Career fair last Friday was abysmal.

[RX CARE]

Research publication is much more impressive than winning a position in a club (which is essentially the same as winning a popularity contest...very pointless and "high school like" IMO). Plus I just don't like speaking in front of crowds...if I really care about the people in my class and care about being popular in school then I could do that crap too....but again I think its very pointless.

I know I'm a couple of days late but this post just seems really naive. There are myriads of reasons why one can relate holding a or "winning" a position to being the right person for a job. There are reasons it is used as a tool, it's not just for play.
First of all, the first thing that reflects from such experience is the ability to persuade people. Yea it seems so high school, but if you were able to convince people about where you stand with your views and what you would do for an organization, and you get voted, it demonstrates persuasive skills and communication skills. Is speaking in front of crowds the only thing getting a leadership position is about? And how are you going to persuade a room full of physicians, nurses and other hospital staff during an in-service to adopt a certain protocol that you have "researched" to be 98% effective? So you don't care about people in your class. Are you gonna care about the colleagues you work with?
There is a lot to be learned from school leadership. Getting people to do stuff when they really do not want to, being entirely responsible for certain tasks to be accomplished, reporting to people, and generally working in a team. And for the most part, you would run into the same issues when working in a team-based model work enviroment. And that experience will come in. Do you know what it means to be hated as a leader? I have seen people's attitude towards other people change, people become more respectful, and people come to appreciate others just because of the stuff they went through holding some position. For some people, it really does change them and teaches them how to be better adults.
I'm sure like you said you already have all the good qualities of a leader and you don't need to prove it. But the person trying to hire you does not know that, and they can't just take your word for it without proof.
Your views pretty much depict the fact that clubs/organizations are pointless, not realizing that they have actually contributed to where some things are the way they are in the profession today. I'm sure you wouldn't make your views about this as obvious in an interview, because it wouldn't fly. A lot of people take this stuff seriously. Both research and leadership experience are equally important. If anything, research contributes more to the academic aspect of things. If one already had a high GPA, I would put research under the same bracket....it is a notch more scholarly work. I think experience in one or the other or both aspects can equally show how much dedication a person has, but one is definitely not very pointless.

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[owlegrad]

I know I'm a couple of days late but this post just seems really naive. There are myriads of reasons why one can relate holding a or "winning" a position to being the right person for a job. There are reasons it is used as a tool, it's not just for play.
First of all, the first thing that reflects from such experience is the ability to persuade people. Yea it seems so high school, but if you were able to convince people about where you stand with your views and what you would do for an organization, and you get voted, it demonstrates persuasive skills and communication skills. Is speaking in front of crowds the only thing getting a leadership position is about? And how are you going to persuade a room full of physicians, nurses and other hospital staff during an in-service to adopt a certain protocol that you have "researched" to be 98% effective? So you don't care about people in your class. Are you gonna care about the colleagues you work with?
There is a lot to be learned from school leadership. Getting people to do stuff when they really do not want to, being entirely responsible for certain tasks to be accomplished, reporting to people, and generally working in a team. And for the most part, you would run into the same issues when working in a team-based model work enviroment. And that experience will come in. Do you know what it means to be hated as a leader? I have seen people's attitude towards other people change, people become more respectful, and people come to appreciate others just because of the stuff they went through holding some position. For some people, it really does change them and teaches them how to be better adults.
I'm sure like you said you already have all the good qualities of a leader and you don't need to prove it. But the person trying to hire you does not know that, and they can't just take your word for it without proof.
Your views pretty much depict the fact that clubs/organizations are pointless, not realizing that they have actually contributed to where some things are the way they are in the profession today. I'm sure you wouldn't make your views about this as obvious in an interview, because it wouldn't fly. A lot of people take this stuff seriously. Both research and leadership experience are equally important. If anything, research contributes more to the academic aspect of things. If one already had a high GPA, I would put research under the same bracket....it is a notch more scholarly work. I think experience in one or the other or both aspects can equally show how much dedication a person has, but one is definitely not very pointless.

Your post is hard to read. Consider adding breaks to be more persuasive.

 

[Pharmacy Kid]

I remember when Facebook was only for college students. Now there are OLD PEOPLE. OLD PEOPLE!!!!

 

[benjee]

I remember when Facebook was only for college students. Now there are OLD PEOPLE. OLD PEOPLE!!!!

yeah, totally agree. There are lots of twenty something years old people joining Facebook, man ,they are very , very OLD OLD!!!!!!!

 

[rph3664]

I remember when Facebook was only for college students. Now there are OLD PEOPLE. OLD PEOPLE!!!!

The oldest person on my friends list is my 77-year-old mother. She only got on there because my sibs and I are, as are my brother's wife and kids, and was totally shocked to get a bunch of friend requests from relatives, friends, and acquaintances in her age group, as well as invitations to play Yoville, Farmville, Mafia Wars, etc.

She does not have a picture on there and has never posted.

