Pharmacy is such a dead end career- ranting

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metformin800

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So i quit my retail Pharmacist job 6 months after graduation. I am thinking about switching fields/ jobs to other health care field. I am willing to take pay cut in exchange of better work environment. I have been looking up jobs for past two days and I can’t find many jobs where pharmacy skills are transferable. Sorry if I am wrong. But I am regretting going to pharmacy school so much. Are there any pharmacists out there that arent practicing pharmacy? if so what positions are you working at.
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It's always been a dead end career for the vast majority of pharmacists. The only difference in the golden age was you knew that going into pharmacy you were trading the smaller chance of making extremely good money in your 30s and 40s in other fields for a guaranteed high starting salary that maybe increased with inflation. Now you have people going into pharmacy for a low starting salary that might increase with the rate of inflation. This is ignoring how workloads have increased 30-50% in retail over this period.

yourself GIF


As for what to do now, if you're crazy and want to stay in healthcare you could get a BSN in 12 months at the right program. If you have the aptitude and desire I would probably pivot towards tech where there are better salaries and much better working conditions.
 
Gombrich12 said:
It's always been a dead end career for the vast majority of pharmacists. The only difference in the golden age was you knew that going into pharmacy you were trading the smaller chance of making extremely good money in your 30s and 40s in other fields for a guaranteed high starting salary that maybe increased with inflation. Now you have people going into pharmacy for a low starting salary that might increase with the rate of inflation. This is ignoring how workloads have increased 30-50% in retail over this period.

yourself GIF


As for what to do now, if you're crazy and want to stay in healthcare you could get a BSN in 12 months at the right program. If you have the aptitude and desire I would probably pivot towards tech where there are better salaries and much better working conditions.
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I am thinking about tech but dont want to go to school or boot camp. I have been looking into federal and insurance company jobs to see if I can find desk job. Like I said before I am willing to take pay cut. I have thought about doing some tech courses on coursera.

do you know any federal jobs that I can do with pharmacy degree besides working as pharmacist.
 
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metformin800 said:
do you know any federal jobs that I can do with pharmacy degree besides working as pharmacist.
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Assuming you meet the physical requirements, some agencies will consider you for an 1811 position. Would also meet the requirements for DEA diversion investigator.
 
metformin800 said:
I am thinking about tech but dont want to go to school or boot camp. I have been looking into federal and insurance company jobs to see if I can find desk job. Like I said before I am willing to take pay cut. I have thought about doing some tech courses on coursera.

do you know any federal jobs that I can do with pharmacy degree besides working as pharmacist.
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You can work for a health insurance company and sell Medicare Part D plans
 
@lord999 i remember reading that you work for federal government. Do you know any position that I can apply for. Thanks in advance.
 
Assumed you meet the physical/moral/security standards, you can join the military as an officer. You wouldn't make bank but you'd have very good benefits. If you did the right things then you would be promoted every few years. Put 20 years in and you can retire in your late 40s
There are still decent pharmacist jobs out there but you need to accomplish at least one of these things below to become competitive:
1/ Get Board certified or specialty trained (either thru residency or just working at a rural location for a few years)
2/ Be a manager at retail pharmacy for a few years
3/ Make friend with the hiring managers
As a new grad, you have to pay your due first.
 
You could always learn the inner workings of the pharmacy become a manager and then buy your own?
But no, I agree, pharmacy looks like an amazing degree and you’ll have so much knowledge. But in Australia atleast, you’ll work in a chemist warehouse for 70k a year forever.
 
dannyjac1 said:
You could always learn the inner workings of the pharmacy become a manager and then buy your own?
But no, I agree, pharmacy looks like an amazing degree and you’ll have so much knowledge. But in Australia atleast, you’ll work in a chemist warehouse for 70k a year forever.
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Do new grads qualify for a 500k loan to open their own pharmacy these days? They still have 100-300k student loans to pay off.
 
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I’m not American so I’m unsure on your student loans, I also didn’t go to university till after being financially stable hence in my post I said work your way up then try open your own.

Everything is a dead end job if you don’t want to progress to own it.
 
dannyjac1 said:
You could always learn the inner workings of the pharmacy become a manager and then buy your own?
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Independents are really struggling in the States. It's possible but declining insurance reimbursement does make it a somewhat unattractive option.

dannyjac1 said:
But no, I agree, pharmacy looks like an amazing degree and you’ll have so much knowledge. But in Australia atleast, you’ll work in a chemist warehouse for 70k a year forever.
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Yeah but no student debt, right? Plus school is 2-4 years shorter over there.
 
