I Fell Off the Earth and Now I’m Back: My Gap Year, Finding a Job, etc.

So… It’s literally been 3 years. I can’t say I’m back for good. But I can say I will always return to my blog eventually. So many things have happened. As many of you know I graduated and fell off the earth. I’m not sure I even know how to blog anymore. The interface of WordPress has changed so much. I have to get used to it all. But here’s a brief recap of what’s happened so far. After I graduated, I decided to take a gap year.

I graduated in April 2020. My actual Covid graduation walk happened in August 2020.

My Gap Year

My gap year passed too fast. One day, I was dreaming of all the time I had to rest from burnout. The next I was worrying about getting a job. But let’s start from the beginning of where we last left off. At the height of Covid-19. I graduated from pharmacy school and I just could not see myself getting licensed and going straight to work. Just the thought of it made me even more tired than I already felt. So, I decided to take a gap year. And honestly, if it weren’t for the pandemic, this could have never happened. The pandemic had messed up so much that it created the perfect conditions for uninterrupted rest:

Pause on student loans
State of Emergency that changed licensing procedures for multiple states
Shelter in Place

Not to mention, I have the privilege of not having the responsibility of a family or rent. That is something that is a major blessing that I have to acknowledge because not everyone has the privilege of being allowed to stay with their parents after graduation, So, while I may have a mortgage in student loan debt (that will probably be another blog post in the future), I had no rent to pay that would hurry me into getting a job.

For me, these were the perfect conditions to get some rest. I may never get another break this long again. Once you start working, and gain responsibilities and a family, most people cannot afford to have a year doing nothing but what they want to do. So, I took it. Student loans were paused, and I did not have a job lined up post-graduation that would for me to study to get licensed in 90 days like many people do after they graduate from pharmacy school.

How Did I Spend My Gap Year?

My gap year was spent doing nothing. Yes, that’s right nothing and it was the best way I could have spent it. I did not use this time to travel to weird adventurous places or hone any skill of mine. It was spent doing exactly what I wanted which as an introvert includes a very limited amount of people and basically falling off planet Earth. And it is so amazing to not have to check your emails, wake up early, or have a schedule. I went on last-minute road trips for events that popped up last minute because I had the time. I did a staycation with a friend and stayed in a high-rise in a fancy area of Miami, I re-focused on my language learning, celebrated my birthday covid style, underwent the big chop because what better time to experiment with natural hair, and saw a lot of covid graduation yard signs. I bought more home gym things like most people during the pandemic except unlike most people, I still use my equipment and haven’t been back to a gym since. It’s cheaper. I built up one of my side hustles, beta reading on Fiverr (I’m super amazing now and I love it), and then started a new side hustle (selling digital printables on Etsy).

Me walking around Staples in my $160 cap and gown because what else can I do with it during covid? (Before I knew if we would be able to walk for graduation)

Overall, I spent my gap year well. It flew by too fast, and I was pressured by the student loan pause potentially ending, me telling everyone, sadly, that the gap year was only a year, and the minuscule amount of money in my savings, I began to apply for jobs. It was finally time for me to get my life back together.

Applying to Become a Productive Member of Society: Getting a Job

Hey, I think I’m getting the hang of this new blogging interface now. But here we are in the next phase of life. It’s 2021 and my gap year has basically come to an end. Beta reading on Fiverr can only get me so far, financially, and the adults are starting to look at me suspiciously.

I studied for my licensing exams towards the end of 2020 and got licensed in Georgia and then, Florida to practice Pharmacy. I got licensed in Georgia first because it was a great opportunity. Due to covid, Georgia declared a state of emergency and waived the compounding exam which was extra in the first place. So, it saved me time and money. I took advantage of that and got licensed there first because I already knew Georgia state laws as that is where I went to school. Then, I studied for Florida’s exam. Failed the exam by one point (makes me angry every time but I’m comforted by the fact that most people fail by one point when they do). I recouped and bought a study guide on Amazon. Took the Florida MPJE a second time and passed. Then, the job applications started.

