I matched 1 year after graduating, during that year I worked as a hospital staff pharmacist in a small community hospital where I had the chance to do some special projects which bolstered by CV (a lot of informatics projects (ADC implementation, transition to new CPOE, some basic order sentences/sets), discharge med rec, pediatrics, some PharmD APPE precepting). This was a hospital that I interned at, so the DOP knew me well.
When I applied 1 year out, I emphasized how I had already transitioned from student to pharmacist, and how having made that transition, I would be a stronger resident. I believe this is a good strategy, because if you think abt it, by the time that RPD reads your application letter in Jan or interviews you in February, what will be fresh in their head is their current residency class- and it's always the case that there's resident who they thought would be killing it, is actually struggling, and others struggled those first few months transitioning into a resident role and meeting those expectations. I also emphasized that the sheer fact that I wanted to be residency-trained even after having a pretty good job showed that I was committed and really wanted to do it (despite the paycut, lifestyle demands, etc etc). I knew going into it that I wanted to do a PGY2, so I was very thoughtful in terms of what programs I applied to and how they specifically would fit my goals.
You probably should apply more broadly this year, because I will say that some RPDs will be biased against applicants who are already pharmacists. You won't really know until well... you apply and don't get interviews.
You probably will want to maintain contact with preceptors/professors who can write you a letter of (new/updated) recommendation as well. What I mean by this, is update them in the coming weeks of the outcome of Phase II, what your immediate plans for work post-grad are, and that you are considering re-applying next year and would be reaching out for a recommendation (just so when you call them in 6 months, it's not random and totally unexpected)
If you don't match for this Phase II and plan on applying next year, take a bit of a break while you get licensed, travel, relax, decompress, but definitely get to work. Now standing on this side of the interview table, we've had pharmacist candidates one year out, who literally got licensed but didn't do anything else in between May graduation and February interviewing.
Good luck!
