Pharmacy vs Commerce

[-elcee]

Hey,
Is anyone doing either course right now ? What do you think of it ?

I did work experience at Pharmacy a few years ago and it was really enjoyable; I think it's nice to sort of have face to face contact with your customers and ensure they get the right meds etc. It's also in the field of science and 1/2 of my VCE subjects are science based, so I think I might enjoy the course. I have also looked at the units and they seem pretty interesting.
I'm thinking of pharmacy as a career, but I have one thing that's ultimately holding me back : the belief that there are too many graduates and not enough jobs. Also my cousin said her family friends are 2-3 years out of university (not sure if exaggerating) with a pharmacy degree and they haven't got a job...
Also if I do go ahead with Pharmacy they don't have breadth subjects so that's a real downer

On the other hand, Commerce also appeals to me. My cousin graduated with a Commerce degree at Melbourne so she could always help me if I had any queries. The Clayton campus is very close to me in contrast with the Parkville campus for Pharmacy which I have to take PT for. We did a unit in marketing in English - not sure if it's the greatest indication but it was really interesting, I did well in it, and it has really opened my eyes to how products are advertised. However I'm not doing any commerce based VCE subjects so I'm scared that I'll jump into first year struggling with all this new information that I have little background in.

TLDR: Conflicted between Pharmacy and Commerce. Thoughts ?

Any comments are appreciated, thank you !

[Orb]

As a commerce student who did an extensive stint in the pharmaceuticals industry, can confirm that the industry is very rough for grads. Did some background research on pharmacy grads and they're one of, if not the lowest paying occupations straight outside of uni, if i recall correctly, you're getting something like $42,000 p.a on your first year out if you can find a role (and from what I've been at least 20% of graduates can't find one).

That being said, if it's something that you're highly passionate about, don't let the starting salary or difficulty of finding a job hold you back. You may find that it's specifically this passion that drives you to put in more effort than your peers (and ultimately help you find a grad role). Pharmacy owners (so people that own a Chemist Warehouse franchise/community pharmacy) tend to be fairly well off, but it will take many years before you can buy one for yourself (a listed pharmacy can easily cost in the millions).

As someone studying Commerce at Melbourne without having done any commerce VCE subjects beforehand, it wasn't much of an issue with my transition. That being said, you should probably take a look into future pathways from Commerce before making any decisions, because if you don't like any of them, you're going to find it fairly difficult to be motivated and build your credentials to help you find a grad job (so in this sense, it's probably not any easier than pharmacy).

If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me
 

[slothpomba]

I have many close friends who are pharmacists (long story). Every single one of them has a job in pharmacy (whether it be hospital based or community pharmacy; very different roles, some people aspire to one or the other).

Does that mean everyone will get a job? No. However, that isn't really true for any degree. There are some unemployed commerce grads, some unemployed science grads and so on. If you put in a lot of effort, i believe you can get a job in either field.

It is hard to get a job in pharmacy but dont mistake it for *no one* getting a job in pharmacy. Absolutely plenty of people do, you just need to put in the effort to be better than a few other people.