If I'm hiring a staff/clinical pharmacist for front line work, 5 years of hospital staff pharmacist would be preferred.
But, many pharmacists and students don't realize that order processing/review and clinical consults constitute only a portion of health system pharmacy practice. Hospital pharmacy practice includes operational, regulatory (CMS, TJC, DPH, FDA, OSHA, EPA etc), financials (drug spend, contracts, labor), Performance Improvement/quality, Clinical, Medication Safety, and leadership training. The goal of PGY1 and PGY2 is to expose pharmacists to all aspects of health system pharmacy practice beyond staff pharmacist duties to provide them a head start for the future pharmacy and health care leadership opportunities.
Not all residency trained pharmacists end up in a leadership role. And not all staff/clinical pharmacists are denied leadership opportunities.
I wholeheartedly agree with Caffeine QAM. And I would also like to add that pharmacy leadership role responsibilities reach beyond personal goals. It includes advancing the profession.
I realize that pharmacy residency receives criticism from many for different reasons. It's ok. It does provide a venue for identifying pharmacists who are committed to enhancing their knowledge and career objectives. And that's why resume' and CVs from PGY1 and PGY2 end up on the top of the stack.