought his doodoo didn't smell because he had that Pharm.D. Even before he was licensed, he told our oldest pharmacist, who graduated in 1966 and just retired a few weeks ago (yes, I knew things had to be bad when he retired; we all figured he'd leave that place via the morgue!) that he didn't know what he was talking about because he didn't have a Pharm.D. Mr. 1966, who's a really laid back guy, totally told him off.

A few months before I left, they hired a clinical coordinator who treats everyone else like they're something you'd scrape off the bottom of your shoe, and while she's not a good fit for the department, she's a perfect fit for management which is probably why they hired her. 👎 She is a complete phony and a total fake on top of it, except maybe for her credentials.

p.s. I got another call on Friday regarding an open job. This makes it SIX responses in the past few weeks. I also got a letter yesterday from a place about 300 miles away that never even called me for an interview stating that they had hired someone else, but that position was part-time anyway. At least they let me know. One of my Facebook friends, who works in HR, told me that companies with more than 25 employees are required by law to advertise all job openings even if they plan to fill them internally.

 

[WhiteSnows]

Thanks for this post. In real life, people who got the most paid jobs are not necessary the one who knows the most, but the one who know how to handle people. I keep this lesson for years. It really works.

 

[KARM12]

You have to be a team player. You aren't going to know everything anyway -residency or not - because each institution does things their own way. You have to be open and willing to learn.

BINGO. This is the key... The only bad thing is that this can be hard to evaluate when looking at candidates for a job.

Glad to see a P1 has way more insight than most pharmacists!

 

[rxlea]

BINGO. This is the key... The only bad thing is that this can be hard to evaluate when looking at candidates for a job.

Glad to see a P1 has way more insight than most pharmacists!

Yes, it can be difficult to evaluate peopl during an interview because, most likely, they have prepared for all the difficult questions and will say what you want to hear anyway-- just like the RPh we hired 👎

Thanks for the kind words, too. I just want to reiterate what everyone above has said! This doesn't apply just to the job market post graduation either. As students, we should be just as open and willing to learn...we can't go into IPPE and rotations thinking we know everything no matter how perfect our GPA is. I have been humbled quite a few times despite my extensive work experience.

Arrogance diminishes wisdom - Proverb.

 

[rph3664]

Credentials vs. attitude vs. good fit for the job is true with ANY kind of work, not just pharmacy.

 

[nafcillin]

But yeah, it's true. Attitude is so incredibly important as is knowledge. There are people at my work with no communication skills and can barely tolerate getting a handoff. I don't get it, honestly. I would take a nice, average pharmacist over a socially incompetent and crabby genius pharmacist.

 

[Sparda29]

Is it a pre-req for an Assistant Director of Pharmacy to be a bitchy and confrontational person? Every site I've seen, there was always a lot of hostility between the staff pharmacists and the Assistant Director. (And no hostility towards the Director.)

 

[jinga]

This is an awesome thread.

I think it pays to come to work with a smile, love your work, and approach it with a humble and 'willing to learn attitude.' I'm actually pretty good bros with the maintenance/housekeeping staff at my hospital. They're the coolest!

 

[Ackj]

Is it a pre-req for an Assistant Director of Pharmacy to be a bitchy and confrontational person? Every site I've seen, there was always a lot of hostility between the staff pharmacists and the Assistant Director. (And no hostility towards the Director.)

Never experienced this, but it seems like a good model. Makes you appreciate/respect your Director more.

 

[Pharmacy Kid]

Keep your feet on the ground and your thoughts at lofty heights.

- Peace Pilgrim

 

[rph3664]

p.s. I got another call on Friday regarding an open job. This makes it SIX responses in the past few weeks.

I just called this place back, because they left a message and I didn't get home until after business hours, and not only did the person whose name I took down not work there, they had no openings of the type relevant to me. 😕 Weird.

 

[lorain]

I just called this place back, because they left a message and I didn't get home until after business hours, and not only did the person whose name I took down not work there, they had no openings of the type relevant to me. 😕 Weird.

thats messed up👎

 

[lorain]

Some people get lucky breaks.

there is always some element of luck, i call it an opportunity. the question is, is one prepared (ie resume prepared, practiced interview stuff, willing to be a team player and removed one's ego out of the equation,etc.) to take advantage of said opportunity when it arises?

 

[tungsten87]

Some people get lucky breaks.

this is true, but I generally think those who are hard working and humble often have better luck.

 

[ucrx]

A good attitude can make work a much better place. Other pharmacists will treat you better if you work hard and mesh well with the department. They won't treat you so well if you don't. This can become morphed because of politics, but the basics are still there.

