Ive been looking at what to go into in college (im a senior in HS) and ive narrowed it down to two, Pharmacy and IT. I am very good with computers, and love working with them, but i have a feeling in 5 years the demand for IT ppl wont be as high, and the salary will be terrible. I wouldnt mind being a pharmacist, and the pay is amazing, but i just want your opinion about the IT job market in the future.
Pharmacy or IT?
- Thread starter Juice Box
- Start date
Wow, you base your choice of pharmacy based off the pay. You'd fit in well with 3/4 of the Pre-Pharm students here at UTK...
Any career choice that has you saying "I wouldn't mind..." means choose something else.
Any career choice that has you saying "I wouldn't mind..." means choose something else.
do most of those pre pharm kids drop out? Im not only doing it for the money, id just like a carrer that i know Id be able to get a decent job when im done with college.
Most of them don't make it into Pharmacy school. The 1/4 who really want it usually make it. Pre-Medicine/Pre-Pharmacy/Nursing are not majors you can go into half-assed like Business or English.
alkemyst
No Lifer
- Feb 13, 2001
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I loved biology/zoology. Didn't want the life of no free time as a young MD....went pharmacy and interned.
If you own your own pharmacy it's good (much like any good successful self-owned business)...working retail though the pay is good $75k start and great benefits, but you hand your nuts to the store manager who will tell you just count pills....don't give medical advice.
Most pharmacists I worked with yawned with a novel all day and just checked the tech's work "barely"....I dropped out and did banking again and about 5 years later got my CS degree.
If you are happy with a high paying job and can handle it being brain dead, plus can get through Pharm School...it's a great way to make a living.
If you own your own pharmacy it's good (much like any good successful self-owned business)...working retail though the pay is good $75k start and great benefits, but you hand your nuts to the store manager who will tell you just count pills....don't give medical advice.
Most pharmacists I worked with yawned with a novel all day and just checked the tech's work "barely"....I dropped out and did banking again and about 5 years later got my CS degree.
If you are happy with a high paying job and can handle it being brain dead, plus can get through Pharm School...it's a great way to make a living.
This statement should answer your question! That you 'love' and are 'good at' is ALL that matters. Liking who you work with is HUGE too.
What do you think will happen when all these pharm students flood the market? Also, as healthcare becomes more and more socialized, the salaries will tank.
Do what you enjoy and are good at, and the $$$ will follow if that is your motivation.
honestly, i could be either, i like them both, i just dont think there will be a demand for IT ppl in 5 years
StageLeft
No Lifer
- Sep 29, 2000
- 70,150
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It may be higher. The bubble bursting four years ago has petered out to an extent now and IT is more stable, but it's taken a while. People for the most part realize it's not a "go to school for 6 months and make $60k coming out" venture anymore. Computers will be ever more pervasive and people have to create the software to run on them. The only threat to the certain increase in IT demand is outsourcing. The demand for IT WILL go up. I have no doubt about that. What I don't know is how much outsourcing will threaten it, long term. I would suspect not as much as some doomsayers predict. The language and logistics barriers are unsurmountable all too often, which is the same reason a lot of other jobs which could be outsourced are not (such as accounting). In reality nothing is quite so easy as sending a design document to an Indian team and expecting a developed product back a few months later.
Originally posted by: Taggart
With all due respect, I think you're wrong. There will always be demand for IT
Truer words were never spoken and most of those IT jobs will be offshore. :Q If you are looking for a stable job with good money that can't be farmed out to another country then go for pharmacy. IT is deadend for most people and will only get worse.
BurnItDwn
Lifer
- Oct 10, 1999
- 26,353
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if you are willing to go through 5 or 6 years of school, get your pharmacy Degree. It's easy to get an IT job if you have your Pharmacy Degree (writing new software for pharmacies ... The head developer in the company I work for started off as a pharmacist ... (Charlie Goodall ... Walgreens) however, its impossible to go the other way if you don't have your pharmacy degree.
alkemyst
No Lifer
- Feb 13, 2001
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Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
Originally posted by: Taggart
With all due respect, I think you're wrong. There will always be demand for IT
Truer words were never spoken and most of those IT jobs will be offshore. :Q If you are looking for a stable job with good money that can't be farmed out to another country then go for pharmacy. IT is deadend for most people and will only get worse.
Hmmmm help desk is not IT/IS.
If I was off shore the things needed could not get done. When someone paid $14 million per year wants you to 'show him', he ain't gonna be calling India.
- Oct 28, 1999
- 62,484
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This is visgf:
I'm in my final year of pharmacy school. I've worked in a hospital and clinical setting all the way through school, and thus far, my rotations have been both inpatient and outpatient and clinically based. I don't have a day where I'm not challenged intellectually. I would consider it anything but boring.
The setting that alkemyst described would be one of major retail pharmacy chains. Large chains are often focused on high output of prescriptions (aka counting small items quickly), especially since pharmacists have little success in finding ways to be reimbursed for our intellectual efforts in a community setting. This setting can, and often does, result in pharmacists getting really burnt out very quickly, especially younger pharmacists. The age differential is likely due to the more advanced education that pharmacists require. In fact, next year every pharmacist has a PharmD degree, not just a bachelor's degree.
We are trained in a newer manner than in the not-so-distant past, and as a result, we are a more respected group of health-care professionals. I am forever amazed at the level of knowledge that a pharmacist has that other medical professionals couldn't dream of matching, including physicians. Depending on the setting you work in and especially the state you work in, there may be many places that hire pharmacists for clinical duties.