RxPreceptor said:
Story of many going into pharmacy without knowing what he/she is getting into...take some time in researching a profession which you choose to pursue/get involved for a significant portion of your life
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I did research the field before going in. I was ok with it before but not now. Luckily, my loans Are paid off and have not debt so I can make switch.
 
metformin800 said:
Sorry I am not very familiar with this titles but what’s GS 9?
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Grade 9. Would be a considerable pay cut from a traditional RPh salary.

www.opm.gov

General Schedule

Welcome to opm.gov
www.opm.gov www.opm.gov

The only consumer safey officer positions that I've seen recently (aside from the one that I mentioned applying to) have been for grade 13 or 14 and only open to current employees.
 
WorthlessOxygen said:
Grade 9. Would be a considerable pay cut from a traditional RPh salary.

www.opm.gov

General Schedule

Welcome to opm.gov
www.opm.gov www.opm.gov

The only consumer safey officer positions that I've seen recently (aside from the one that I mentioned applying to) have been for grade 13 or 14 and only open to current employees.
Click to expand...
So you mean GS 9 would be open to public? and yes i saw 13 listings few days ago. I am curious like how would pharmacist be eligible for this spot.
 
metformin800 said:
So you mean GS 9 would be open to public? and yes i saw 13 listings few days ago. I am curious like how would pharmacist be eligible for this spot.
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I'm not sure that all GS 9 for that series are open to the public but I believe anything higher is not. I am not a GS employee and have very limited experience with the system so I'm not too sure though.

As far as how a pharmacist would qualify, here's a sample GS-9 posting which was open to the public but is closed now.

www.usajobs.gov

Consumer Safety Officer

•The Direct-Hire positions are in the Food and Drug Administration and are located in the Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) which is the lead office for all agency field activities•. •ORA inspects regulated products and manufacturers, conducts sample analyses of regulated...
www.usajobs.gov

Pharmacists, especially some on this forum, tend to talk down about their work experience and education. But at the end of the day a PharmD is a professional degree and if you can sell your experience managing the pharmacy and interacting with both the public and other healthcare professionals you can make a decent case for yourself.
 
WorthlessOxygen said:
I'm not sure that all GS 9 for that series are open to the public but I believe anything higher is not. I am not a GS employee and have very limited experience with the system so I'm not too sure though.

As far as how a pharmacist would qualify, here's a sample GS-9 posting which was open to the public but is closed now.

www.usajobs.gov

Consumer Safety Officer

•The Direct-Hire positions are in the Food and Drug Administration and are located in the Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) which is the lead office for all agency field activities•. •ORA inspects regulated products and manufacturers, conducts sample analyses of regulated...
www.usajobs.gov

Pharmacists, especially some on this forum, tend to talk down about their work experience and education. But at the end of the day a PharmD is a professional degree and if you can sell your experience managing the pharmacy and interacting with both the public and other healthcare professionals you can make a decent case for yourself.
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot for your input, I will keep checking this job posting as I am interested in it.
 
metformin800 said:
So i quit my retail Pharmacist job 6 months after graduation. I am thinking about switching fields/ jobs to other health care field. I am willing to take pay cut in exchange of better work environment. I have been looking up jobs for past two days and I can’t find many jobs where pharmacy skills are transferable. Sorry if I am wrong. But I am regretting going to pharmacy school so much. Are there any pharmacists out there that arent practicing pharmacy? if so what positions are you working at.
Click to expand...
I was planning on posting on here sometime
I know someone who did this and went into software engineering and its an AMAZING career........work from home.......flexible schedule.....vacay anytime you want......work anytime you want. Yes a big pay cut at first but can eventually get back to where you were at
 
metformin800 said:
Sorry, what you mean?
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I mean exactly that. Leaving work with that low a tenure for a professional job is derogatory for a BI, and given how most pharmacists who apply are quite overtrained, it is unlikely that you are going to be able to overcome that hurdle. It would have been far better if you had applied while you still had a job. For a CSO, the 9 is a rare rank for a pharmacist to enter, it is usually a 12. You applying to a 9 will set off red flags.
 
