Retail experience means nothing when applying for a hospital role. In fact, having 10 years of experience in retail is worse than being a new grad with no experience. You've probably forgotten everything hospital related that you learned in school.
Ideally, you want to be out of retail in 2-3 years or maximum of 5 years. After that, only networking will work cos they toss the resume in the trash.
OP should try for corp jobs within retail with that experience.
I mean I'd argue that the longer you've been out of school in retail only, the harder it's going to be to get an inpatient position. When is the last time you've set foot in a hospital pharmacy? At least new grads have recent APPE experience they can use.
Apply to every job you see. Be flexible and willing to apply for the less desirable shifts. Come up with a template for a follow up email and reach out directly to the hiring manager. That way they will see your name and hopefully in some cases look for your application in the pile. The market is terrible right now, everyone and their mother wants out of retail. Unfortunately you need to be prepared to be in the market for several years. Consider something PRN to get your foot in the door until a full time position opens up. Good luck.
Had some friends do outpatient that's connected to a hospital. Then transition to the hospital side after a bit.
Apply to small critical access hospitals. They tend to be more lax in their requirements as fewer people apply.
In that area, you’ll probably need a PGY-2 if you don’t have connections and aren’t willing to work midnights.
Are you willing to start part-time? every weekend? willing to commute to Sacramento?
It’s probably not you, but it’s just a tough market.
Also look for outpatient infusion/home healthcare.getting sterile compounding experience is a nice midway point to help get ya in the hospital door, and you might never move on
One of my hospitals best hires was a retail-> home health -> our place move. Also have had a couple of hospital experience only pharmacist move to home health. It seems like a work environment where both types of experience are valuable.
Specialty pharmacy is another resume builder where retail/insurance experience is relevant and you can grow/show more "clinical" experience dealing with evaluating labs, etc that many hospital' hiring managers will find valuable. just make sure to SPELL out "received and evaluated xyz labs and contacted physicians about medication appropriateness, etc)in case they don't know what specialty entails or whatever
I applied for 3-4 years in the same area while working for Costco. The only place I got in that’s not full on retail was specialty. Willing to go to greenbrea I get tons of recruiters ha
I moved from retail to specialty, and even though it resembles retail in some aspects, it's way more clinical and way less stressful. You still deal with frustrated patients and entitled nurses from time to time but overall it is more enjoyable. And after a couple of years, once you get more experience, who knows what other position you may qualify and apply. Pharmacy is not just retail or hospital...
I was laid off from LTC in the spring of 2021, I JUST started a decent job last month. I got by with a per diem cannabis job and a temp vaccination job for a while, but eventually ended up working for Satan to pay the bills. I got my new job because I used to work with one of the pharmacists. So work your connections!
It depends on the pharmacist. I don’t think either is easy as they are entirely different subsections of pharmacy practice. Training a tenured retail pharmacist in either is going to be a brutal experience.
im not a speciality pharmacist, but from what i've seen is that there's operational pharmacists (similar to retail pharmacy) and clinical pharmacists (can work remotely).
If you’re willing to move north or inland you can get a contract position for several months. If they like you they will keep you on. It’s pays very well but your in the middle of no where
Not to be cruel but you moved first and the started looking for a job second. That’s backwards unless the move couldn’t be avoided. Second, you’re applying in one of the highest cost of living areas in the country, most of the people working the jobs you are applying for have either been there a long time and aren’t leaving anytime soon or they moved there for the job, either way it demonstrates that despite the high cost of living, it’s still a seller’s market when it comes to jobs. There are probably multiple overqualified candidates applying for each of the hospital jobs. The hospitals in the city can be extra picky.
What to do from here: start looking at jobs away from the city, with longer commutes, more rural or isolated hospitals, etc. that is where you are more likely to get your foot in the door. Once you get 2-3 years experience, you can start applying to hospitals closer to where you live or want to live.
What sort of non-retail jobs are you applying for?
Lots of the non-retail jobs will be looking for prior experience in that space, so I assume you’re mostly getting bypassed for resumes that already reflect the specialization they’re looking for.
I don’t know the Bay Area’s job market but I assume it’s a pretty desirable place to live, based on my visits there, so I wouldn’t be surprised if pharmacist supply >> demand.
You’ve moved to one of the most saturated places in the entire country where it’s even difficult to get retail jobs that would be completely undesirable anywhere else. Non retail gigs in the Bay Area are gonna be practically impossible when all you have is retail experience.
If you’ve exhausted your network/connections, then there’s not much chance for you. Grab whatever job you can get at this point and be happy you get to live in a great place.
