What is a good career to look into if Pharmacy doesn't work out?

[ffpickle]

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Yeah I wanted to be a flight attendant when I was younger. Its actually a job that's very verrrrry hard to obtain in Asia. You have to be a woman, at least 5'7, perfect vision, a certain weight, under 30 years old, speak at least two languages, etc. (I don't have perfect vision so I guess I am OUT. 🙁)

For some reason flight attendant jobs are not as valued in the USA and it seems like they let anyone do it, even OLD man!!! LOL... I thought that was really werid when I first moved to the USA.

I still would love to be a flight attendant at China Airlines...But I will only have 5 years left to do it. I heard they don't let people over 30 be flight attendants and ask them to work downstairs at the baggage claim areas. 🙁

What? Airlines I fly with always have flight attendants > 30...and honestly, those middle-aged women are usually pretty good. I had an old guy once and he was good too. On a sidenote, your posts always make me laugh lol.

 

[diastole]

Maybe, although you'd never guess it, looking at how Chevrolet just tossed Camaro to the market and it's being purchased in record numbers. Imagine that. A recession. Auto makers down on their luck... but America finds a way to spend 30 to 40 large on a wholly illogical muscle car icon from the 60's. Hennessey, a company that makes hundreds of millions of dollars is modifying them, and selling them.

And Motor Trend, Automobile, Road and Track and others are still throwing reviewers and editors out there, all over the WORLD, testing cars. Ferrari 550 Scaglietta vs. Ford Shelby GT500. Corvette Z06 vs. Porsche 911S, you name it... these people are doing comparisons in Detroit, Laguna Seca, Italy, Germany, etc.

I know you love to argue, but until you can show me that Csere Csaba is making 50 grand a year (not a snowball's chance in hell), I'm just gonna have to go with the notion that you haven't picked up a Road & Track in 20 years, if that, and hencewise know nothing of what you speak.

Not a manner of disrespect intended there, but these magazines do not succumb to precisely the same forces that are strangling other news media. Barnes and Noble still sells so many MT and R&T mags that they restock them daily. I don't buy it, Ziff-Davis is posting VERY good earnings on the NASDAQ. I just don't think you know what you're talking about. You're clearly equating the Chicago Sun Times and its other newspapers to magazines, and they aren't the same. I have copies of all 3 new mags in my office and if I pick up mags from 6 years ago, the advertisements are virtually identical. Not sure where you're getting your information from. I have copies of Road and Track from when I was 14...

Anyway, without facts beyond the ones I've cited, I suppose we're both swinging in the dark. Regardless, it would be a cool job, even if I was stuck with 50k a year. I live a simple life. A Mustang, an apartment, a dog and a wife. No kids, no boat, no time-shares in the Cayman, no need.

No, I'm talking about the magazine business. I have no behind the scenes knowledge of the newspaper business. I don't know specifically about the automotive division of magazines so it could be working differently but are you sure? It is true that the automotive division may not be under the same pressures as the rest of industry but I don't see why they would be immune. I found this nice link from the Magazine Publishers of American saying that ad revenue is down and it is especially down for automotive magazines. In fact, it is down 43% in the first quarter from the year before. Check it out for yourself.

http://www.magazine.org/advertising/revenue/by_ad_category/pib-1q-2009.aspx

“The latest PIB data reflect the advertising paralysis triggered by the late 2008 economic meltdown. Marketers froze ad budgets, which affected placement in first quarter magazines,” said Ellen Oppenheim, Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, Magazine Publishers of America. “Advertising page declines were seen in the ad categories most affected by the slowdown: automotive, finance and retail.”