FTR, the only reason I signed up was because I had to in order to see a set of Halloween pictures my brother took of his kids. Lots of my former co-workers are on my friends list too, and they do keep me updated with what's going on at the coal mine and they tell me across the board that they did me a favor.

 

[Quiksilver]

Research publication is much more impressive than winning a position in a club (which is essentially the same as winning a popularity contest...very pointless and "high school like" IMO). Plus I just don't like speaking in front of crowds...if I really care about the people in my class and care about being popular in school then I could do that crap too....but again I think its very pointless.

The ideal application is made up of 4 qualities: academics, professional activities (organizations), research and work experience.

I know people who are pretty high up in some organizations and I'll be honest, they have more to talk about then some of the research students I know. In reality, its balance. Its not just one of those 4 qualities. My research project and things I am involved with are both interesting, relevant, and well beyond what most will experience in school but I have not really gotten involved in organizations and i think it hurts my overall application. Organizations are great great ways to network.

 

[Medwell]

I have around 2500 friends on facebook and 500 pending friend requests....if you can find me like all those random people did you are welcome to add me there.

Well, I tried, I guess my stalking skills aren't up to par.

 

[Argentium]

The ideal application is made up of 4 qualities: academics, professional activities (organizations), research and work experience.

I know people who are pretty high up in some organizations and I'll be honest, they have more to talk about then some of the research students I know. In reality, its balance. Its not just one of those 4 qualities. My research project and things I am involved with are both interesting, relevant, and well beyond what most will experience in school but I have not really gotten involved in organizations and i think it hurts my overall application. Organizations are great great ways to network.

5. letters of rec

 

[Allure]

Well, I tried, I guess my stalking skills aren't up to par.

Well...you know she does to school in Georgia...She probably mentioned it somewhere in one of her posts, but I don't remember. She probably also mentioned somewhere what class she is in. You can go to facebook, find that class, join that group, narrow down to the chicks, then narrow down to asians, then narrow down to the one with 2500 friends...then voila...lol...she is too popular not to be in that group.

 

[Quiksilver]

5. letters of rec

The fifth is obvious. If you got the other 4, I think your letters will be strong.

 

[spacecowgirl]

The fifth is obvious. If you got the other 4, I think your letters will be strong.

Not necessarily. you can be all those things but totally hard to work with or socially inept or just plain obnoxious - all things that will not generate good LORs.

I would rank LORs very high on that list.

 

[timbutt2]

I appreciate your post, Buffalo. Thankfully, I am one of those interns (Yr3) who has a scholarship for a retail chain.

 

[SHC1984]

Well, I tried, I guess my stalking skills aren't up to par.

If you want to be friends on facebook just PM me.

 

[SHC1984]

The ideal application is made up of 4 qualities: academics, professional activities (organizations), research and work experience.

I know people who are pretty high up in some organizations and I'll be honest, they have more to talk about then some of the research students I know. In reality, its balance. Its not just one of those 4 qualities. My research project and things I am involved with are both interesting, relevant, and well beyond what most will experience in school but I have not really gotten involved in organizations and i think it hurts my overall application. Organizations are great great ways to network.

You guys are right about the leadership position being important. I just wish it wasn't b/c I really just don't like doing that kind of work and I don't like that kind of attention. I am just not the type of person that likes everyone to PAY ATTENTION to me all the time. I actually preferred to be left alone and doing my own thing. That's why I don't like running for leadership positions. I am not even sure if I want to do a residency or not. I think I really just prefer having a work at home job and make 100K a year. http://www.medcohealth.com/medco/corporate/home.jsp?ltSess=y&articleID=CorpDiversity I think that will make me happy enough. I really prefer not dealing with anyone unless I really have to to be completely honest.

 

[mustang sally]

You guys are right about the leadership position being important. I just wish it wasn't b/c I really just don't like doing that kind of work and I don't like that kind of attention. I am just not the type of person that likes everyone to PAY ATTENTION to me all the time. I actually preferred to be left alone and doing my own thing. That's why I don't like running for leadership positions. I am not even sure if I want to do a residency or not. I think I really just prefer having a work at home job and make 100K a year. http://www.medcohealth.com/medco/corporate/home.jsp?ltSess=y&articleID=CorpDiversity I think that will make me happy enough. I really prefer not dealing with anyone unless I really have to to be completely honest.

Maybe you could try to find a leadership position that doesn't involve giving a speech? I know some of the elections we have had have just been online things (though you're right, most do involve speeches). I also don't think every elected position has to involve the whole look at me thing. I'm a treasurer in one org,and although I do work hard, it is hardly a spot light position. It's probably not that important if you don't want to do a residency, but maybe it could still make for fodder during job interviews.

 

[Pharmacy Kid]

5. letters of rec

LOR's are def up there. For pharm school app, I think they would be behind grades and tied for 2nd with extracurriculars. For pharm job app, I think they would be 2nd place behind work exp. Either way, you need solid LOR's to get what you want.

I think my LOR's for pharm school set me apart. I had good grades and everything, but I knew the people who I asked for letters would write stellar ones.