Newly qualified pharmacists.

by Shaun Hockey

The end of June will see a the annual influx of eager newly qualified pharmacists onto the RPSGB register. At PL-UK we are keen to get as many of them as possible to join us so we can get as many of them as possible good quality, highly paid positions to start paying off those student debts.

Locums

We are particularly keen to hear from pre-reg’s who are looking to locums across the North of England. We will really look after them as we know, just like when you pass you driving test, you only really start to learn when the “L” plates come off. We ease them into well supported pharmacies to enable them to build their confidence until they get to a point where they tell us that they are confident to try something a bit busier. At PL-UK we never push locums in to anything. From day one, many locums in the North East in particular will earn from £25 upwards.

Pre-reg’s looking for a permanent position

What we recommend for pre-reg’s who are looking for a new permanent  position but haven’t secured one yet is to locum first. The reasoning behind this is that your CV looks much more attractive to potential employers if it has on it that you have worked for Alliance Boots, Tesco’s , LLOYDS ETC. It shows experience and confidence in your ability. As I mentioned  in my previous blog, don’t go direct to the companies use an agency, you’ll secure a significantly better salary.

Permananent Jobs

by Shaun Hockey

Locuming doesn’t tend to be a lifelong career decision. Many pharmacists locum to bring in extra money or work every hour God sends to pay off student loans. Some pharmacists just get sick of management responsibilities and locum in-between jobs.

One thing I would advise against if you decide to apply for a new position is going direct to a potential employer. When you think about it, you are putting yourself in a very weak position because in affect, you are going cap-in-hand asking for a new job. The chances of you obtaining unbiased advice is nil as the job of the people you will speak to are paid to recruit pharmacists as cheaply as possible.

Using an agency makes much more sense. Pharmfinders, Sterling Cross and PL-UK will all help you to find you your new job and the advantage they have is that pharmacy operators go to them to find new staff putting the locum in a much stronger position. Offers of £3-5,000 more than normal offers when candidates go direct are common.

PL-UK Pharmfinders Sterling Cross

Weekend at last

On Monday it seems a million miles away but thankfully, Friday afternoon has come round, again!

This weeks has been a good one for PL-UK. We were contacted by three prisons on Tuesday after Bev at  Durham recommended us to them – God bless her! New companies have contaced us about supplying locums and I’ve had a good chat with a potential new accountant – for once a really switched on chap  who I think can take PL-UK forward. My expertise is in pharmacy and building a business, it’s not in number crunching. Having a good guy behind us will be a great help and will let me sleep at night more soundly.

Thinking about providing an accounting package through PL-UK for locums, after all, locum accounts are prettty simple – will have to sleep on it over the weekend