Pharmacists – Worst Time to Apply for a Job

I am often asked when the worst time is to apply for a pharmacist job.  Let me start with the best time frames.

The best time frame to apply for a job is typically when companies are ready to hire and make decisions.  When are they?  Mid-to late spring is one good time frame.  Also, traditionally, there is movement of hiring decision-making before existing budgets will close out at the end of a fiscal year.  End of December and end of September are the most common end dates of a company’s fiscal year.  Sometimes pharmacies hire because they are coming to the end of their fiscal year, and have some money in their budget left over that they need to spend or lose.  Hiring can pick up a few months leading to that, because companies have a sense of their remaining budget for the year.

Even if companies are ready to spend, expect the process to take longer during holidays like Thanksgiving & Christmas towards the end of the year.   Hiring managers and pharmacy directors  may be out of the office during that time, and not as ready to make decisions.

Over the past year and a half, many pharmacies (big & small) have held on to their hiring money because of an uncertain economy.  Last year, fall and winter were slow time frames for hiring pharmacists despite traditionally being a time frame with increased hiring.  Some pharmacies ran out of money early, or were worried due to uncertainty of the future.  Fortunately, I have noticed more companies feeling a bit more encouraged with what lays ahead, and are willing to now go ahead and spend those dollars on hiring.  But read my article on the recent pharmacist job market if you haven’t yet.  It doesn’t mean that you can expect to get hired like before.

For positions that don’t require as much experience, summer months can be the worst time to apply, because new pharmacy grads flood the market then, so you will have more competition than usual for those types of positions.  For clinical specialist positions, specialists can expect to apply along with new pharmacy residents also.  This may or may not be a huge disadvantage, depending on the level of experience you carry and where you are interested in going.

Late summertime traditionally is a slower time period when hires happen.

For temp opportunities, summer months can be good because permanent employees are going on vacation during that time.  Of course, if you are willing to where no one else is willing to go, ie: Alaska in the dead of winter, the road can be paved for you.

The reality of it is that there is usually some kind of hiring of pharmacists going on in the country.  Even when it’s the worst time to apply, as long as you are prepared with your job search strategy (most pharmacists have no idea what this is about—hint, it’s not about applying everywhere online that you can find), know how to get your application noticed & write a resume that stands out, and have confidence to ace the interview from your competition…you can get the job you want.

Stay tuned for the answer to a commonly asked question:  “When is it too early to apply for a job?” (ie, 3 mo before I want to make a change?)  Get the next article in your inbox.  Click here to get the RSS Feed.  What does that mean?  Get new pharmacist job market updates and answers to job search & workplace changes as I post these relevant articles on the blog.