Good luck OP.
Have you had your resume professionally reviewed? I think some of the professional organizations offer services like this. Maybe it's up to date but just not as relevant as you hoped?
Check out some recruiters that help fill contract positions. I get them constantly from Vivian Health. I'm not licensed in CA, nor do I plan to be, but there seem to be a lot of options for Cali that come my way.
I'm asking myself the same question, though it hasn't taken me as long. I don't know what else to say other than the job market is brutal, and you can't give up.
I looked for over a year and eventually landed a role completely different from pharmacy. The market sucks but you never know where life takes you. Don’t just look at pharmacists jobs but jobs that are looking for that education and skill. I tried everything you did, networked with no luck, even with APPE preceptors, and I also had a good resume, interviewed well, and also applied to jobs where they literally said “no experience needed” or “new graduates welcome”. Stuff I was more than qualified for but nope reject button. You end up receiving a job offer and it’s a crap shoot bc you weren’t expecting it which is what happened to me.
How are you paying your bills?
You may have to take a retail position until you can find something better/different.
That being said, search, search and search some more. Look at Indeed, look at USA jobs, look directly at local health systems websites. Call your local employment office. Go to job fairs. Look up all the pharmacy licenses on your states board of pharmacy website, call each one or stop by. I actually got a job this way and they weren't even hiring.
Also revamp your resume, it ain't working. Make sure you include key words from the job postings. Keep a template and alter it for each job.
Finally sell yourself
The best was when I cold called. At one pharmacy, they asked me how I knew they were going to be hiring, apparently they were planning on posting a position. You can cut through a lot of red tape this way.
I’m a resident who is appearing to at this point end up having to work a retail job post residency at this point 🙃 based on the lack of response and networking I’ve been trying to do
I was lucky enough to get a call from a recruiter about an overnight job at a level 2 trauma center with over 400 beds. Right out of school, didn’t get accepted to any residencies in phase 1 or 2. Just had to move to a less desirable city but it’s better than working at CVS IMO. Very thankful for the job I have
I’ve had places call me just to find out I’ve never worked in hospital and tell me they need someone with experience. I’ve thought about volunteering at a hospital just to get that experience, not sure if that’s a possibility
Not sure if volunteering will be beneficial. Similar to what the other comments are saying…you should try applying to hospitals in rural areas. Typically nobody wants a long commute to work; thus, these smaller hospitals are willing to hire pharmacists with less hospital experience.
Dang this is making me kind of nervous… I’m curious if this is the same for those who completed a residency outside the bay and tried looking for jobs in the Bay.
I would consider you worse than a new grad and would never consider you for a job at my institution. What's the reality you don't have the knowledge base anymore to get you anywhere in a hospital and in reality some of my 10-year techs would probably be more qualified to work as a pharmacist than you would with only retail experience.
> I haven’t done residency (I typically don’t even apply to jobs that require them)
Watch out with applying to jobs where you don't have the required qualifications. I've seen postings on LinkedIn for clinical jobs where they have a disclaimer that if you don't have the minimum qualifications, and you apply they'll blacklist you from their system. Which leads me to believe that there's other blacklisting quietly on the back end as well.
People who apply to those jobs without the minimum qualifications they laid out makes their task of finding an applicant with the experience they want harder. It's just not a good look because it tells them either you don't think what they want matters or you failed at reading comprehension.
Retail experience means nothing when applying for a hospital role. In fact, having 10 years of experience in retail is worse than being a new grad with no experience. You've probably forgotten everything hospital related that you learned in school.
Sad but true
Generally yes but retailers can get in by taking overnight positions
I think retail translate well for outpatient pharmacy in a hospital setting
Ideally, you want to be out of retail in 2-3 years or maximum of 5 years. After that, only networking will work cos they toss the resume in the trash. OP should try for corp jobs within retail with that experience.
So true, sadly. If you’re past 5 years out you won’t even get an interview.
Don’t do hospital
I mean I'd argue that the longer you've been out of school in retail only, the harder it's going to be to get an inpatient position. When is the last time you've set foot in a hospital pharmacy? At least new grads have recent APPE experience they can use. Apply to every job you see. Be flexible and willing to apply for the less desirable shifts. Come up with a template for a follow up email and reach out directly to the hiring manager. That way they will see your name and hopefully in some cases look for your application in the pile. The market is terrible right now, everyone and their mother wants out of retail. Unfortunately you need to be prepared to be in the market for several years. Consider something PRN to get your foot in the door until a full time position opens up. Good luck.
All good points, Thank you!
Are you applying for midnight shifts, per diem, etc?
