November 12, 2014

The College of Pharmacy hosted its 10th annual Career Gateway on Wednesday, October 29. This career fair provides an important connection between student pharmacists and potential employers, residency programs, and fellowships. Nearly 150 representatives from 40 companies engaged with over 250 students to explore diverse pharmacy career paths.

Students learned about employment opportunities, fellowships, internships, residencies, nontraditional Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) rotations, and other general career information. New from last year, the College also provided over 70 one-on-one interview opportunities for students with several different companies. This annual event now falls under Career Connections, the College’s new career services program for PharmD and PhD students.

The College received exceptionally positive feedback from both students and employer partners.

“The Career Gateway was an excellent opportunity for me to network with various residency programs that I’m interested in applying to in the upcoming months. Furthermore, many companies were present and interviewing students for internships or positions with their companies after graduation. The Career Gateway is a fantastic event for students that has grown significantly over my four years here at the College of Pharmacy,” states Jessica Fennelly, PharmD’15.

“I feel that I have been most fortunate to attend the Career Gateway since my first year of matriculation in the College of pharmacy. With each year passing, I gained and honed the invaluable skills of communication and networking. I initially participated to learn about the different paths and opportunities that might be available to me after graduation. This year I definitely took advantage of all that the Career Gateway had to offer. I had three interviews with potential employers of interest, and I went around to different booths and interviewed a variety of companies that would best fit my natural strengths. The Career Gateway was definitely a great experience and has helped me solidify where I'm going to be next year!” adds Mariam Hamadi, PharmD’15.

“Last week’s Career Gateway event was fantastic! I really enjoyed talking with the students and sharing how they are perfectly poised for many opportunities within our diverse healthcare industry, including an opportunity to work with my team. We must have talked with about 50 students from the P1 through P4 years. I was extremely impressed that most had already researched our company and all had excellent questions for us. We found this a valuable use of our time, and we plan on coming back next year!” explains Joan K. Bradley, PharmD’90, president and CEO of JB Ashtin, Inc.

“Besides providing direct connections for pharmacy positions, the Career Gateway gives students the opportunity to further develop the networking skills they have learned in class. Our goal is that students develop the confidence and communication skills that will complement their outstanding academic preparation, thus positioning themselves for success in finding their first position in pharmacy, whether that is a residency, job or fellowship,” states Nancy Mason, PharmD’81, Associate Dean for Student Services and Clinical Professor of Pharmacy.

"The Career Gateway is a fantastic networking opportunity for our students. This event provides a foundation for what we hope are lifelong interactions between our students and potential employers as our students embark on their careers," adds Jim Dalton, Dean of the College of Pharmacy.

Visit our Facebook page for photos from this event.