Also, for those who are working with new pharmacists, give it some time for their real personalities to show. There were several new pharmacists at my hospital last summer. We totally had misjudged 2 based on the first month. The one we thought was a jerk and didn't want to work hard turned out to be really sarcastic, but very smart, laid back, and a hard worker. One we thought would be really nice and smart turned out to be lazy, unwilling to put in more than the minimum, and not open to learning anything from the people he works with.

 

[PharmDstudent]

You need to be nice to customers if you work retail and dedicated to the work in hospital pharmacy. It's too easy to run customers off if you can't be nice to them, and it makes everything harder if your coworkers goof off and avoid work at a hospital.

Everything else is pretty much subjective...

 

[IndustryPharmD]

Yep, most people I know hire on personality. There are almost always multiple people competent enough to do the job (unless we are talking about niche specialists), so you choose the one you wit whom wouldn't mind spending 8+ hours a day, five days a week. 🙂

 

[Its Z]

So a buddy of mine, worked non-hospital job for a few years out of school, got a staff inpatient hospital position in fairly large hospital...yes i know, shocking since most of these positions require a pgy1

why you ask? as his boss (the director) told him, paraphrased:

"I can teach you everything about how to do this job, but I cant make you into a teamplayer. we let the last rph go because he/she couldnt get along with anyone and created scenes, and the four others we interviewed aside from you are residency trained coming in here with a chip on their shoulder expecting the job b/c they did a residency. you are the only 1 who honestly told us your weakness in the interview instead of the others who gave me a generic bulls*** answer b/c they thought they had none and they came off to me as if they are better than everyone else"


thats right folks, a non residency trained guy got the job, b/c of his good attitude and willingness to learn. so just remember, no matter how trained you are and no matter how high your gpa in school was, be humble and ready to work as a teammate.

I appreciate your "feel good" story.

But everything being equal, the residency trained candidate with a good attitude will get the nod over the one without residency.

 

[xiphoid2010]

I wouldn't count on all the resident applicants to royally screw up during their interviews, especially in this job market.

 

[VCU07]

I appreciate your "feel good" story.

But everything being equal, the residency trained candidate with a good attitude will get the nod over the one without residency.

A residency isn't everything. If I had a choice b/n a new grad with residency vs. a more senior pharmacist with clinical training, then experience is what I'd choose.

 

[Rebel78]

So a buddy of mine, worked non-hospital job for a few years out of school, got a staff inpatient hospital position in fairly large hospital...yes i know, shocking since most of these positions require a pgy1

why you ask? as his boss (the director) told him, paraphrased:

"I can teach you everything about how to do this job, but I cant make you into a teamplayer. we let the last rph go because he/she couldnt get along with anyone and created scenes, and the four others we interviewed aside from you are residency trained coming in here with a chip on their shoulder expecting the job b/c they did a residency. you are the only 1 who honestly told us your weakness in the interview instead of the others who gave me a generic bulls*** answer b/c they thought they had none and they came off to me as if they are better than everyone else"


thats right folks, a non residency trained guy got the job, b/c of his good attitude and willingness to learn. so just remember, no matter how trained you are and no matter how high your gpa in school was, be humble and ready to work as a teammate.

Great post! That's exactly what happened with me, I worked at WAG for 5 years, now I've been working at a teaching hospital for almost 2. Tell him congrats!

When you interview, focus on what you can add and what you can do, and show you are willing to learn. They can't say no.

 

[Rebel78]

I appreciate your "feel good" story.

But everything being equal, the residency trained candidate with a good attitude will get the nod over the one without residency.

Interviewing for a job is selling yourself, and there are plenty of techniques to do that.

I agree, everything being equal, the residency trained candidate will get the job, but it's your responsibility to make sure everything isn't equal 👍

 

[crazybob]

I agree, everything being equal, the residency trained candidate will get the job, but it's your responsibility to make sure everything isn't equal 👍

👍

 

[Its Z]

A residency isn't everything. If I had a choice b/n a new grad with residency vs. a more senior pharmacist with clinical training, then experience is what I'd choose.

Who said residency is everything?

Well, between more senior pharmacist with clinical training(how do you get that anyways?) vs. more senior pharmacist with clinical training with residency... who'd get the nod??

 

[Its Z]

I agree, everything being equal, the residency trained candidate will get the job, but it's your responsibility to make sure everything isn't equal 👍

Yup... that's why they go out and do PGY1 & PGY2.

 

[crazybob]

Yup... that's why they go out and do PGY1 & PGY2.

So we're gonna have to start doing both?

 

[Rebel78]

Yup... that's why they go out and do PGY1 & PGY2.

That's one way to do it, but it's certainly not the end all be all.

 

[Rebel78]

So we're gonna have to start doing both?