And Ziff Davis filed for bankruptcy a little over a year ago. My husband knows several people who got laid off from that company this year. You can check that out too (the bankruptcy part anyway). http://www.ziffdavis.com/press/releases/080305.0.html

Oh, here's another story from January:

As numerous sources are reporting, Hearst's UGO Entertainment has acquired 1UP from financially-troubled Ziff-Davis. Along with the 1UP sale, ZD is ceasing publication of Entertainment Gaming Monthly. Perhaps the best-known print publication for video game enthusiasts, EGM has been in operation since 1989.
Joystiq has a list of 1UP and EGM staffers who have lost their jobs. Among these are some well-known game journos, including James "Milkman" Mielke and Shane Bettenhausen.
Reactions have come swiftly and many are saddened by the layoffs:
-Kombo has a list of Twitter accounts wherein several former and current 1UP and EGM staffers are tweeting about the situation.
-Former Computer Gaming World (yet another defunct ZD mag) editor Jeff Green blogged:

(emphasis mine)



http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/01/07/ugo-acquires-1up-mass-layoffs-egm-dead


Maybe they went from financially troubled and closing titles in January to huge success in just a few months but that doesn't sound right to me.



I do not know specifically what is happening in the automotive sector but I'm having a hard time thinking that it is all roses over there given what is going on with the rest of the magazine business. Maybe the magazines you read are doing better than the competitors? Now you've got me curious. Compare the amount of pages of your current magazine to the old copies. That will tell you about the ads. Magazine size shrinks or expands depending on how many ads they sell. And while you are at it, look at the masthead and see if the staff is smaller. If you notice positions suddenly missing, that is an indication of the health of the magazine. Let me know how that goes. I'm sure some of specific magazines are coming out okay but a lot of them are hurting big time.

Regardless, dream jobs aren't really meant to be examined with an eye towards reality. I'm sure most dream jobs have their downsides if you actually work in them.

 

[diastole]

Perhaps you hated it because that fame did not translate into enormous financial success...i.e. millions of $

Hollywood stars benefit financially from the attention they receive. It makes the loss of privacy easier to handle.

I could hire lots of handlers for the money I suppose. But I'm not sure any amount of money is worth having to deal with the paparazzi. That must be so annoying.

 

[diastole]

I know you love to argue, but until you can show me that Csere Csaba is making 50 grand a year (not a snowball's chance in hell), I'm just gonna have to go with the notion that you haven't picked up a Road & Track in 20 years, if that, and hencewise know nothing of what you speak.

Well, this is interesting. I admit that I had no idea who Csere Csaba was and no fair using an editor-in-chief as a counter-example to my senior editor salary quote. They aren't the same position. But check this out:

On December 16, 2008 — according to the official press release of Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. — Csere resigned his position as Editor-in-Chief. [5] No explanation was given, and Csere has refused to discuss the reasons for his departure. Perhaps notably, Csere did not write a goodbye column in the magazine for which he worked for 29 years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Csaba_Csere

The most likely explanation for this is that he was forced out and received a severance package so he isn't allowed to talk. If he left on his own, he would have written a goodbye column.

Does it count if I can show he makes less than 50k a year working in magazines?

 

[Passion4Sci]

Well, this is interesting. I admit that I had no idea who Csere Csaba was and no fair using an editor-in-chief as a counter-example to my senior editor salary quote. They aren't the same position. But check this out:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Csaba_Csere

The most likely explanation for this is that he was forced out and received a severance package so he isn't allowed to talk. If he left on his own, he would have written a goodbye column.

Does it count if I can show he makes less than 50k a year working in magazines? [/QUOTE]

Hey, I brought up Csere way earlier than you even got into this! So no fair in no fairing me.

A lot of people are declaring bankruptcy as a precaution and turning around profits in the next fiscal year. I will admit, you did have the advantage on me in that your husband works near or in the industry and I will give you the point in this match, well played.

And of course, "dream job" needs not have a foot firmly in reality, or any limb or portion of a limb.

Does it count if I can show he makes less than 50k a year working in magazines?

Clever girl, like a velociraptor. But we don't know if he doesn't work for someone else's magazine now, soooo maybe he still does make over 50k working in magazines. -=P

 

[SHC1984]

What? Airlines I fly with always have flight attendants > 30...and honestly, those middle-aged women are usually pretty good. I had an old guy once and he was good too. On a sidenote, your posts always make me laugh lol.

