Pharmacist vs Pharmacy student: Job Market

[BMBiology]

Pharmacist: Yeah, the job market is pretty bad for pharmacists
Pharmacy student: I don't want to hear your whining! Suck it up!

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[glory4england]

lol true to some extent, 90% of students maybe? I'm a P1 and I know how bad things can get. I plan move to Alaska or West Texas if things don't get better =D I mean, if I can't get work in those places, then Pharmacy is truly "ducked" =D

Its good to hope for the best and prepare for the worst ^^

 

[Ackj]

lol true to some extent, 90% of students maybe? I'm a P1 and I know how bad things can get. I plan move to Alaska or West Texas if things don't get better =D I mean, if I can't get work in those places, then Pharmacy is truly "ducked" =D

Its good to hope for the best and prepare for the worst ^^

Yeah, as a P1 I'm not really worried right now, since it'll most likely improve by the time I'm graduating. I can understand why pharmacists would be upset: they're in the market NOW and we're not. But the economy goes in cycles, so it'll swing up eventually

 

[crazybob]

Yeah, as a P1 I'm not really worried right now, since it'll most likely improve by the time I'm graduating. I can understand why pharmacists would be upset: they're in the market NOW and we're not. But the economy goes in cycles, so it'll swing up eventually

As a P1, I'm worried about finding a position as an INTERN right now. The last place I went to said that they prefer students with more experience. Since about half or a third of my class does not have experience, then does that mean a third of us will not have any experience (outside of required hours for school) before we graduate? That's what I'm worried about.

 

[Sparda29]

I'm pissed because of the policies of these ****ing hospitals on hiring pharmacy interns. I keep getting calls from hiring managers, who know that I'm a pharmacy student, but yet have policies that pharmacy interns go through a 1 month full time training. I don't have a full month anywhere to dedicate to training.

 

[glory4england]

As a P1, I'm worried about finding a position as an INTERN right now. The last place I went to said that they prefer students with more experience. Since about half or a third of my class does not have experience, then does that mean a third of us will not have any experience (outside of required hours for school) before we graduate? That's what I'm worried about.

Yeah, that's the catch-22 of work experience. I don't have work experience either so I'm going to try to find work as a tech this summer and hopefully move into intern status after a while. Only bad thing is my city (Houston) is pretty saturated, if I get a position I have to drive like 40 minutes one way to work one day a week during the school year...

 

[Ackj]

As a P1, I'm worried about finding a position as an INTERN right now. The last place I went to said that they prefer students with more experience. Since about half or a third of my class does not have experience, then does that mean a third of us will not have any experience (outside of required hours for school) before we graduate? That's what I'm worried about.

Yeah, its hard to find things near schools, since all the other students are trying to get the spots as well. A big hospital has an internship near us, but they only took 2 students, and I wasn't one of them. I also interviewed for a nuke internship with Cardinal, but didn't hear anything from them. I've got an interview with Rite Aid on tuesday though, so I'm still hopeful.

 

[Rebel78]

The last place I went to said that they prefer students with more experience.

That makes no sense. How can they expect all of the students hired to have experience? How are you supposed to get experience? If you don't get it while your a student, then when are you supposed to get it??

Apply somewhere else, whomever is in charge of that is an idiot IMO.

 

[glory4england]

That makes no sense. How can they expect all of the students hired to have experience? How are you supposed to get experience? If you don't get it while your a student, then when are you supposed to get it??

Apply somewhere else, whomever is in charge of that is an idiot IMO.

Some of my classmates went in to Pharmacy school with tech experience from undergrad. As an undergrad you have more flexibility where as in pharmacy school you can only really work the weekends and maybe Friday. A couple of places I applied to said the same thing, they prefer people with more experience as it would be really hard to train someone when they only come in once a week. And they know the moment we get our PharmD we're gonna bail.

 

[KlingonDentist]

Yeah, as a P1 I'm not really worried right now, since it'll most likely improve by the time I'm graduating. I can understand why pharmacists would be upset: they're in the market NOW and we're not. But the economy goes in cycles, so it'll swing up eventually

The economy has already swung up, artificially now becuase of gov steroids ...err I mean stimulus from dow 6500 to over 11k.
the gov has recently removed most stimulus but the fundamentals are still horrid. this economy may be flat or even going down over the next 5-10 yrs. I would be more cautious.
Some say we may have a horrid TEOTW type crash by 2012.

 

[Tinkerbell22]

I don't know about the economy but there are still some places that need pharmacists. They just aren't in major cities near universities so many people don't want to live there. My hometown in south Florida is a couple of hours from Miami/Ft Lauderdale (hard to find a job) and they need pharmacists. There are openings, but not many people want to relocate because it is somewhat geographically isolated and expensive, but if you like fishing and bars then it's nice. lol They are building a brand new Walgreen's right next to CVS. In addition to the several CVS and Walgreen's there are a few Publix, Winn Dixies, Alberton's, and independent retail stores as well. Don't know how the market is for other areas outside of retail though.

 

[lorain]

if you are flexible, and well trained (residency), you will be fine

 

[104921]

Yeah, its hard to find things near schools, since all the other students are trying to get the spots as well. A big hospital has an internship near us, but they only took 2 students, and I wasn't one of them. I also interviewed for a nuke internship with Cardinal, but didn't hear anything from them. I've got an interview with Rite Aid on tuesday though, so I'm still hopeful.

How did you apply for the Cardinal nuclear internship? All I could find was the email addresses of 2 recruiters, one of which I sent an email to and haven't heard back.

 

[crazybob]

How did you apply for the Cardinal nuclear internship? All I could find was the email addresses of 2 recruiters, one of which I sent an email to and haven't heard back.

I interviewed with Cardinal when they came to my school to hold interviews.

They're not so great about emailing people back on time. There's an email that I sent in November, and there hasn't been a reply since then.

 

[Ackj]

How did you apply for the Cardinal nuclear internship? All I could find was the email addresses of 2 recruiters, one of which I sent an email to and haven't heard back.

I applied right on their website.

They're not so great about emailing people back on time. There's an email that I sent in November, and there hasn't been a reply since then.

After I applied online, I had a phone interview 2 days later. I thought "wow, what a prompt company." They said they'd schedule an in-person interview and call me in the next two weeks. Finally took place exactly 33 days after the phone interview, when I sent a few emails and phone calls to the local office. These things happen with big companies though, individual branches really don't know what's going on in the headquarters, and probably vice versa to some degree.

 

[Tinkerbell22]

I interviewed with Cardinal when they came to my school to hold interviews.

They're not so great about emailing people back on time. There's an email that I sent in November, and there hasn't been a reply since then.

This is why I intend on trying to stay with the company I currently work for. I really like it and I'm already in the system. It's kind of hard to get "in" with a large company unless you're extremely persistent and do the necessary calls and check ups, or unless you otherwise have a great resume or know someone (at least in my experience anyway).

I had no experience in pharmacy besides volunteering at a hospital that didn't allow me to do much of anything since someone ruined it for everyone by breaking a bunch of rules. They re-did all the "duties" for volunteers and we were not allowed as much responsibility.

Just keep trying... It took me forever to get a tech job (like 1.5 years, but you might have it easier since I'm in the Miami district for all retail stores ).

 

[297point1]

That makes no sense. How can they expect all of the students hired to have experience? How are you supposed to get experience? If you don't get it while your a student, then when are you supposed to get it??

This was the cornerstone of the U.S. Army's recruitment campaign in the late 80's and early 90's.

"Want experience for the workforce? Join the Army!"