Pharmacy Career Insight by LJMUCareers

Pharmacy CAREER INSIGHT

LJMU CAREERS TEAM 0151 231 2048/3719 ❚ careers@ljmu.ac.uk

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Career Insight: Pharmacy

Introduction Studying towards a degree in Pharmacy has excellent prospects and salaries are very competitive. Most pharmacists work in high street and supermarket pharmacies, in hospitals and in health centres but there are also opportunities in the drugs development industry or in university-based research. The MPharm degree also provides a sound scientific training which will make you well-placed to apply for other science-based careers. The MPharm is your first step towards qualification as a pharmacist in the UK. When you graduate, you will need to undertake a yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pre-registration and training (usually salaried) to qualify for registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council. Once you have demonstrated your practical competence, taken professional examinations and provided the GPC with a statement of fitness to practice (and sometimes evidence of a Criminal Records Bureau check), you will be eligible to work in any branch of pharmacy. In recent years, securing a pre-registration placement has become increasingly competitive, so gaining relevant work or voluntary experience and engaging in extracurricular activities alongside your studies is crucial to demonstrate to prospective employers that you have the motivation to succeed in your chosen area and have developed the required skills. Being aware of the range of options open to you is crucial to make an informed career decision. Researching different career pathways and entry requirements is essential preparation for your graduate career, so ensure you make the most of available resources, attend career events or employer talks, and take every opportunity to network with professionals to find out as much as possible about the career areas that interest you. You could also consider setting up a LinkedIn profile and following relevant organisations and vacancy sites on Twitter.

Typical job options Following completion of the MPharm degree course, many pharmacy graduates go on to complete their pre-registration training in either community or hospital pharmacy. You can explore these job options via these links: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/community_pharmacist_job_description.htm http://www.prospects.ac.uk/hospital_pharmacist_job_description.htm There are also a small number of opportunities to complete pre-registration training within industry. AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, MSD and Pfizer all other pre-registration training within an industrial setting. There are also a range of other opportunities for pharmacists within industry as well. There are approximately 380 pharmaceutical companies in the UK, employing around 70,000 people. Areas of employment include: Research And Development - chemists and biologists work to discover new molecules to cure diseases or test products before release; Manufacturing And Supply - engineers and quality control professionals are hired to ensure the efficiency and quality of products; Commercial - in the UK it is illegal to advertise prescription medicine to the public, so many science graduates work in a variety of roles promoting drugs to doctors;

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Career Insight: Pharmacy

Support Functions - the basic supporting areas of any business. Roles include finance, human resources, administration, legal departments and IT. Laboratory based opportunities - to find out more about laboratory based job opportunities, please consult our guide about looking for paid employment or work experience within a laboratory setting. This guide can be downloaded from our website here: https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/careers/123871.htm For examples of the different jobs in this sector, see graduate jobs in science and pharmaceuticals.

Jobs where your degree would be useful: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/clinical_research_associate_job_description.htm http://www.prospects.ac.uk/higher_education_lecturer_job_description.htm http://www.prospects.ac.uk/pharmacologist_job_description.htm http://www.prospects.ac.uk/product_process_development_scientist_job_description.htm http://www.prospects.ac.uk/regulatory_affairs_officer_job_description.htm http://www.prospects.ac.uk/science_writer_job_description.htm http://www.prospects.ac.uk/toxicologist_job_description.htm http://www.prospects.ac.uk/research_scientist_life_sciences_job_description.htm The suggestions listed here are by no means exhaustive, so we would encourage you to consider other relevant options, e.g. based on previous work or voluntary experience, skills and interests. To explore job options by sector, check http://www.prospects.ac.uk/types_of_jobs.htm. You can also use career planning tools like http://www.prospects.ac.uk/myprospects_planner_login.htm and http://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-report to generate initial career ideas. Ensure you check entry requirements for each area, e.g. will you need a degree in a specific subject? Is a 2:1 degree classification essential? Will you need to complete a postgraduate degree or accredited training with professional bodies? Is any specific work experience required? Some pharmacy graduates also consider a career in medicine or dentistry. There are four year graduate medicine courses available which are offered by 16 universities across the UK. There are also four year courses in dentistry which are offered by 4 universities in the UK. It is important to check the academic entry requirements for each of these courses carefully, as they can vary considerably between universities. You can also find out more by attending the ‘applying to graduate courses in dentistry and medicine workshop’ which the Careers Team runs once per semester. We also recommend that you download a copy of our “Planning your Career” guide from the Careers website at https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/careers/123871.htm. This includes a list of useful questions to help you explore your career options and introduces you to the DOTS model to help you with your career planning.

