Pharmacy Jobs in Industry

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chemistpharmd

Full Member
5+ Year Member
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Hello,

I want to know how is the job market for pharmacists in industry. I know that most people are saying that pharmacy jobs in retail is saturated. Is industry also saturated? Can I find a job in industry after getting my PharmD? I already have Master's degree in Chemistry as well.
 
Many posts about this topic. In short, most jobs in industry require a fellowship. This is an additional one year of training after pharmacy school, has competitive application cycle. Two other things to keep in mind is location, obviously a lot of areas don't have jobs for this type of work. Second, industry jobs tend to have a lot of turnover and most people don't stay at one job for too long.
 
Industry is actually far more saturated than retail and typically requires fellowship and/or special connections. Industry is considered to be a unicorn area of pharmacy that consists of a miniscule portion of all pharmacist jobs where a significant percent of pharmacy students want to end up.

Just look at this graph for your reference:

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Students have no clue how real life works. When I was in school, professors kept preaching about clinical pharmacists and how wonderful it is to be a clinical pharmacist. The picture is very rosy but the reality is far from that.

Most graduates will end up in retail. I would say 80%. The rest will enter hospital/long term care, mail order. Industry job is even rarer. If you are lucky, there will be 1 opening per year in your state. And you have to compete with 500 applications. Good luck.