Of course, that is the only way to get a job.

 

[VCU07]

Who said residency is everything?

Well, between more senior pharmacist with clinical training(how do you get that anyways?) vs. more senior pharmacist with clinical training with residency... who'd get the nod??

Never implied residency was everything based on your comments...just an opinion. Senior pharmacist? Hard work my good man. Now, b/n the two...honestly, residency wouldn't hold any significance at that point. To me, its kind of like someone asking whether you would hire a new grad with 6 yrs of education vs 8. Who cares? Does not matter at that point.

 

[Its Z]

That's one way to do it, but it's certainly not the end all be all.

I can only speak from my experience. I interviewed 4 last week. All finishing up PGY2. Our recruiter is not even forwarding the resume of new grads or ones without residency. At the same time, there's not even FT staff hospital pharmacy position open.

Of course I'm interviewing candidates for clinical manager or DOP...

Just letting you know who you're competing with.

But looks like you've been out for a while. Just 2 years ago, I would have hired a retailer for a hospital postion. Not today.

 

[Its Z]

Never implied residency was everything based on your comments...just an opinion. Senior pharmacist? Hard work my good man. Now, b/n the two...honestly, residency wouldn't hold any significance at that point. To me, its kind of like someone asking whether you would hire a new grad with 6 yrs of education vs 8. Who cares? Does not matter at that point.

The longer you're in pharmacy, more opportunity to have a bad reference and negative rep... Pharmacy is a small world...we can just pick up a phone and call to ask..."hey...tell me about so and so..." and this results in more people not getting the second look.

So why would a senior pharmacist with experience leave a job for another staff job? And how do you even become a senior pharmacist with experience if you can't get on board in first place?

 

[VCU07]

I can only speak from my experience. I interviewed 4 last week. All finishing up PGY2. Our recruiter is not even forwarding the resume of new grads or ones without residency. At the same time, there's not even FT staff hospital pharmacy position open.

Of course I'm interviewing candidates for clinical manager or DOP...

Just letting you know who you're competing with.

But looks like you've been out for a while. Just 2 years ago, I would have hired a retailer for a hospital postion. Not today.

How times have changed...

 

[Rebel78]

I can only speak from my experience. I interviewed 4 last week. All finishing up PGY2. Our recruiter is not even forwarding the resume of new grads or ones without residency. At the same time, there's not even FT staff hospital pharmacy position open.

Of course I'm interviewing candidates for clinical manager or DOP...

Just letting you know who you're competing with.

But looks like you've been out for a while. Just 2 years ago, I would have hired a retailer for a hospital postion. Not today.

So your interviewing PGY2 residents for DOP positions? Gotta say that's surprising, most PGY2 residents I've worked with aren't exactly ready to be a DOP, at least not a good one, IMO.

The hospital I work at is a teaching hospital, we have 3 residency positions there, and I take them on rounds occasionally, so I'm pretty familiar with "who I'm competing with."

 

[Its Z]

So your interviewing PGY2 residents for DOP positions? Gotta say that's surprising, most PGY2 residents I've worked with aren't exactly ready to be a DOP, at least not a good one, IMO.

Clinical Manager.

DOP candidates typically now have PGY1 and MS or MBA.

 

[Its Z]

The hospital I work at is a teaching hospital, we have 3 residency positions there, and I take them on rounds occasionally, so I'm pretty familiar with "who I'm competing with."

I would hardly think your 3 residents represent who's really out there applying for job.

 

[rph3664]

I can only speak from my experience. I interviewed 4 last week. All finishing up PGY2. Our recruiter is not even forwarding the resume of new grads or ones without residency. At the same time, there's not even FT staff hospital pharmacy position open.

Of course I'm interviewing candidates for clinical manager or DOP...

Just letting you know who you're competing with.

But looks like you've been out for a while. Just 2 years ago, I would have hired a retailer for a hospital postion. Not today.

And this is why I have decided to apply for no more jobs in the time being, and if I receive no viable prospects in the weeks or months to come, I'm going to return to the city where I used to live and most likely leave the profession. 🙁

 

[rph3664]

Clinical Manager.

DOP candidates typically now have PGY1 and MS or MBA.

DOP positions, for as long as I've been in the field (20-odd years) have almost always required an MBA. If you restrict this to PGY1, you're going to have a lot of 27-year-olds running big hospital pharmacies, KWIM?

BTW, this trend is occurring in education too. Most of the school principals around here are women in their 30s, or even late 20s.

 

[Its Z]

DOP positions, for as long as I've been in the field (20-odd years) have almost always required an MBA. If you restrict this to PGY1, you're going to have a lot of 27-year-olds running big hospital pharmacies, KWIM?

Who's restricting???