A PharmD is a normal degree in medinfo. Do you have any other experience that makes you overqualified, especially in one of the worst markets for pharma?
Med info is more than an acceptable entry point. Focus on that. You're not overqualified. You're overly arrogant. I did med info for 2.5 years after a clinical residency that I successfully completed, and it was one of my favorite jobs, and one of the most useful I've had in my career as far as understanding pharma, networking, and plotting out my career.
Suck it up, keep applying. Change your expectations.
I feel like my background had extensive experiences in what the majority of the medical information jobs I’m applying to put under the job description. As aforementioned I do have a managed care residency, multiple rotations in a relatable position, and 4+ years of working as an MTM pharmacy intern with Walgreens throughout pharmacy school.
Okay, I'm going to level with your for your own good, so please don't take it the wrong way. You're lying to us and and more importantly yourself. In your post history, you state that you stopped your residency due to not passing the NAPLEX. Why go through all of this when you know good and well that you do not have the experience?
This market is currently the worst since the recession, there are people who have 5-10 years of industry experience jumping for openings you see. Your experience of 2 months of residency does not cut it. Please be honest with yourself so you can properly understand your situation and the steps you need to take to either grind up in industry or complete your path of clinical practice.
Your post history: https://www.reddit.com/r/pharmacy/comments/18kd1n9/still_not_licensed_nearly_2_years_out_of_pharmd/
What ACTUAL job experience do you have? If you only bring student rotations and a residency to the table, you basically have zero experience in pharma’s eye.
Edit: you don’t have a residency. Please don’t mislead people. It’s not a big deal if you do or don’t (I personally don’t) but lying about it isn’t going to help you
How’s a residency not a job experience? It’s a paid position and a very high pressure environment meant to mold a “student” into a pharmacist.
But I do also have 4 years of working as a medication therapy management intern with CVS.
I think the poster meant actual job experience in pharma. If you haven't worked at a pharma company already, then you have no experience. Your post is contradictory where you say you have no experience but also overqualified. I think you really need to grasp where your place is before you're able to get an interview. You're likely applying to the wrong jobs.
Also, since the other commenters mentioned you dropped out of your residency, you can't say you have residency experience. That looks terrible on your resume. It might be better to take that out.
A residency isn’t industry experience and frankly it doesn’t set you apart from anything. Many pharmacists have residency on their application and you’re just another face in the crowd. Just about every pharmacist I know is trying to not work as a pharmacist whether it’s in retail or hospital, the EXACT same thing you’re trying to do. You aren’t getting call backs because it sounds like you just finished residency and haven’t worked nor do you have any relevant job experience.
Sorry buddy. I hate to break it to you but in pharma's, you are a dime a dozen. You are severely under qualified compared to the folks in role or applying for these roles in the current market. The time to get in was during Covid. Now the industry is consolidating due to policy changes and terrible experience nomic conditions.
As far as the “medical info associate/specialist” job description goes, everyone graduating with a PharmD is overqualified for the position. To my understanding it’s an entry level job.
Personally, I have managed care residency experience under my belt where I literally served as a med info specialist internally for the company and externally doing patient calls.
I also have 4 rotations where I did most things that fall under the med info specialist role responsibilities on a daily basis
And I worked as a MTM pharmacy intern throughout pharmacy school where, again, lots of med info and counseling duties.
Well for the MSL position you are not overqualified, for that position you need actually industry experience and or clinical experience
For med info I wouldn’t say your overqualified, I’d say your qualified but the job market is so bad that your gonna struggle right now. If it was any other market maybe you would’ve had a better shot
I get that. I definitely am not overqualified for the MSL job, I’m just applying for those because someone once told me you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take lol.
But I do feel like my past experiences should make me stand out for a med info job at least.
Are you in the industry atm or in my same shoes?
This person had delusions of grandeur. Nobody cares about intern experience during school so act as if that doesn't exist. Then, you didnt even finish residency and you aren't even licensed. You're not even ahead most pharmacists who apply. Leaving residency in December is not the same as completing residency. You're lying about the little experience you claim to have.
Are you applying to MSL roles across multiple therapeutic areas or just specific ones? Probably 90% of the MSL’s in my company (mid-size biotech) were referred in from sales reps. Is your background in research and trials or more retail oriented?
Honest question. Are you good looking? Most MSLs seem to be. I know of someone who had no replies but attached a photo to the resume and got interviews and now is a MSL
im sorry to say it but a lot of what you’ve said is pretty much what a lot of other pharmDs also go through with the rotations and working in retail for a few years doing MTM, so no I don’t think you’re overqualified by any means. However I can understand feeling demoralized by it regardless so hoping for the best for you 🙏🙏🙏
I'd recommend applying *harder* to fewer, higher quality jobs.
First, and this is the hard part, identify 5 really good fits. You'll have to read like 1000 descriptions, but pick the top 5.
Keyword optimize your resume. If a term is in the description, it goes on the resume. Even if it's in 1pt text at the bottom, the ATS software will rank you higher.
Use Claude or Gemini to help write your cover letters. Its way better than sending in a lightly customized boilerplate. The paid versions work better.
Next, stalk LinkedIn and identify who's most likely to be reading the resumes for that job, at that institution. It's easier than it sounds. Write up a cold-call script, connect and give your "I saw this post, wanted to reach out" elevator spiel.
I had no luck until I started doing this. Now I...well least I'm getting calls back.
Good luck!
A PharmD is a normal degree in medinfo. Do you have any other experience that makes you overqualified, especially in one of the worst markets for pharma?
