Pharmacists: Do you like your job, and why?
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It's nothing special. Just retail. Your job is what you make of it, though.
This district has a lot of overachiever pharmacists, the types who enjoy working whether it's retail or hospital, so they're up for counseling patients. They leave notes on bags, flag prescriptions that require counseling, answer any and every question, etc.
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I know this thread is old... But I wanted to make a comment because everyone here seems to love their job.
I absolutely hate my job in Pharmacy. I work in retail. My hours are never the same. I work at at a 24 hour so I could work at 3pm one day, and then work at 8am the next day. Sometimes graveyard. My days off are never the same either. My schedule changes on a whim and ruins my plans at home. Sometimes my schedule change the day I come to work.
I don't get paid holidays or get sick days because I am on-call. I don't get benefits or insurance. I've been working at this crazy place for 2 years and still no job openings that will take me. They say it's hard to get into part time or full time with an on-call job. Also, I work 40 hours a week but they can't make me full time. If I complain about it, I'll lose my hours of course. But even the part-timers don't have very consistent hours either.
The stress is very high. Sometimes I work graveyard and that's just as bad because a lot of addicted narcs and angry patients (who were dealt with during the day) come in at night. People underestimate how bad working graveyard nights really are to your overall health. One Pharmacist lost his ability to sleep from working graveyard so long. He says he has a hard time getting to sleep even with sleeping pills and he'll be lucky if he can even sleep four hours.
Constantly getting yelled at everyday by patients, doctors, or managers. And these days, it's very hard to get hospital jobs. This job sucks.
I absolutely hate my job in Pharmacy. I work in retail. My hours are never the same. I work at at a 24 hour so I could work at 3pm one day, and then work at 8am the next day. Sometimes graveyard. My days off are never the same either. My schedule changes on a whim and ruins my plans at home. Sometimes my schedule change the day I come to work.
I don't get paid holidays or get sick days because I am on-call. I don't get benefits or insurance. I've been working at this crazy place for 2 years and still no job openings that will take me. They say it's hard to get into part time or full time with an on-call job. Also, I work 40 hours a week but they can't make me full time. If I complain about it, I'll lose my hours of course. But even the part-timers don't have very consistent hours either.
The stress is very high. Sometimes I work graveyard and that's just as bad because a lot of addicted narcs and angry patients (who were dealt with during the day) come in at night. People underestimate how bad working graveyard nights really are to your overall health. One Pharmacist lost his ability to sleep from working graveyard so long. He says he has a hard time getting to sleep even with sleeping pills and he'll be lucky if he can even sleep four hours.
Constantly getting yelled at everyday by patients, doctors, or managers. And these days, it's very hard to get hospital jobs. This job sucks.
Flo001, I totally agree with you. If I had to guess, it's impossible for Flo001 to find another pharmacist job and get out.
Yikes! I do not like what I just read. I genuinely and sincerely hope something changes in your job where you will appreciate the field of pharmacy again. To go through 4 years of pharmacy school and then to come out in a less than desirable situation for the past 2 years is, I'm sure, what you least expected. Hang in there, though. Stick it out. Try to be positive. Do not give up. Some opportunity will present itself when you least expect it, but you must be proactive to change your situation. Good Luck.
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Lemme guess, you work at CVS?
What are your responsibilities as an on call pharmacist? Do they just call you every day when they need help somewhere? or it is just for the 24 hour stores? Because it seems they change your schedule at least 7 or more times a month and call you 7 days a week if you are a floater as well. Also, living in SoCal where there are 3 pharmacy schools in the area, one may be fortunate to have any job at all most likely.
This is exactly how I feel. Retail is becoming such a sht place. I used to love retail but the past few years it has gone down the toilet. You can't tell patients to f-k off without proper language and a smile. It's hard to break out of retail and do something else once you're in it and there are few openings (most of which will go to people with residencies or networking). Not only that, the hospital jobs are lame too...clinical pharmacists? Don't make me laugh...I'd say that maybe 10% of these jobs are productive. I think the only good place left to work is for costco/sams maybe target...grocery chains...and PBM.
I never even wanted to go into retail. I was forced to years ago because it was the only job I could get. I still feel that I'll never be able to leave with the job market how bad it is.
Omfg stop posting and go out looking for a job already!!! Christ... If I was unemployed and have loans up my ass, I would not be on SDN 24/7... What is wrong with you?!?!?! You whine and complain on every single thread every single day and I'm tired of it!!! You know what normal people do when they are in an unfavorable situation? They go out and change it! Stop posting and do something about your life already!!!
Let us try and be a little nicer, yeah? We do not know Angela1234's entire situation. Some people may be stuck and unable to leave a certain location due to any number of variables. SDN can be used as a medium to vent and share experiences with others, so let us not attack her.
I was hoping to work for wucool33 there. He or she MUST be cool, it says cool right in their name so you know they have street cred. You sound like you'd be such a nice co-worker, wucool. To where should I send my CV? 🙄🙄🙄
I should be flattered that wucool33 is reading my posts.
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Go to "My Account" near the top left of the page, then "Edit options" and "Edit ignore list" on the left side. Add Angela1234. Note decreased hypertension. You're welcome. Now, your computer will do what others might be having their brains do with the posts of those they find particularly irritating.
