Pharmacy Job Market Update – Mid-Year 2011

The last few years have been tough for many pharmacists who found themselves in transition to another job. It was more time consuming to find the right pharmacy position, and sometimes extremely frustrating.  Pharmacists went from being spoiled by being frequently called by recruiters about positions, to wondering when the next time a position in their desired role would become available in their preferred geographic area.

Our profession went from being one of the most job secure positions to one that was subject to uncertainty.  Uncertainty of budget cuts, layoffs, overall direction of the pharmacy, and lots of overworked pharmacists was the theme of the last few years.

Here’s the answer to the question many of you have been asking me about.  What direction do I see the pharmacy job market going? What kind of jobs are hot?

Clinical coordinators and overnight shift 7 on/7 off pharmacists (especially in the inpatient pharmacy setting) are in high demand. Specialty areas such as pharmacy informatics, pediatric pharmacist, infectious disease pharmacist, and oncology pharmacist positions are still hot.

If you are planning ahead & deciding whether to do a PGY2 residency, the areas of pediatric infectious disease and pediatric oncology pharmacy seem to be new emerging specialty areas of demand. Also, there aren’t enough pharmacy informatics residency programs to meet the demand for the increasing need for informatics/pharmacy automation pharmacists.  Good field to get into.

Remote order entry pharmacists continue to be increasing in demand, where inpatient experienced pharmacists process/fill orders for hospitals off-site.  This is a cost-saving measure and a growing area of pharmacy.  The majority of these remote order entry positions are still on-site, but there are remote order entry positions where you can work from home also.

I have noticed that new grads are having a harder time finding the right pharmacist position this year than even last year. There are more pharmacists out there looking for work than in the past, and competition is fierce.  For new grads, retail pharmacist positions are still the easiest to get into.  Getting into an inpatient pharmacist position as a new grad, for example, is tough in saturated pharmacy job markets.

One thing I’ve noticed is that new grads are more realistic than they used to be. Sorry, new grads, but your nickname in the recruiting world used to be “divas”.  I used to talk frequently to new grads who expected clinical pharmacist positions without experience or a pharmacy practice residency.  But now, they come to me having a clearer idea of what they are truly qualified for.

For experienced pharmacists who are job hunting, finding the right job quickly is all about marketing yourself well.  I have noticed a higher percentage of experienced pharmacists who are not finding the position they want.  And it’s not because they’re not qualified.  It’s because they don’t know how to market themselves well.  If you’re like most pharmacists, you didn’t go to pharmacy school to learn about marketing.  In fact, you probably cringe at hearing the word “sales”.

Getting the right job quickly in this market is all about tapping into the hidden job market & getting noticed.  If you want someone to be networking on your behalf for unadvertised jobs, find a recruiter you resonate with to keep their eyes open for you.  In this tough job market, you have to be an experienced pharmacist with strong work history (aka no job hopping) in order for a recruiter to represent you.  Otherwise, learn about how to stand out in this competitive market.  Start here with the first step to marketing yourself well.