All American airlines like (United, Delta, Northwest, etc.) all have old people as flight attentants and for some reason flight attentants don't have much job prestige as compare to any Asian airlines. Which the opposite is true. If you have been on any Asian owned airlines, like China Airlines etc. you would know what I am talking about. I wish flight attentants have more prestige in the USA, then maybe I would choose that profession over pharmacy.

 

[SHC1984]

Perhaps you hated it because that fame did not translate into enormous financial success...i.e. millions of $

Hollywood stars benefit financially from the attention they receive. It makes the loss of privacy easier to handle.

Cool, so you think being a celebrity is the best job too? Glad we finally agreed on something. 😀

 

[Zrchrn]

Bottom line, there are very few careers where you do nothing a get money. Why 90k-110k in particular? If you like math & chemistry you could go to chem. engineering which is a pretty good career imo. If you don't like chem. then any of the other engineering majors/comp. sci. would be good as they tend to be the highest paying degrees with a b.s. The other area would be finance/economics etc. I'm not sure how they are doing now but they tend to get paid well. Really if your not interested science/engineering etc. Then the best thing you can do is start a business of some sort. That's going to take a lot of time and effort on your part, but the payout could be significant. Heck if you have enough money, why not open an independent pharmacy, they can make bank (though I'm not sure if you need a PharmD. to do that).

Fact is, although business is intense and takes a lot of work the highest paid careers in the country are in bussniess. Bussniess people sometimes get maid fun of by "hard science" majors in College/undergrad but more often then not, those same hard science people end up essentially being working for those bussniess people. It's not as sure-fire of a career path but if you like the excitement of not knowing how much you'll make the next year + the possibility of making a whole crapload of money that's probably the way to go. It's really the only career path where being mostly interested in money is totally "acceptable" afaik. If you walk into a pharm. interview and say I'm doing this for the money your liable to get hammered.


The only other career I can think of is Law. You just need a b.s. and you need to hammer the LSAT and your in. Problem is that you need to know what your getting into before you go into law. You can make a lot of money but that doesn't mean your going to enjoy your work. Read around about Law careers and see if it's for you. It's only 3 years after undergrad so it's not too bad. Even if don't work as a lawyer per say the knowledge you aquire will likely benifit you in many ways since law premates everything.


I said all that, but I'd highly encourge you against going into something JUST for the money. The money can be a factor but you should be interested in other things as well. If you plan to ignore that last sentence then PLEASE stay away from any healthcare positions where apathy might really hurt someone.

 

[yappy]

Simple - become an actuary. Once you're an associate you'll be making the type of salary you would of set out to as a pharmacist. Plus many times its a earn as you learn type career field. Just make sure your math skills are up to par and take the first exam.

 

[busyizzy]

All American airlines like (United, Delta, Northwest, etc.) all have old people as flight attentants and for some reason flight attentants don't have much job prestige as compare to any Asian airlines. Which the opposite is true. If you have been on any Asian owned airlines, like China Airlines etc. you would know what I am talking about. I wish flight attentants have more prestige in the USA, then maybe I would choose that profession over pharmacy.

Hahaha, I know exactly what you're talking about. When I was a kid, I only took the airplane to go to Korea, so I've only ever ridden KoreanAir. Imagine my surprise when I actually start traveling around the US on a plane, and find that many of the flight attendants are old and kindof ugly. No offense, but I just can't get this one image of this one flight attendant from US Airways. She was older than 35-40ish, and she sounded like she had been chain smoking for the past 30 years - and she looked the part too. Dirty teeth, messy hair, just not a very good image for the business. Gimme an Asian airline any day - they tend to have better service too, from my personal experience.

 

[HayMay18]

Okay I came on here today to start this exact topic!
But okay seriously, Pharmacy is competitive, and I know I need a back up plan. I want something that I can easily get into with the pre-pharm courses I took, and if I don't do pharmacy I will probably only want to go to school for 4 years (for my own personal reasons), so I don't want starting in pre-pharm and changing my major to stall my graduation date. If that makes sense. I don't want to be a dentist, doctor, or nurse. Any help? I was thinkin medical lab technologist, even though they kinda make crappy pay, but I'd like more suggestions.

