1) As a computer science graduate, you can easily earn $100k/year at age 22-25 without having to take out $200k+ loans and spend 4 years of your life in pharmacy school. You don't even need a formal degree to be a software engineer, which means you can enter the field with little or no debt. Contrast that to the top pharmacy jobs that require 2 years of residency/fellowship in addition to 4 years of additional schooling. With a few years of experience as a software engineer, you can increase your salary to $130-150k, and with benefits and stock options, the total compensation may be up to $200k/year. Meanwhile, the $200k loans you will incur from pharmacy school will reduce your take home pay by as much as $40k/year. After taxes and student loans loans, you may be left with as little as $45k.
2) There is a major shortage of software engineers right now. Many current computer science students are getting 5 or more job offers before graduation, whereas once you graduate from pharmacy school, you may be lucky to get even 1 after you have become licensed for months. Software engineers are able to walk out of their current jobs and find a new one within two weeks as they are in very high demand, whereas many retail pharmacists hate their jobs but are stuck due to lack of job openings and student loans.
3) You are actually treated like a professional as a software engineer. Software companies are doing everything to retain employees not only through increased salaries but also excellent and unique perks such as 3 gourmet meals a day, daycare centers, shuttle buses that take you to and from work, gyms, etc. that make the workplace more tolerable and keep employees more productive. Chain retail pharmacies could care less about making sure pharmacists get enough tech help, let alone bathroom breaks while pharmacists are expected to tolerate the workplace.
4) Software engineering, unlike pharmacy, is based more on what you know rather than who you know and therefore more meritocratic and less cronyistic/nepotistic. You can at least make a portfolio to show your previous works. At interviews, you are asked to actually solve problems to see if you are a good fit for the position, meaning that you cannot just BS your way through.
2) There is a major shortage of software engineers right now. Many current computer science students are getting 5 or more job offers before graduation, whereas once you graduate from pharmacy school, you may be lucky to get even 1 after you have become licensed for months. Software engineers are able to walk out of their current jobs and find a new one within two weeks as they are in very high demand, whereas many retail pharmacists hate their jobs but are stuck due to lack of job openings and student loans.
3) You are actually treated like a professional as a software engineer. Software companies are doing everything to retain employees not only through increased salaries but also excellent and unique perks such as 3 gourmet meals a day, daycare centers, shuttle buses that take you to and from work, gyms, etc. that make the workplace more tolerable and keep employees more productive. Chain retail pharmacies could care less about making sure pharmacists get enough tech help, let alone bathroom breaks while pharmacists are expected to tolerate the workplace.
4) Software engineering, unlike pharmacy, is based more on what you know rather than who you know and therefore more meritocratic and less cronyistic/nepotistic. You can at least make a portfolio to show your previous works. At interviews, you are asked to actually solve problems to see if you are a good fit for the position, meaning that you cannot just BS your way through.