lord999 said:
I mean exactly that. Leaving work with that low a tenure for a professional job is derogatory for a BI, and given how most pharmacists who apply are quite overtrained, it is unlikely that you are going to be able to overcome that hurdle. It would have been far better if you had applied while you still had a job. For a CSO, the 9 is a rare rank for a pharmacist to enter, it is usually a 12. You applying to a 9 will set off red flags.
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alright makes sense. Well it’s been 8 months since I stopped working. And I know how having job gap hurts when applying new job but I never thought of applying to federal jobs when I quit last year. I just wanted to be done with pharmacy and find some office job.
 
metformin800 said:
alright makes sense. Well it’s been 8 months since I stopped working. And I know how having job gap hurts when applying new job but I never thought of applying to federal jobs when I quit last year. I just wanted to be done with pharmacy and find some office job.
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I understand the feeling, but it does put you in a very bad position for applying for anything. It is far easier to move from current job to a new job because you still signal that someone wants you working. This is not just a federal job matter. You can't do those sorts of bouncing like the wild days of the early 00s. As it stands, you have practically no leverage on pay negotiation or stability negotiation. The late licenses are activating now, and it is going to be a long winter.
 
I was about to say I'm a newly minted GS-13 that somehow managed to get a government pharmacy job after never working in government prior. Love the job and the benefits but literally getting the position I'm realizing now was probably 30% my skill set and 70% timing/luck. It's very difficult these days to get in anywhere with the federal government. Plus Lord is right you have to explain your pay gaps thoroughly and they'll definitely have questions on an 8-month unemployment
 
lord999 said:
For a CSO, the 9 is a rare rank for a pharmacist to enter, it is usually a 12. You applying to a 9 will set off red flags.
Click to expand...
I'm not surprised that 9 is rare but I am surprised that it's rare enough to rise to a red flag. I don't think I've seen a CSO listening open to the public at any grade other than 9.
 
lord999 said:
I mean exactly that. Leaving work with that low a tenure for a professional job is derogatory for a BI, and given how most pharmacists who apply are quite overtrained, it is unlikely that you are going to be able to overcome that hurdle. It would have been far better if you had applied while you still had a job. For a CSO, the 9 is a rare rank for a pharmacist to enter, it is usually a 12. You applying to a 9 will set off red flags.
Click to expand...

How come so many people from the FDA have quit or retired?
 
superflunker87 said:
How come so many people from the FDA have quit or retired?
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Partly it's a generational thing (the last major hire is from the 90s and partly it's recognition about what kind of people are in charge at FDA. Some of the very best had it with upper management.
 
mentos said:
Don't you have bills to pay? As much as I hated CVS, I was stuck there for 4 years before I could find another job. Cause I had to pay rent, utilities, food, student loans, etc.
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Nope I don’t have bills to pay. My husband makes 7 figures and takes care of everything. Thanks to him I am able to make such jumps lol
 
lord999 said:
I understand the feeling, but it does put you in a very bad position for applying for anything. It is far easier to move from current job to a new job because you still signal that someone wants you working. This is not just a federal job matter. You can't do those sorts of bouncing like the wild days of the early 00s. As it stands, you have practically no leverage on pay negotiation or stability negotiation. The late licenses are activating now, and it is going to be a long winter.
Click to expand...
Totally makes sense.
 
metformin800 said:
Nope I don’t have bills to pay. My husband makes 7 figures and takes care of everything. Thanks to him I am able to make such jumps lol
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You two need to see a financial advisor and LLM tax attorney. You are far past the AMT and making less than $250k is counterproductive. You have no business working.
 
metformin800 said:
Lol I am bored staying home, feel like I am wasting my life away. I don’t want to volunteer or take minimum wage job. I am willing to take pay cut from pharmacist salary but position should at least pay 60-70 K 😂
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If your husband makes 7 figures then what difference would 60-70k make? I would just do something you enjoy. If I had the choice, I would coach high school basketball or something.
 
DH1987 said:
The only problem I see with pivoting to tech, in my case, is that I'm in my mid 30's. In tech, this is considered a bit old to be a rookie. Would hate to quit a six figure job, go back to school, take on more debt, and lose years of income just to be in my late 30's-early 40's and not be able to get a programming job because I'm too old.

