Need advice for New graduate

[suying]

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I am going to graduate this year and going to be a single mother. It is really hard to find a job without evening shift. All the staff pharmacist job in hospital or in retail require some evening rotations. But I need to be home by 6pm to pick up my children.

I really appreciate your advice for how to find a pharmacist job without the evening shifts for new graduate. I know there are many clinical job in hospital with 9-5 schedule. But as a new graduate I am not qualified to these job. Very frustrated.

 

[sdn1977]

Unfortunately, these hours are part of the profession. The hours after 5PM when the physician offices are closed are often the busiest for both inpt & outpt pharmacy.

You're going to have a hard time with this since you are a new grad & you won't be gettting the "coveted" hours just because you have a child.

But..since you've still got some time, I'd suggest pursuing other child care arrangements which allow you more flexibility. You'll also need this when your child is sick. Employers frown on being gone as often as children get sick & child care folks insist sick children go home.

Have you looked into getting child care in your home? Perhaps someone from an agency or a trusted neighbor who also has children who would like to earn some money. Can the child's other parent put up part of the money required for more flexible hours for you?

Good luck! Altho I've not done the single parent thing, I've done the child care thing & even with two parents it can get tough!

Best of luck!

 

[SELDANE]

Almost all mail order pharmacies have 7am to 3pm, Monday through Friday shifts available. Granted because this shift is so desireable you are paid less than your counterparts who are available to work the evenings and weekends. Your other option might be the VA system. Once again the drawback is the decreased salary. In alot of cases this difference can be over 15,000$ per year depending on where you live. With that in mind, it may be better to take a higher paying job and arrange for child care in the evenings when necessary. In any case don't get too discouraged, pharmacy is in enough of a demand to where I'm sure you'll find something.

 

[Lexian]

I know of a few positions that specialize in compounding home infusions that have regular hours and no evening shifts. One of my girlfriend's coworkers just got the position.

 

[JerryPharmD]

Look for pharmacies in clinics. I work at a staff model where all the docs are in the building. There are 17 centers and only 3 are open past 5:30pm (till 9). I also went on rotation at a place that is a non-profit low income pharmacy that closes well before the chain stores. Best of luck.🙂