I'm going to Purdue if that helps. My first semester is Calc, Econ, Chem, Bio, and Orientation to pharmacy.

 

[diastole]

I don't think there is any reason why someone can't be a pharmacist unless they honestly don't have the mental abilities to handle the classes. I have seen people screw up their transcripts pretty badly but there is no reason why they can't go do something else and come back for a do-over when the pre-reqs expire and they are more mature. And there are other ways to make a great application that has nothing to do with academics. Work your way up to a leadership position of your favorite charity. Go join the Peace Corps or Ameri-Corps. Go off and help run a health clinic in a developing nation. If it is a low PCAT that is holding you back, study until you can get a good score. For some people that could require months and months of serious studying. But if you have the drive, there will be ways to get in. Some people might have to take a non-traditional path but if they stick with it and don't give up, I think they can find a way eventually.

 

[Zrchrn]

Okay I came on here today to start this exact topic!
But okay seriously, Pharmacy is competitive, and I know I need a back up plan. I want something that I can easily get into with the pre-pharm courses I took, and if I don't do pharmacy I will probably only want to go to school for 4 years (for my own personal reasons), so I don't want starting in pre-pharm and changing my major to stall my graduation date. If that makes sense. I don't want to be a dentist, doctor, or nurse. Any help? I was thinkin medical lab technologist, even though they kinda make crappy pay, but I'd like more suggestions.

I'm going to Purdue if that helps. My first semester is Calc, Econ, Chem, Bio, and Orientation to pharmacy.

If your going the pharmacy route I'm going to guess you are at least competent with chemistry and to some extent math. If you are good enough at math then I'd recommend Chemical Engineering (as I have before). Purdue is an awesome engineering school, so it'd almost be a waste not to 😛. Engineering (along with some finance related majors) tend to make the most straight out of college. I believe it's about 65k starting for Chem. engineering at least, and coming from Purdue you might even be able to up that. It's interesting work, and you can work in a wide variety of industries. The only hitch is that you might not be able to get all of your pharmacy classes in two years while also staying on track. Chem. eng. might also be a 4.5-5 year program I'm not sure. Your best bet would be summer courses if possible (even at a community college).

Keep in mind, one extra year of schooling in a lifetime isn't worth fussing about. Esp. if going to school one extra year will get you a better job.


Having said that, if you'd really like to be a pharmacist then I'm sure you could make it. Come up with a quick back up plan, but don't focus on it. Stick with your Pharmacy ambitions if they are there. If you really care about pharmacy it'll show in your application, it's not all gpa and pcat. A large part of it is the essay, letters of recommendation, and the interview.

 

[HayMay18]

If your going the pharmacy route I'm going to guess you are at least competent with chemistry and to some extent math. If you are good enough at math then I'd recommend Chemical Engineering (as I have before). Purdue is an awesome engineering school, so it'd almost be a waste not to 😛. Engineering (along with some finance related majors) tend to make the most straight out of college. I believe it's about 65k starting for Chem. engineering at least, and coming from Purdue you might even be able to up that. It's interesting work, and you can work in a wide variety of industries. The only hitch is that you might not be able to get all of your pharmacy classes in two years while also staying on track. Chem. eng. might also be a 4.5-5 year program I'm not sure. Your best bet would be summer courses if possible (even at a community college).

Keep in mind, one extra year of schooling in a lifetime isn't worth fussing about. Esp. if going to school one extra year will get you a better job.


Having said that, if you'd really like to be a pharmacist then I'm sure you could make it. Come up with a quick back up plan, but don't focus on it. Stick with your Pharmacy ambitions if they are there. If you really care about pharmacy it'll show in your application, it's not all gpa and pcat. A large part of it is the essay, letters of recommendation, and the interview.

I really like your advice. Especially the coming up with a back up plan but not focusing on it. I'm one of those who tend to worry way too much about the future too far in advance. The funny thing is when you apply to Purdue you have to have a back up major in case you can't get into your first choice, and my second choice was engineering because I knew Purdue was known for it. I just never really though about it because I was so focused on Pharmacy. But thanks! It's something to look into just in case, and chem and math are my favorite subjects!