One reason that places like Walgreens pays their pharmacists extremely well is because of the assembly line feeling created by management. Many young people are blinded by the money, especially since we come out of school with a large amount of loans. Pharmacy is a profession where you can be rewarded nicely, but when interviewing you have to be very detailed in the questions you ask in order to adequately evaluate your employer's expectations. If you don't ask, then you count all day.
Good luck on the decision. Just do a little research. Money is a poor reason to choose any profession. While it seems important in high school when you don't have any of it, you don't really want to absolutely dread the 1/3 of your adult life that you will spend working. Do what you really like within the limits of practicality.
I'm in my final year of pharmacy school. I've worked in a hospital and clinical setting all the way through school, and thus far, my rotations have been both inpatient and outpatient and clinically based. I don't have a day where I'm not challenged intellectually. I would consider it anything but boring.
The setting that alkemyst described would be one of major retail pharmacy chains. Large chains are often focused on high output of prescriptions (aka counting small items quickly), especially since pharmacists have little success in finding ways to be reimbursed for our intellectual efforts in a community setting. This setting can, and often does, result in pharmacists getting really burnt out very quickly, especially younger pharmacists. The age differential is likely due to the more advanced education that pharmacists require. In fact, next year every pharmacist has a PharmD degree, not just a bachelor's degree.
We are trained in a newer manner than in the not-so-distant past, and as a result, we are a more respected group of health-care professionals. I am forever amazed at the level of knowledge that a pharmacist has that other medical professionals couldn't dream of matching, including physicians. Depending on the setting you work in and especially the state you work in, there may be many places that hire pharmacists for clinical duties.
One reason that places like Walgreens pays their pharmacists extremely well is because of the assembly line feeling created by management. Many young people are blinded by the money, especially since we come out of school with a large amount of loans. Pharmacy is a profession where you can be rewarded nicely, but when interviewing you have to be very detailed in the questions you ask in order to adequately evaluate your employer's expectations. If you don't ask, then you count all day.
Good luck on the decision. Just do a little research. Money is a poor reason to choose any profession. While it seems important in high school when you don't have any of it, you don't really want to absolutely dread the 1/3 of your adult life that you will spend working. Do what you really like within the limits of practicality.
Originally posted by: alkemyst
Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
Originally posted by: Taggart
With all due respect, I think you're wrong. There will always be demand for IT
Truer words were never spoken and most of those IT jobs will be offshore. :Q If you are looking for a stable job with good money that can't be farmed out to another country then go for pharmacy. IT is deadend for most people and will only get worse.
Hmmmm help desk is not IT/IS.
If I was off shore the things needed could not get done. When someone paid $14 million per year wants you to 'show him', he ain't gonna be calling India.
Just about anything software related can and will be sent overseas, eventually. Them there foreigners are learning to be proficient at English very quickly.
alkemyst
No Lifer
- Feb 13, 2001
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Well research and clinical studies are not boring...but they don't pay worth two craps unless you create something.
A Pharm.D is almost a requirement for big money now. The fact is the money in the store is usually made behind the Pharmacy counter.
Dealing with pharmateuticals yes, dealing in anatomy and surgery no. This is akin to the RN or LPN saying they make the hospital save people, not the doctor. :roll:
so make an assembly line and give the workers big $$$? that doesn't make sense.
If you want a rewarding but hard career go MD and call it a day. MD>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Pharm.D 90% of the time.
Money is a poor reason but it is the most common one.
I think I might actually agree with alkemyst, for once, and thought I should voice that surprise.
rh71
No Lifer
- Aug 28, 2001
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Healthcare is the way to go. There is always going to be a need for healthcare and the field isn't all saturated like IT has become.
Pharmacy involves a ton of studying. 2 of my friends went to school for 5+ years and that's with some semesters with nearly 30 credits each. It's crazy, but in the end, it's well worth it. They start at like $60k (NY) and keep shooting up.
For the record, I don't think there's anything wrong with basing your career choice on payout so long as you're not miserable doing it. "It pays the bills" comes to mind.
Pharmacy involves a ton of studying. 2 of my friends went to school for 5+ years and that's with some semesters with nearly 30 credits each. It's crazy, but in the end, it's well worth it. They start at like $60k (NY) and keep shooting up.
For the record, I don't think there's anything wrong with basing your career choice on payout so long as you're not miserable doing it. "It pays the bills" comes to mind.
People always screw up computers and need them to be fixed. Any medium sized company will shell out for a guy over telephone tech support in India.
alkemyst
No Lifer
- Feb 13, 2001
- 83,769
- 19
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Well the funny thing is (I come from graduating HS in 1989) the medical field gave way to law (sueing the docs) which became saturated as well and gave way to IT...then at my time I was told IT was saturated (and 4 years later not many made it through)...
Fact is Health, Law or IT will be needed but a doctor, lawyer, MCSE/CS/CE does not make for a good worker always. Good workers are *always* in demand.
Know your sh!t and you will be employable.
Edit: I don't know many schools that will allow more than 18 credits without dean review yet alone 30!....sounds like a bag full of flaming poop.
Pharmacy is 2 years or 3 after a BA/BS degree usually depending on Pharm.D or not. I was accepted to Pharm School at UM/SECOGS? and UF with just a AA though so YMMV on this.
alkemyst
No Lifer
- Feb 13, 2001
- 83,769
- 19
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You are missing my point I think. A dude making millions a year is not going to want to make a phone call/vid conference overseas.
If you know your stuff you get the job. Overseas is mostly hacks and clerical duties. Yes a lot of IT/IS has become merely clerical.
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