I'm still trying to self-teach, but it's been hard to be regular with it as a floater with irregular schedules. I did just land a staff position, so maybe now I can be a little more consistent...I'm still trying to make the transition, but quitting my job and going back to school for it just sounds like too much risk. At this point in my life, anything that involves going back to school is probably a no-no.
Click to expand...
Say that to my pharmacist colleagues who were in my class who joined from tech in their 30s and 40s. Economic necessity compels action. That said, I never forgot the stories and the money involved and made it a point to talk about the downside of any industry that depends on working all the time. One of the former mods (dgroulx) was from that background too and transitioned to practicing then worked in a hybrid position. You can probably find an average IT or clinical developer job with some programming skill. But if you are shooting for the greats, probably not unless you really work at it.

But why shoot for the greats when you can shoot for Optum, UnitedHealthcare, Kaiser, or one of the other clinical data outfits and get paid comparably for an office position? That is a reasonable position to transition and quite a number of my PharmD/MS students got reasonable jobs in town.
 
RN2RPh said:
Assumed you meet the physical/moral/security standards, you can join the military as an officer. You wouldn't make bank but you'd have very good benefits. If you did the right things then you would be promoted every few years. Put 20 years in and you can retire in your late 40s
There are still decent pharmacist jobs out there but you need to accomplish at least one of these things below to become competitive:
1/ Get Board certified or specialty trained (either thru residency or just working at a rural location for a few years)
2/ Be a manager at retail pharmacy for a few years
3/ Make friend with the hiring managers
As a new grad, you have to pay your due first.
Click to expand...
The military path is pretty much closed to the outside now and was already tenuous when I entered. We are facing a RIF (reduction in force) and the shift is away from working in hospitals toward embedding into the FORSCOM units. The Army, I can't speak for the other branches, would rather educate an ROTC cadet or enlisted soldier than hire someone off the street. There are only a few direct commission officers (excluding physicians and dentists) working with me. Also, the benefits have been cut due to budget tightening and very few of today's pharmacist Captains will retire because they need to make Colonel (O-6) unless prior enlisted.
 
right500 said:
The military path is pretty much closed to the outside now and was already tenuous when I entered. We are facing a RIF (reduction in force) and the shift is away from working in hospitals toward embedding into the FORSCOM units. The Army, I can't speak for the other branches, would rather educate an ROTC cadet or enlisted soldier than hire someone off the street. There are only a few direct commission officers (excluding physicians and dentists) working with me. Also, the benefits have been cut due to budget tightening and very few of today's pharmacist Captains will retire because they need to make Colonel (O-6) unless prior enlisted.
Click to expand...
What I meant was joining the military thru OCS as an O-1. Direct commissions as a 67E has been extremely competitive for years (both RA & AR). One of our alumni was able to get in (Army) few years ago after finishing her PGY-1. However she was also a West Point grad ! Anyway, thanks for your service ! Hope you can make O-6 someday !
 
lord999 said:
Say that to my pharmacist colleagues who were in my class who joined from tech in their 30s and 40s. Economic necessity compels action. That said, I never forgot the stories and the money involved and made it a point to talk about the downside of any industry that depends on working all the time. One of the former mods (dgroulx) was from that background too and transitioned to practicing then worked in a hybrid position. You can probably find an average IT or clinical developer job with some programming skill. But if you are shooting for the greats, probably not unless you really work at it.

But why shoot for the greats when you can shoot for Optum, UnitedHealthcare, Kaiser, or one of the other clinical data outfits and get paid comparably for an office position? That is a reasonable position to transition and quite a number of my PharmD/MS students got reasonable jobs in town.
Click to expand...
I have heard this.I have friend who is in tech, he told me I could do some courses still get into small companies. But what exact positions you can get into in insurance company ? You mean data scientist or analyst.
 
metformin800 said:
So i quit my retail Pharmacist job 6 months after graduation. I am thinking about switching fields/ jobs to other health care field. I am willing to take pay cut in exchange of better work environment. I have been looking up jobs for past two days and I can’t find many jobs where pharmacy skills are transferable. Sorry if I am wrong. But I am regretting going to pharmacy school so much. Are there any pharmacists out there that arent practicing pharmacy? if so what positions are you working at.
Click to expand...
Software companies are desperate for RPh to consult and train Pharmacists on software use and best practices and to build clinical content. Look at the big EHR vendors, there are also hundreds of startups building apps.
 
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