I don't know about you, but if my goal was to find a job, this is what I would do with my time: A) Apply online B) Go out and look for a job C) Network with friends. I'd not spend this much time on SDN... Maybe 10mins per day. Look at how fast she replied to me... you think a serious job searcher have that much free time on his/her hand? To me, that just shows zero dedication. She keeps going on and on about not wanting to work retail. Did she do anything about it while she was still in school? You know what my classmates did when they didn't want to do retail? They either did a residency or had years of experience in a hospital setting while in school... or both.
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Too much work for a troll poster... I'll just ignore her posts now.
She doesn't always post on Sundays? Also I didn't know all the job postings goes off line on Sundays. Also, it's late. I'd have gone to bed already, so I can wake up early on Monday to start my job hunt again.
Simmer down. SDN is a place for support, too. Kicking people when they're down is not going to earn you any favors....just sayin'...
yah and i am sure sleeping early and waking up early on Monday to apply online is going to make a huge difference.
I think her struggle worries you and that irritates you.
I know it's also for support. I found my current job through one of the posters here and that's why I love SDN. I'm not trying to kick her when she's down. When some other people are posting about how they can't find a job, they always have a plan or at least have an idea of what they are trying to do. But all Angela does is complain... show me one post by her where she showed a tiny bit of initiative and I'll show some support.
So the only way to get a job is to apply online now? And I'm sure sleeping the entire day is better? It would actually worry me if from her posts I see a motivated individual... but I don't see that... so I guess just irritated.
What do you really expect her to do? take her resume to every walgreens in the neighborhood and hand it to the pharmacist? They are just going to tell her to apply online. I dont care why she posts on this forum but like you, she's welcome to.
are you working?
If you read my above post, I'd not be on SDN this much if I wasn't. All my time would be spent on making profiles and applying online... talking to friends about potential opportunities etc etc etc. I'd spend maybe about 10-15 mins every other day to read some posts here on SDN. Basically all my time would be dedicated to job searching (which is exactly what I did when I was looking for a job).
Also, if she posts something other than how much she hates pharmacy, like how she's going about doing her job search or what she does during her interviews, then MAYBE people here can actually help her and show her what she's doing wrong. But literally all she does is making sarcastic remarks about how she hates being a pharmacist... like I said, she shows zero motivation to actually get a job.
Posting in every thread about how you can't get a job does get old. No reason to kick someone when they are down though. Also if you want to add someone to the ignore list just click on their username next to any of their posts and click "Add to Ignore List". Tada!
I'm really not trying to kick her when she's down. I just don't see how someone can be in that situation and then refuses to do better. Despite what people say about the job market, most of the people still do get jobs... Especially those with experience. So why not her? Like I said, I'd have shown support if she's actually asking for help and support or tell us what she's doing, so we can show her what more she could do. But look at all her posts, she has done nothing but complain about the profession. How do you support someone like that?
You are so assertive and aggressive huh? You didn't even take the NAPLEX until Sept. Why the long wait?
http://mobile.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=13082969#post13082969
http://mobile.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=13082969#post13082969
Just so you know, wucool33, I am going through a really hard time right now. Not only am I having trouble finding full time employment, and of course I will work anywhere to pay the rent. I had a major health scare today and I thought I was going to end up in the hospital. Then the guy I liked who was helping me though everything I have not heard back from in a long time, so I'm sure he hates me too. So I am going through a lot right now.
If there was someone's post I didn't like, I would just skip over or not read their posts. I would not waste my time putting them down. After working in retail and having to deal with rude customers on a daily basis, I try not to sweat the small stuff and move on quickly.
If there was someone's post I didn't like, I would just skip over or not read their posts. I would not waste my time putting them down. After working in retail and having to deal with rude customers on a daily basis, I try not to sweat the small stuff and move on quickly.
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I don't hate pharmacy, don't put words in my mouth. I just dislike in retail how awful some of the customers treated us. I also dislike having to deal with fake prescriptions, and people trying to scam us.
I think I am doing alright for having a broken heart and a health scare. Believe it or not, being out of work is very depressing, and it takes time to rebuild. I could post the tons of places I have applied to, but I won't because I know I am doing the best I can.
I mainly wanted to know what on call pharmacists do? Like what are their responsibilities?
I think I am doing alright for having a broken heart and a health scare. Believe it or not, being out of work is very depressing, and it takes time to rebuild. I could post the tons of places I have applied to, but I won't because I know I am doing the best I can.
I mainly wanted to know what on call pharmacists do? Like what are their responsibilities?
Cali lost my forms... Also had to do my finger print twice. I was on the phone or emailing them everyday around that time. You think i wanted to work as a grad intern for that long? And I think they r generally one of the slowest states when it comes to giving auth to test to out of state students. Lol glad u actually dug through my posts 🙂
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sorry to hear about all that. I was a little annoyed I guess because I got a vibe that u hated pharmacy from all your posts. Have u tried signing up for LinkedIn's membership service? If I were u, I would built my profile on that and then start send messages to all the recruiters or pdms in ur area. If u r really willing to work anywhere, then I think u should be able to get a job. I mean if pharmDstudent or whatever his name was can get a job in a desirable location with zero experience, then u can definitely find something with 2 years of experience.
Just wondering, Angela1234, what kind of activities/jobs/internships did you work while you were in pharmacy school? Was it difficult to get an internship in a hospital?
If you will work anywhere, then you may want to move to an area that needs pharmacists. I know retail sucks, I did it for a year before moving to hospital. In order to move to hospital, I took a job over 50 miles drive from my house to a more rural area. No one would hire me in the city. I suggest that you just expand your job search area and see what you come up with.