Applying for jobs will humble you. I felt like an absolute failure even though in hindsight, I was not even applying for jobs that long compared to the average job seeker. I researched great resumes, tweaked my resume, and became an expert resume writer in one month. Then, I spent about 2 months applying for jobs. I believe it takes an average of 6 months to find a job. But based on the 2 months it took me, I think I would have become depressed.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

First, finding viable jobs was a mission. I spent a number that I don’t want to tell you on school getting a doctorate degree in pharmacy and I’m seeing jobs paying $30 an hour. Those were mostly Work at Home jobs but just because you work at home does not mean you don’t have expenses. Then, 90% of the jobs (entry positions as well) asked for experience. Entry asked for 1 year of experience and a lot of non-retail pharmacist positions wanted residency experience. The latter was expected as we all learned early on in school that it was hard to get into hospital or any non-retail job without having residency under your belt in these modern times. But even hospital jobs were paying $45 an hour. That made me realize that were sold a fantasy in pharmacy school. That was a hard pill to swallow. Pun intended, I guess. Anyway, that would push me to become more interested in finance in order to try and dig myself out of the grave I accidentally dug for myself while pursuing higher education. But that is another blog.

I ended up applying to over 45 positions after filtering through irrelevant positions. It may actually be over 50 but I deleted the tracker I had last year. I had to learn how to search for pharmacist jobs too. There are so many irrelevant positions that pop up when you are searching that have nothing to do with your degree or your qualifications. Out of all the jobs, I felt just as disrespected as I did after applying to pharmacy school because it’s one thing to get an automatic rejection (which those are trash) but it’s another thing to just never get a response. Oftentimes, we the applicants are expected to give a response out of respect for the employers’/schools’ time, but we never get the same respect back. That is what gets me the most. Long story short, I was up in the air with a lot of them. I got a small Work at Home position that was more like an MLM but not. I had to pay for my own background test and buy my own equipment. Okay, let’s call it a gig employment pharmacy job where I only got paid for complete calls (if I got hung up on, no pay for me). I was doing Medication Therapy Management calls which is great when people don’t think you’re a scammer.

But unfortunately for me, most people did think I was scamming them so, it didn’t garner a lot of pay. But that was early in my job search. I was able to use that as a new non-student experience on my resume to garner 3 interviews. I almost ended up in Kentucky which I really did not want to go there. One, it was far, and I was unsure about the diversity. Two, that would require a whole new licensing exam. Three, that was more money to spend that I didn’t have on licensing, moving, and rent. But, because I am blessed and highly favored, the same day I interviewed with Kentucky, I got a call from another job closer to me (still a 40-minute to an hour commute based on traffic) paying more and offering less stress. That is where I work to this day. I became a working member of society officially in September of 2021.

A Working Member of Society

I am here to tell you that I am officially a working member of society. It will be 2 years in September, and I really wonder how people do this for 50 years. But hopefully, I can become a millionaire one day so I can wake up unstressed by an alarm or a schedule. But yes, I get paid now and the majority of this paycheck is going back to the government because… student loans. I think that says it all. That’s probably why work feels ghetto. If I was actually eating my money, I would probably be less concerned about how long I have to work to afford retirement. But I think I’ve caught you up. I still beta read because I like it and it helps to add a little something to my savings account.

I’m also still running my Etsy shop, Digitally Downloaded. It’s not that popping because I admit that I haven’t put as much effort into it as I could. But it makes sales every now and then. But it honestly takes more money from me than it makes me. But they say consistency is key, so, I’m going to try and keep the marketing consistent and see if I can eventually break even with Etsy. But things haven’t completely changed because I’m still looking for more side hustles. Although, I think the smarter move is a passive income avenue that doesn’t require my time so much. But here I am. I’m officially a working pharmacist! Sometimes, I can hardly believe that I made it this far. Hope you all have been doing well.

Thanks for Listening to My Rant,

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve said that. I almost forgot it.

Like this post! Follow my blog! Comment!

Enjoyed my post! Please take the time to share with others on your social media platform! It will be greatly appreciated.

Follow me:

It’s not easy being a blogger! Please help support my blog! Check out my patreon!

Become A Patron

Feel free to contact me for any questions, comments, or concerns at shikaardeta@gmail.com.

Help me create better services for you by filling out a personal development consulting survey. I want to help solve your problems! Let’s grow together!