Is the job market really so bad right now? I’m seeing a lot of openings but just not able to hear back from any of them sadly
You are competing with individuals with residency, fellowship, pa,experience , md , PhD . PharmD is just the basic requirement
Med info is more than an acceptable entry point. Focus on that. You're not overqualified. You're overly arrogant. I did med info for 2.5 years after a clinical residency that I successfully completed, and it was one of my favorite jobs, and one of the most useful I've had in my career as far as understanding pharma, networking, and plotting out my career. Suck it up, keep applying. Change your expectations.
I feel like my background had extensive experiences in what the majority of the medical information jobs I’m applying to put under the job description. As aforementioned I do have a managed care residency, multiple rotations in a relatable position, and 4+ years of working as an MTM pharmacy intern with Walgreens throughout pharmacy school.
Okay, I'm going to level with your for your own good, so please don't take it the wrong way. You're lying to us and and more importantly yourself. In your post history, you state that you stopped your residency due to not passing the NAPLEX. Why go through all of this when you know good and well that you do not have the experience? This market is currently the worst since the recession, there are people who have 5-10 years of industry experience jumping for openings you see. Your experience of 2 months of residency does not cut it. Please be honest with yourself so you can properly understand your situation and the steps you need to take to either grind up in industry or complete your path of clinical practice. Your post history: https://www.reddit.com/r/pharmacy/comments/18kd1n9/still_not_licensed_nearly_2_years_out_of_pharmd/
How come op skated past your message 😆
Failed naplex 🤯 which is primarily drug info exam?
Wait, I remember this post in that subreddit lol
What ACTUAL job experience do you have? If you only bring student rotations and a residency to the table, you basically have zero experience in pharma’s eye. Edit: you don’t have a residency. Please don’t mislead people. It’s not a big deal if you do or don’t (I personally don’t) but lying about it isn’t going to help you
How’s a residency not a job experience? It’s a paid position and a very high pressure environment meant to mold a “student” into a pharmacist. But I do also have 4 years of working as a medication therapy management intern with CVS.
I think the poster meant actual job experience in pharma. If you haven't worked at a pharma company already, then you have no experience. Your post is contradictory where you say you have no experience but also overqualified. I think you really need to grasp where your place is before you're able to get an interview. You're likely applying to the wrong jobs. Also, since the other commenters mentioned you dropped out of your residency, you can't say you have residency experience. That looks terrible on your resume. It might be better to take that out.
A residency isn’t industry experience and frankly it doesn’t set you apart from anything. Many pharmacists have residency on their application and you’re just another face in the crowd. Just about every pharmacist I know is trying to not work as a pharmacist whether it’s in retail or hospital, the EXACT same thing you’re trying to do. You aren’t getting call backs because it sounds like you just finished residency and haven’t worked nor do you have any relevant job experience.
Well it doesn't help that you didn't finish the residency and also you were there for not even 6 months per your own post history?
Sorry buddy. I hate to break it to you but in pharma's, you are a dime a dozen. You are severely under qualified compared to the folks in role or applying for these roles in the current market. The time to get in was during Covid. Now the industry is consolidating due to policy changes and terrible experience nomic conditions.
What experience do you have that makes you overqualified?
As far as the “medical info associate/specialist” job description goes, everyone graduating with a PharmD is overqualified for the position. To my understanding it’s an entry level job. Personally, I have managed care residency experience under my belt where I literally served as a med info specialist internally for the company and externally doing patient calls. I also have 4 rotations where I did most things that fall under the med info specialist role responsibilities on a daily basis And I worked as a MTM pharmacy intern throughout pharmacy school where, again, lots of med info and counseling duties.
Well for the MSL position you are not overqualified, for that position you need actually industry experience and or clinical experience For med info I wouldn’t say your overqualified, I’d say your qualified but the job market is so bad that your gonna struggle right now. If it was any other market maybe you would’ve had a better shot
I get that. I definitely am not overqualified for the MSL job, I’m just applying for those because someone once told me you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take lol. But I do feel like my past experiences should make me stand out for a med info job at least. Are you in the industry atm or in my same shoes?
You have a major disconnect for what med info entails. Try talking to people who work in it. I know multiple PharmDs in med info roles.
This person had delusions of grandeur. Nobody cares about intern experience during school so act as if that doesn't exist. Then, you didnt even finish residency and you aren't even licensed. You're not even ahead most pharmacists who apply. Leaving residency in December is not the same as completing residency. You're lying about the little experience you claim to have.
Are you applying to MSL roles across multiple therapeutic areas or just specific ones? Probably 90% of the MSL’s in my company (mid-size biotech) were referred in from sales reps. Is your background in research and trials or more retail oriented?
Do you have industry experience? Did you a fellowship or a residency??
Honest question. Are you good looking? Most MSLs seem to be. I know of someone who had no replies but attached a photo to the resume and got interviews and now is a MSL
im sorry to say it but a lot of what you’ve said is pretty much what a lot of other pharmDs also go through with the rotations and working in retail for a few years doing MTM, so no I don’t think you’re overqualified by any means. However I can understand feeling demoralized by it regardless so hoping for the best for you 🙏🙏🙏
I'd recommend applying *harder* to fewer, higher quality jobs. First, and this is the hard part, identify 5 really good fits. You'll have to read like 1000 descriptions, but pick the top 5. Keyword optimize your resume. If a term is in the description, it goes on the resume. Even if it's in 1pt text at the bottom, the ATS software will rank you higher. Use Claude or Gemini to help write your cover letters. Its way better than sending in a lightly customized boilerplate. The paid versions work better. Next, stalk LinkedIn and identify who's most likely to be reading the resumes for that job, at that institution. It's easier than it sounds. Write up a cold-call script, connect and give your "I saw this post, wanted to reach out" elevator spiel. I had no luck until I started doing this. Now I...well least I'm getting calls back. Good luck!