Job market in the Southern states

[NicolasAngel]

Note: This might be a long read for some, so please bear with me.

Hi, I am an international student considering the pharmacy field. I have done a lot of research on the forum and the pharmacist forum on indeed and have seen a lot of drama about unemployment for current grads with nearly/over $200K in loan. This has impacted my decision a lot, and while I have really good stats to go to a pharm school, I still have the knowledge and skills in video editing (2 years of work study for the school), entry-level programming in Python, R, and statistics background to fall back on. My parents are expected to have their immigration papers accepted sometime in the next 1-2 years, so I would like to work somewhere near them in Arkansas, assuming I found any at all. Does anyone have any ideas about the pharmacy job market in the Southern states? I looked online on indeed and monster and found a bunch of postings, but then I also saw some people on SDN claiming that the majority of postings are there for the purpose of funding or legal work. Would be great if someone could elaborate more on this.

Thank you for your time.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[lord999]

Your entry level coding won't take you far, unless you actually can deal with linear algebra and statistics at the measure theory level. That's basically the level now required for entering MPH candidates in the quantitative.

I take it that you're probably British, so I'll explain the postings in NHS Trust language. Most positions are Band 2 or higher if they are legitimate positions at all. Most are not, one purpose is for continuous evaluation for unsolicited applications to be considered legally as it is insider hiring without a position. Civil Service posts them to count the position as occupied even though HR won't allow a hiring.

If you want to do development, it's a start, but you've got a long way to go. Pick one of the three and specialize, but you heard it here first, IT is already in recession though the statistics need half a year to catch up from the Intel, Microsoft, and Oracle layoffs. You'll have to be both young and hungry to get a job that pays relatively well.

Also, if you are an Indian or Chinese national, the rules are harder for immigration. The E1 and E2 rules have changed.

 

[NicolasAngel]

Your entry level coding won't take you far, unless you actually can deal with linear algebra and statistics at the measure theory level. That's basically the level now required for entering MPH candidates in the quantitative.

I take it that you're probably British, so I'll explain the postings in NHS Trust language. Most positions are Band 2 or higher if they are legitimate positions at all. Most are not, one purpose is for continuous evaluation for unsolicited applications to be considered legally as it is insider hiring without a position. Civil Service posts them to count the position as occupied even though HR won't allow a hiring.

If you want to do development, it's a start, but you've got a long way to go. Pick one of the three and specialize, but you heard it here first, IT is already in recession though the statistics need half a year to catch up from the Intel, Microsoft, and Oracle layoffs. You'll have to be both young and hungry to get a job that pays relatively well.

Also, if you are an Indian or Chinese national, the rules are harder for immigration. The E1 and E2 rules have changed.

Thank you for your insight. I am a Vietnamese studying in the state, and I just recently picked up Python 2 months ago and now doing Rosalind's practice while picking up C++ to do a game development project with my friend on Vulkan. I am aware that I would need to learn a lot to catch up with the ones taking the CS or Stat major to really compare with them, but I do enjoy these things and continuous learning and would really hate to have a job that would not expand my knowledge further.

 

[gwarm01]

Where in Arkansas? The job market there isn't so bad owing to the lack of schools and the somewhat unfair image the state has nationwide. Most hospitals are willing to hire new grads without a residency, and I haven't heard too much complaining from my classmates about the retail market.

 

[NicolasAngel]

Where in Arkansas? The job market there isn't so bad owing to the lack of schools and the somewhat unfair image the state has nationwide. Most hospitals are willing to hire new grads without a residency, and I haven't heard too much complaining from my classmates about the retail market.

I'm living in Fort Smith, AR. Since the school in state does not accept international students, the closest I can go is to Austin Texas, but the fees are so exorbitant compared to their in-state tuition that I feel repulsed from attending.

 

[Lnsean]

Note: This might be a long read for some, so please bear with me.

Hi, I am an international student considering the pharmacy field. I have done a lot of research on the forum and the pharmacist forum on indeed and have seen a lot of drama about unemployment for current grads with nearly/over $200K in loan. This has impacted my decision a lot, and while I have really good stats to go to a pharm school, I still have the knowledge and skills in video editing (2 years of work study for the school), entry-level programming in Python, R, and statistics background to fall back on. My parents are expected to have their immigration papers accepted sometime in the next 1-2 years, so I would like to work somewhere near them in Arkansas, assuming I found any at all. Does anyone have any ideas about the pharmacy job market in the Southern states? I looked online on indeed and monster and found a bunch of postings, but then I also saw some people on SDN claiming that the majority of postings are there for the purpose of funding or legal work. Would be great if someone could elaborate more on this.

Thank you for your time.

more than half of the postings on monster or indeed are garbage

 

[NicolasAngel]

more than half of the postings on monster or indeed are garbage

So is there any way to differentiate the real from the fake ones? Or are applying and hearing nothing back is the only way to verify it?

 

[474671]

Most of the jobs posted in my state are through staffing companies who may or may not have an actual position available. I applied to FOUR different locations of one "position" only to be told by the recruiter that they had never actually gotten anyone the position in my entire state. In other instances, positions were posted and vanished within 2-3 days (likely an internal hire they had to post for). It's definitely a tough market out there, I would not recommend it if you haven't started school yet. Honestly, if you like coding, I'd go back to school for software engineering. My cousin is making more with a bachelors than I will ever make with my PharmD unless I take a managerial position, and even then, his ceiling is much higher.

 

[Lnsean]

So is there any way to differentiate the real from the fake ones? Or are applying and hearing nothing back is the only way to verify it?

After a few months, you will notice which postings are more legit and which ones are more bogus and a waste of time. At first, you have no choice, you will probably be applying to everything.

 

[lord999]

So is there any way to differentiate the real from the fake ones? Or are applying and hearing nothing back is the only way to verify it?

There's a couple of ways. Not even location, no description of work environment (grocery, classical drug store). Hey Iron Mountain Pharmacy Leader guy, here's an idea. You can probably make a couple of bucks making an NLP filter for the obviously lure postings out there. That'd be actually useful, and it's a pretty well-defined scope for programming. There's already products like that for the IT job market which are now more or less free.

 

[Sabril]

It's definitely a tough market out there, I would not recommend it if you haven't started school yet. Honestly, if you like coding, I'd go back to school for software engineering. My cousin is making more with a bachelors than I will ever make with my PharmD unless I take a managerial position, and even then, his ceiling is much higher.

agreed. i know for people from some countries there are certainly more prestige being a doctor or a pharmacist than being a computer guy, but the reality is eventually money rules over everything. Your parents and your uncle Bubba are probably more happy that you are a pharmacist than you can ever be yourself.

Unless you have a very solid reason and a well defined plan to survive as a pharmacist, doing something else with half the schooling and one fourth the debt is a better plan imo.

even if you make less with another career, i think pharmacy nowadays is looking more and more like a short term game than a long term investment. Most of us who work for someone probably can squeeze out 20 good years max before a better, younger, hotter one replaces us.