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© 2017. Liverpool John Moores University. The content of this document is copyright material of Liverpool John Moores University. No part of this document may be reproduced or distributed without prior written permission of the copyright owner.

Career Insight: Pharmacy

Pharmaceutical Companies in the North West: Astra Zeneca www.astrazeneca.co.uk/careers Bristol Myers Sqiubb www.bms.com/careers/Pages/home.aspx Lilly UK www.lilly.co.uk/en/careers/ GlaxoSmithKline www.gsk.com/en-gb/careers/ MedImmune www.medimmune.com/careers RedxPharma www.redxpharma.com/ Novartis www.novartis.co.uk/careers/index.shtml Sanofi-Aventis www.sanoficareers.co.uk/ Teva www.tevaruncornjobs.co.uk/working-at-teva

Pharmaceutical Employers across the U.K: The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has a section of their website which enables you to search for work placements and graduate training programmes with pharmaceutical employers across the UK. To use this search facility, visit their website at: http://careers.abpi.org.uk/getting-into-the-industry/pharmaceutical-recruiters/Pages/default.aspx

Large Employers of Community Pharmacists: Boots - www.boots.jobs/pharmacy/roles/pharmacy-graduates/ The Co-operative Pharmacy - http://careers.pharmacy.co.uk/ Lloyds Pharmacy - www.lloydspharmacy.com/wps/portal/careers/preregistrationprogramme Tesco Pharmacy Careers www.tesco-careers.com/Jobs-in-Stores-and-Centres/Healthcare/Tesco-Pharmacy.aspx

ASDA Pharmacy Careers - www.asda.jobs/what-can-i-do/pharmacy/index.html Numark - www.numarkpharmacists.co.uk/about-us/preregistration-students

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Career Insight: Pharmacy

Useful links and websites: LJMU Vacancy website - http://ljmu.prospects.ac.uk/ Prospects – Careers information and graduate jobs - http://www.prospects.ac.uk/ TargetJobs – Careers information and graduate jobs - http://targetjobs.co.uk/ Milkround – Graduate jobs, placements & internships - http://www.milkround.com/ Graduate Talent Pool – Graduate internship opportunities http://graduatetalentpool.direct.gov.uk/ New ScientisT - http://jobs.newscientist.com/en-gb/ PMLive Intelligence Online (a Pharmaceutical Jobs Website) - www.pmlive.com/about Pharmajobs (Pharmaceutical Sales) - www.pharmajobs.co.uk/ Kelly Scientific Services - www.kellyservices.co.uk/uk/careers/careers-in-science Matchtech - www.matchtech.com/science-jobs

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Sources of work experience Download our mini-guide on “Making yourself employable whilst at University” from https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/careers/123871.htm for an overview of the different types of work experience available and some general suggestions about finding work experience opportunities. Many community pharmacy employers offer summer placement opportunities. These are generally advertised on websites like Prospects, Targetjobs or Milkround, as well as on the organisation’s own website. For summer placements with hospitals, you should contact each hospital pharmacy directly to enquire about the availability of placements. You can also try websites such as Pharmacy Workforce North West NHS Website (www.pharmacyworkforcenw.nhs.uk/). Check your eligibility before making an application, e.g. some summer placements are specifically aimed at students who will be between their third year and fourth year. Application deadlines for summer internships can be as early as September/October for a start date between June and August the following year, so ensure you don’t miss out on relevant opportunities! For summer placements within the pharmaceutical industry, you can also try websites such as www.prospects.ac.uk or http://targetjobs.co.uk/. The Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) websites also provides a list of large pharmaceutical companies in the UK, and you can search for summer placements via this website: http://careers.abpi.org.uk/ . Many undergraduate students also secure work experience through a more ‘speculative’ or ‘creative’ approach, i.e. after contacting organisations directly through networking events, via email or through LinkedIn. Once you have some

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Career Insight: Pharmacy

initial career ideas, undertaking work experience or voluntary work in these areas can be a great way not only to find out whether this role would be right for you but also to build up a network of professionals and organisations in your chosen sector, which can often lead to further work experience or even a full-time role after graduating. Applications for summer internships with large employers are very competitive, so involvement in extracurricular activities, voluntary work or previous work experience can give you the edge over other candidates. It’s never too early to start getting involved in clubs and societies or to gain work experience, so start exploring relevant options early on in your studies. Before contacting organisations about work shadowing or work experience opportunities, make sure you research the organisation beforehand and find out the best person to get in touch with. It is important that you demonstrate that you are interested in the organisation and have spent some time finding out what they do. Even when applying to secure work experience for the first time in this industry, show the employer what you have to offer. Briefly outline any relevant skills or knowledge you gained from your course. Look at the skills outlined under entry requirements in the occupational profiles on Prospects (http://www.prospects.ac.uk/types_of_jobs.htm) and try to outline these on your CV, drawing on examples from your course and other work experience or extra-curricular activities to demonstrate how you developed these. Useful websites to research a range of voluntary opportunities include http://www.do-it.org.uk/ and https://www.liverpoolguild.org/main-menu/volunteer. You could also contact LJMU Volunteering Manager Chris Prescott on 0151 904 6356 or c.j.prescott@ljmu.ac.uk to enquire about current opportunities. It is also worth researching relevant organisations/charities and contacting them directly to find out about voluntary roles on offer.

