Career Services

About Us

Welcome to the Career Services Office! We are dedicated to helping you advance your career — and that makes us unique. We’re proud to be one of the few schools of pharmacy with a Career Services Office devoted to helping students and alumni obtain employment. Explore all of the ways we’re preparing our students and alumni for their future. 

Explore all of the ways we’re preparing our students and alumni for their future, and view the multiple employability and job search resources by creating an account on our career platform, Handshake.

Services

Student Resources

The University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences students’ career development begins in the first year and continues each year, deepening career readiness through graduation.

Students proactively prepare for career opportunities by using the CU Pharmacy Career Plan as a guide. As students engage in the career planning cycle through curricular and co‐curricular activities, they achieve competency in career readiness skills. Success is achieved by navigating the career plan cycle multiple times when pursuing opportunities such as internships, unique APPE rotations, residencies, and employment as a pharmacist.

Career Services offers assistance that will enhance professional development and career skills by following the three stages of the CU Pharmacy Career Plan:

1.) career and self-discovery,
2.) career planning and application development, and
3.) targeted job search or post-graduate training delivery

    Events:

    Career and self-discovery

    It is typical for pharmacy students to start their career plan in the career discovery stage and establish positive professional behaviors and gain awareness of their individualized pharmacy practice interests, values, and strengths.

    Students assess their internal motivations to co-curricular student opportunities and begin exploring by practicing networking skills and completing informational interviews with faculty, preceptors, alumni, and other pharmacists practicing in traditional and novel pharmacy careers of interest.

    Self Discovery - The APhA Career Pathway Evaluation Program for Pharmacy Professionals helps pharmacy students build awareness of the variety of pharmacy practice areas and includes a decision-making process to make informed career decisions. Students can participate in the workshop on campus facilitated by Career Services.

    Career Discovery - The Career Exploration series is designed to give students an insider's perspective into the kinds of jobs you can get with a PharmD and offers students the opportunity to hear from a variety of professionals about their role in pharmacy. The series includes the annual fall Career Exploration and Preceptor Fair and multiple panel discussions with pharmacist practitioners offered in a lunch-and-learn format and is held each semester.

    Career planning and application development

    Develop both short-term and long-term goals, gain experiences and skills to prepare for the future, and develop application materials for an internship, residency, or fellowship, or employment as a pharmacist.

    Students’ engagement in academic and co-curricular activities shape their essential career-ready skills and how they demonstrate the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACEP) Standards 3 & 4 - Approach to Practice and Care and Personal and Professional Development. Students develop their application documents and articulate their practice and professional skills to be competitive for experiences such as a) pharmacy internships in a variety of settings, b) unique summer, national or international pharmacy internships, c) research, d) professional organizations, and leadership roles.

    Students at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy get personalized guidance on their CV/resume, application letters, career goals, and more. That's why we offer both individualized career coaching appointments scheduled through Handshake and several group-based workshops, and career programs available for student registration. Check out our Career Event Calendar on Handshake for more!

    Targeted job search or postgraduate training delivery

    Finding and landing a job in a pharmacy practice setting you'll enjoy is a big deal. And at CU's Skaggs School of Pharmacy, we know it's important to you. That's why we offer several career events and opportunities for our students to get off the right foot. Check out our Online Job Board and Event Calendar on Handshake for more!

    Each semester, we host the Hire CU Pharmacy Career Fair and Interview Day. On the hiring interview day, students have the opportunity to interview for career vacancies with pharmacies and various employers.

    Looking for residency or fellowship? We've got you covered. Many of our students go on to residencies throughout the country. While at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy, you'll have the opportunity to attend residency or fellowship preparation workshops to apply for a PGY1 residency program or pharmaceutical or academic fellowship. A post-graduate training program builds upon the PharmD education by contributing to the development of clinical pharmacists and clinical research.

    Visit CareerOneStop sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor to find resources related to pharmacy certifications, find businesses by career industry, local and national job boards, and find salary information within a specific geographical area.

    Nationwide school rankings, licensing pass rates, employment and residency outcomes, and on-time graduation rates show that our school is exceptional.

    Employer Resources

    Pharmacists, preceptors, managers, and talent acquisition teams can use our CU Skaggs School of Pharmacy career activities to assist with information sharing, hiring needs and building a company brand on campus. Connect with students, alumni, and the career service offices of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Graduate School, Nursing, and Public Health through our new career management software called Handshake.

    Create your employer account in Handshake to promote your company hosted events, internships and employment vacancies, as well as register for school hosted events and campus career fairs on our campus and other affiliated university partners connected with Handshake.

    Request Information

    Share full-time or part-time employment opportunities, internships, or postgraduate residency or fellowship opportunities with CU Skaggs Pharmacy students and alumni to increase your talent selection.

    Instructions for new employers to access Handshake:

    1. Create Your Employer Account in Handshake
    2. Select the Employer account option
    3. Enter your employer email to Sign Up
      1. Please indicate if you are a third-party recruiter. If you are not, select no and continue.
    4. Verify your account via the email you provided and look for a confirmation email. If you do not receive the confirmation email, review troubleshooting missing confirmation email article.
    5. After you confirm your email, Handshake will reopen and if your employer already exists in Handshake, you will be notified and can click Join to connect.
      1. If you do not see your employer or if there is not a result in the search bar, click Create New Company. Use the How to create a new company profile article for walkthrough.
    6. Finally, choose and connect with the University of Colorado Anschutz in the school drop-down menu, along with other schools in the state and across the country you wish to engage
    ANNUALLY (TYPICALLY FALL SEMESTER)

    Pharmacists, preceptors, and alumni register to attend our on-campus or virtual career expo to engage with first through fourth-year pharmacy students. Representatives share their personal pharmacy career journey, information about their rotation site, company culture, or hiring needs and vacancies. This is more than a traditional career fair, the intention is for student pharmacists to broaden their awareness and gain information about traditional and nontraditional pharmacy practice and career pathways.
    BI-ANNUALLY

    Interview current pharmacy students or alumni for available or forecasted openings. Employers engage in 30-minute on-campus or virtual pre-scheduled interviews as requested by the company representatives.
    Schedule an on-campus or virtual presentation on a professional development, pharmacy topic or interviewing sessions for your company representatives, typically paired with a student organization affiliated to the company practice setting or topic discussion.
    Participate in a lunch and learn panel, provided for current pharmacy students and student organization members. Share valuable career insights alongside other panel members

    Available for pharmacy professionals interested in visiting one-on-one with students about pharmacy career options, sharing pharmacy best practices, and general advice.

    FAQ

    Meet Laurie Sein, Career Services Manager

    Laurie Sein

    Director of Career services
    A relationship builder and career consultant with 11 years of experience in higher education coaching students on their employability skills, Laurie develops and facilitates job preparation workshops, provides career strategies to job seekers, and helps recruit in-demand pharmacy talent. She enjoys serving pharmacy students and graduates who are pursuing opportunities such as, internships, residencies, and employment as a pharmacist in a variety of practice settings. She is energized by the changing career landscape for pharmacists, and the significant role they serve in the patient care team.

    Drop by her office or contact her by phone or email to inquire about workshops.

    handshake logo

    The career search platform for CU Pharmacy students.

    Mailing address:

    University of Colorado School of Pharmacy
    Mail Stop C238
    12850 E. Montview Blvd. V20-1116W
    Aurora, CO 80045

    Office Location:

    Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Building (V20)
    First Floor
    Room 1116W

    Contact:

    Voice: 303-724-0250
    Fax: 303-724-7330
    E-Mail: Laurie.Sein@CUAnschutz.edu

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