Pharmacy Students Find Opportunities at 2023 Career Fair
| Seventy UAMS College of Pharmacy students got to mingle and meet with more than a dozen employers across the state at the 2023 Career Fair, held April 5 at the Rachel Rutherford Gymnasium at Pulaski Academy.
The event, geared toward pharmacy students in their fourth and final year, was an opportunity to meet other members of their profession across disciplines and find potential landing spots for a career after graduation.
Fourteen employers participated: UAMS, North Arkansas Regional Medical Center, Butler Pharmacy, Walmart, Arcare, Kroger, Red River Pharmacy, Walgreens, Cornerstone Pharmacy, CVS, Ashford Advisors, Harps, CHI St. Vincent and Baxter Regional Medical Center.
“Our students were fantastic,” said Ashok Philip, Ph.D., associate dean of student services. “It was wonderful to see Class of 2023 students interact and maximize their professional networking opportunities with employers at the career fair.”
Students got to hear speakers from local organizations talk about pharmacy careers, and visited booths set up for each one. At the booths, they spoke with representatives, asked questions, made connections, took notes and received additional information to take home.
The valuable experience gave some students new perspectives on their impending first jobs.
“I was able to learn some new things about quite a few of the employers at the career fair,” said Davonte Hokes. “I was able to give certain companies more consideration than I would have otherwise, and it gave me some serious leads on post-graduation employment. I really enjoyed the experience.”
“It was encouraging to see so many employers with open positions in Arkansas, especially in contrast to how full the job market seemed at the beginning of pharmacy school,” said Jacob Wingfield. “The career fair was a great place to put faces with names and shake hands with future employers.”