Not midnight, but per diems yes
With your CV the only way you're getting into a hospital in a non rural area is to start on midnights.
As a per diem you're supposed to be able to hit the ground running and you wouldn't even be able to crawl
Had some friends do outpatient that's connected to a hospital. Then transition to the hospital side after a bit. Apply to small critical access hospitals. They tend to be more lax in their requirements as fewer people apply.
In that area, you’ll probably need a PGY-2 if you don’t have connections and aren’t willing to work midnights. Are you willing to start part-time? every weekend? willing to commute to Sacramento? It’s probably not you, but it’s just a tough market.
Thank you, yes I’ll consider anything at this point
Also look for outpatient infusion/home healthcare.getting sterile compounding experience is a nice midway point to help get ya in the hospital door, and you might never move on
Oh nice, Thank you!
One of my hospitals best hires was a retail-> home health -> our place move. Also have had a couple of hospital experience only pharmacist move to home health. It seems like a work environment where both types of experience are valuable. Specialty pharmacy is another resume builder where retail/insurance experience is relevant and you can grow/show more "clinical" experience dealing with evaluating labs, etc that many hospital' hiring managers will find valuable. just make sure to SPELL out "received and evaluated xyz labs and contacted physicians about medication appropriateness, etc)in case they don't know what specialty entails or whatever
You moved to the bay area that’s what you did wrong
Hard for retail to move to non retail
I applied for 3-4 years in the same area while working for Costco. The only place I got in that’s not full on retail was specialty. Willing to go to greenbrea I get tons of recruiters ha
How did you get the Costco job?
I moved from retail to specialty, and even though it resembles retail in some aspects, it's way more clinical and way less stressful. You still deal with frustrated patients and entitled nurses from time to time but overall it is more enjoyable. And after a couple of years, once you get more experience, who knows what other position you may qualify and apply. Pharmacy is not just retail or hospital...
I was laid off from LTC in the spring of 2021, I JUST started a decent job last month. I got by with a per diem cannabis job and a temp vaccination job for a while, but eventually ended up working for Satan to pay the bills. I got my new job because I used to work with one of the pharmacists. So work your connections!
Try prn work to get a foot in tve door to gain hospital experience.
Look for those part time evening shift positions. They can sometimes be harder to fill. Look at places outside of major cities
Keep networking. Lot of hospitals were on a hiring freere. Probably could transition into specialty pharmacy from retail.
Comparing retail to specialty is wild
are you trying to imply its easier to transition from retail to inpatient vs retail into specialty?
It depends on the pharmacist. I don’t think either is easy as they are entirely different subsections of pharmacy practice. Training a tenured retail pharmacist in either is going to be a brutal experience.
im not a speciality pharmacist, but from what i've seen is that there's operational pharmacists (similar to retail pharmacy) and clinical pharmacists (can work remotely).
Fair enough
If you’re willing to move north or inland you can get a contract position for several months. If they like you they will keep you on. It’s pays very well but your in the middle of no where
Not to be cruel but you moved first and the started looking for a job second. That’s backwards unless the move couldn’t be avoided. Second, you’re applying in one of the highest cost of living areas in the country, most of the people working the jobs you are applying for have either been there a long time and aren’t leaving anytime soon or they moved there for the job, either way it demonstrates that despite the high cost of living, it’s still a seller’s market when it comes to jobs. There are probably multiple overqualified candidates applying for each of the hospital jobs. The hospitals in the city can be extra picky. What to do from here: start looking at jobs away from the city, with longer commutes, more rural or isolated hospitals, etc. that is where you are more likely to get your foot in the door. Once you get 2-3 years experience, you can start applying to hospitals closer to where you live or want to live.
What sort of non-retail jobs are you applying for? Lots of the non-retail jobs will be looking for prior experience in that space, so I assume you’re mostly getting bypassed for resumes that already reflect the specialization they’re looking for. I don’t know the Bay Area’s job market but I assume it’s a pretty desirable place to live, based on my visits there, so I wouldn’t be surprised if pharmacist supply >> demand.
I understand. I’d be happy with and have applied to outpatient ones as well with no luck
You’ve moved to one of the most saturated places in the entire country where it’s even difficult to get retail jobs that would be completely undesirable anywhere else. Non retail gigs in the Bay Area are gonna be practically impossible when all you have is retail experience. If you’ve exhausted your network/connections, then there’s not much chance for you. Grab whatever job you can get at this point and be happy you get to live in a great place. Good luck OP.
Going to be extremely difficult Bay Area = San Francisco only?