Recruitment schedule Recruitment cycles and deadlines will vary depending on the type of work you are applying for. Again, research is key to ensure that you do not miss relevant opportunities. As a rule of thumb, the selection process takes longer in larger organisations, as they tend to receive a higher number of applications and use several different stages to reduce the number of potential candidates. If you are interested in community pharmacy pre-registration placements (with large companies) then you need to apply for those as early as the spring term of Level 6. Check the websites of large companies to find out about their individual deadlines. If you are interested in hospital pharmacy pre-registration placements then you need to use the’ Pharmalife’ application process. You usually need to register for the Pharmalife application process in the spring term of Level 6 and then make your application during the summer before Level 7. Please see this website to find out more: www.pharmalife.co.uk/ For information about pre-registration placements in industry please refer to the ‘Pre-Registration Pharmacist Information Pack’ which has been put together by a number of leading industrial pharmaceutical companies. This booklet can be downloaded from the Pharmacy Professional Development Blackboard Site. Many graduate training schemes with large companies will accept applications from students of any degree background. If you are interested in these roles, you will need to be aware of the recruitment cycle. Many employers begin the graduate recruitment process during the autumn term for final-year students. Some placements are advertised then as well. Most closing dates are in November and December, but some are earlier so it is important to start researching companies that you want to apply to early on. The application process for graduate training schemes usually involves completing an online application form, which may require you to answer ‘competency based questions’. This may be followed by psychometric tests, a telephone interview and an assessment centre. You may also need to submit your CV. Most of the large recruiters have a section on the student/graduate pages of their website that outlines the different steps of their selection process, so check these to find out

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Career Insight: Pharmacy

what is required. For more information about graduate schemes, download the ‘Graduate Schemes’ guide from https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/careers/123871.htm Many of these opportunities are advertised in the Prospects Directory and the Targetjobs Directory (available from Careers Zones or on the Prospects and Targetjobs website), on websites like www.milkround.com or www.ratemyplacement.co.uk/, as well as on the organisations’ own websites. You may also find work through small and medium-sized enterprises/businesses (SMEs) – for example there may be pre-registration positions available with independent pharmacies. These smaller pharmacies may have a more flexible recruitment process. Some SMEs may use their own application form but most applications will be by CV and covering letter. These positions will be advertised on company websites, relevant recruitment websites, the Job Centre, and national and local newspapers. The ‘creative’ or ‘speculative’ approach to job hunting, outlined above, is also important when looking for graduate roles. Making contacts and approaching organisations speculatively to look for work is a common route into employment. For more information about the speculative approach to job hunting, download a copy of our guide to ‘The Hidden Jobs Market’ from https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/careers/123871.htm You can get advice about the recruitment process by booking a one-to-one appointment with a careers or employability adviser at your nearest Careers Zone or you can attend relevant workshops or webinars run by the Careers Team.

Key events and networking   

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Liverpool Careers Fair: usually held in the autumn and spring of each year, see fairs website http://www.liverpoolfairs.org.uk/ for additional events Manchester Careers Fairs: open to students and graduates from any university; check http://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/events/ for details Careers and employability events at LJMU: keep an eye on our events page at https://careers.ljmu.ac.uk for details of upcoming employability workshops, networking sessions and employer talks. The pre-registration employer event (which is attended by community and hospital pharmacy companies and industrial pharmaceutical companies) takes place in February of each year at The World of Work Careers Centre. LiverpoolSU Clubs and Societies: www.liverpoolsu.com/clubsandsocs

Other information Centre for Entrepreneurship - support for LJMU students and graduates interested in starting up their own business https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/startup/.

Careers Zones Campus-based Careers Zones provide easy access to careers support in convenient locations at Byrom Street, Aldham Robarts Library and at IM Marsh, staffed by the Careers Team. Support available includes CV and application form reviews, Careers Adviser appointments, drop-in quick queries, practice interviews and access to careers resources and information. The Zones also host regular employer visits during term time where you can meet and network with employers and discuss job and placement opportunities. For the latest updates and details of locations and opening times, try our Twitter and Facebook pages.

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