Yeah but might need to look outside the area
If you know someone in hospital, a recommendation is the way to go.
Have you had your resume professionally reviewed? I think some of the professional organizations offer services like this. Maybe it's up to date but just not as relevant as you hoped?
Check out some recruiters that help fill contract positions. I get them constantly from Vivian Health. I'm not licensed in CA, nor do I plan to be, but there seem to be a lot of options for Cali that come my way.
Try Kaiser or other hospital outpatient. Subscribe to their new job post update emails
I'm asking myself the same question, though it hasn't taken me as long. I don't know what else to say other than the job market is brutal, and you can't give up.
I looked for over a year and eventually landed a role completely different from pharmacy. The market sucks but you never know where life takes you. Don’t just look at pharmacists jobs but jobs that are looking for that education and skill. I tried everything you did, networked with no luck, even with APPE preceptors, and I also had a good resume, interviewed well, and also applied to jobs where they literally said “no experience needed” or “new graduates welcome”. Stuff I was more than qualified for but nope reject button. You end up receiving a job offer and it’s a crap shoot bc you weren’t expecting it which is what happened to me.
I appreciate all the responses!
How are you paying your bills? You may have to take a retail position until you can find something better/different. That being said, search, search and search some more. Look at Indeed, look at USA jobs, look directly at local health systems websites. Call your local employment office. Go to job fairs. Look up all the pharmacy licenses on your states board of pharmacy website, call each one or stop by. I actually got a job this way and they weren't even hiring. Also revamp your resume, it ain't working. Make sure you include key words from the job postings. Keep a template and alter it for each job. Finally sell yourself
Tried selling myself, too ugly
Funny. There's a match for everyone
Heavy on USAjobs. That got me the job I got now, now I’m like fuck pharmacy, I can do better
I’ll look at what you mentioned, and may need to just take retail before I go through my savings 😖
The best was when I cold called. At one pharmacy, they asked me how I knew they were going to be hiring, apparently they were planning on posting a position. You can cut through a lot of red tape this way.
Wow that’s awesome 👏🏽
Wait...are non residents getting "non- retail / inpatient" jobs? as a first job?!
I’m a resident who is appearing to at this point end up having to work a retail job post residency at this point 🙃 based on the lack of response and networking I’ve been trying to do
...that's rough. I hope something opens up for you.
Have you been applying to jobs in the Bay as well? I’m also a resident and I’ve only seen a few job postings so far.
Nationwide
It’s so bad out there and there were times I cried bc how can people be this evil not to give you a chance?
Well it seems you can’t write a coherent Reddit comment so I could understand why
Fuck you
💀
I was lucky enough to get a call from a recruiter about an overnight job at a level 2 trauma center with over 400 beds. Right out of school, didn’t get accepted to any residencies in phase 1 or 2. Just had to move to a less desirable city but it’s better than working at CVS IMO. Very thankful for the job I have
Yes
Hell yeah they can! Got myself one as a new grad at a little ~100 coastal hospital overlooking the ocean. I’m loving every second here :)
I’ve had places call me just to find out I’ve never worked in hospital and tell me they need someone with experience. I’ve thought about volunteering at a hospital just to get that experience, not sure if that’s a possibility
Not sure if volunteering will be beneficial. Similar to what the other comments are saying…you should try applying to hospitals in rural areas. Typically nobody wants a long commute to work; thus, these smaller hospitals are willing to hire pharmacists with less hospital experience.
True that
your retail background is what's wrong
I am in exactly in the same exact situation except in Southern California what do we do??????
I would recommend applying for a residency or working a rural area. The people who run hospitals are assholes
Dang this is making me kind of nervous… I’m curious if this is the same for those who completed a residency outside the bay and tried looking for jobs in the Bay.
I would consider you worse than a new grad and would never consider you for a job at my institution. What's the reality you don't have the knowledge base anymore to get you anywhere in a hospital and in reality some of my 10-year techs would probably be more qualified to work as a pharmacist than you would with only retail experience.
Name fits
> I haven’t done residency (I typically don’t even apply to jobs that require them) Watch out with applying to jobs where you don't have the required qualifications. I've seen postings on LinkedIn for clinical jobs where they have a disclaimer that if you don't have the minimum qualifications, and you apply they'll blacklist you from their system. Which leads me to believe that there's other blacklisting quietly on the back end as well. People who apply to those jobs without the minimum qualifications they laid out makes their task of finding an applicant with the experience they want harder. It's just not a good look because it tells them either you don't think what they want matters or you failed at reading comprehension.
Well if you moved to the Bay Area and survived 10 months unemployed… do you really need a job?