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Original poster

Easy well paid career change for 40 year old with a Masters Degree.....

109 replies

tooneedyme · 20/12/2023 21:55

I hate my job. I am a Pharmacist. It's stressful, undervalued, underpaid and the demands on us as a Profession are getting more and more and more with no increase in wages. I'd like to change career but at 40 with 2 kids I don't feel I have the time, mental ability or motivation to fully retrain. I enjoy being home but my current job doesn't allow me to do this. I love cooking but that doesn't earn alot of money and I don't have patience to make it look fancy. Any genius advice?

OP posts:
Cheerfulcharlie · 21/12/2023 08:01

What about sales for a pharmaceutical company? I had a friend who did this and earned well. It involved explaining new or different medications from the pharmaceutical companies to doctors, maybe pharmacies too.

PharmaFarmacist · 21/12/2023 08:11

I'm a pharmacist who changed career over 10 years ago and moved into the pharmaceutical industry.

For the role I did I had to do another MSc and the job was stressful in a different way. But there are other jobs which you could train on the job like sales, regulatory, clinical trials or ABPI signatory for promotional and non-promotional materials to ensure all claims are accurate and evidence based and comply with ABPI.

I'm actually now planning a return to pharmacy as I now want a more active role with in-person interaction. I've spent years working from home on zoom meetings and want a change.

Have you looked at any opportunities for hospital outpatient pharmacy roles? Like a community pharmacy within a hospital and dispensing for outpatient clinics so you can learn more clinical specialist areas compared to community.

DiscerningDiana · 21/12/2023 08:12

OP ignore the nasty comments about your lack of ‘research skills’. Of course it’s totally valid and helpful to ask for other’s real life experiences! I think unless you want to move to a different area of pharmacy - hospital (starting at a lower band), primary care etc you need to be prepared to do some further study. Medical writing has been suggested- would you enjoy a pretty solitary career like that or do you need to have a bit more interaction? Don’t forget to think about your personal strengths and what suits you best.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Jobs
DiscerningDiana · 21/12/2023 08:13

Oh and it can be hard to think clearly when you’re burnt out and overwhelmed in a job like you are now. Would you consider moving to a locum role with less responsibility to give you a bit more space to reflect and think what to do next?

PharmaFarmacist · 21/12/2023 08:17

Another option to consider is private hospital pharmacist like Spire, etc. Again, enabling you to specialise in pre- & post-op medicines such as analgesia, post-op DVT prevention, antibiotics, etc.

BadSkiingMum · 21/12/2023 08:21

Ah, the joys of asking a question on Mumsnet…

I don’t think it will ever be possible to seamlessly change careers into something that immediately pays as well or better as a current role, because good pay always depends on a degree of specialism and scarcity.

I left a traditionally stressful profession and moved into a different sector, which I love. However, you always trade some downsides for other downsides. For example, my previous job had almost zero risk of redundancy and I could always get work easily whereas in my new sector I have survived restructuring twice and been made redundant once, plus having some gaps between jobs as they are harder to find.
But it is worth it for the infinitely better working life!

purplestripedpetunia · 21/12/2023 08:28

Medical writing isn’t necessarily solitary, I’ve been working in the industry for 10+ years. I suggest you look at the EMWA website to get a feel for what the job entails and potential opportunities and ideas for companies to look at. You won’t need to retrain per se, and you certainly won’t start on +£50k, but progression can be very quick if you are good. It can be stressful, all depends on your clients, team and the projects you work on.

DiscerningDiana · 21/12/2023 08:32

Fair point @purplestripedpetunia - I don’t have any experience of medical writing and is assumed!

Helluvawomen · 21/12/2023 08:37

Doggymummar · 20/12/2023 22:34

My mum was a pharmacist in doctors surgery, she loved it and retired at 55 on full NHS pension. When she retired she took a practice manager's job in a nearby surgery until state pension kicked in. Would something like that work?

genuinely interested as to why she got another job when she had full NHS pension. When I get my pension, I won’t be doing anything other than gardening!

minipie · 21/12/2023 08:38

Private medicine is really growing. I agree about looking at roles with private hospitals.

Also there are lots of online pharmacists these days - they must need qualified pharmacists although not as many as in person - worth a look as might be a WFH option.

EleMar · 21/12/2023 08:41

MHRA? I know someone who was a pharmacist and moved to the MHRA. Not the highest paying job (compared to a pharma company) but civil servant job with all the benefits that that entails.

ZenNudist · 21/12/2023 08:52

I think a lot of people end up in high stress high pay roles as a result of qualifications and experience. It sounds like you get no support to build your confidence and resilience. I think you could try and work on the skills you need for your current job. Is it also long hours? Most high paid jobs require longer hours but maybe you can see the advantages in being able to go home on time.

I find that I'm dealing less well with stress in day to day life which could be perimenopausal. I'm still on it at work but I recently dropped a ball and as a result had a big promotion deferred. I do think it might be hormonal.

What I'm trying to say is to try and seek support first. Possibly pay for some counselling. You have a legitimately stressful core to your work which you should have learned to handle through your many years of experience. I think you need to give yourself a chance to continue to do the job you do so well.

Other jobs are available but if you want good pay it's generally going to mean being in charge of a team and being the person people ask for advice.

twistandfart · 21/12/2023 13:55

@Helluvawomen maybe because the full pension wasn't enough for her to continue in the lifestyle she wanted? There was a thread the other day about public sector workers that showed clearly that people have an unrealistic view of what the NHS pension actually entails!

pharmachameleon · 21/12/2023 14:04

Would you consider a move to hospital pharmacy OP? I did my pre-reg in community then moved to hospital a few years later. You couldn't pay me enough to move back to community! It was bloody awful back then and worse now I imagine.
Hospital is great as there is so much variety in types of jobs available. ie clinical (specialist cardiology, renal, critical care, endocrinology, stroke , neurology, oncology etc etc etc) or clinical trials or education and training or even dispensary posts.
Hospital is so much more rewarding as the pharmacist is in lots of multi disciplinary teams and we are appreciated which is nice!
The biggest bonus for me is working with a large team of pharmacists that I can ask for help or advice at any point.
Plus I don't need to get involved in any management roles and can just concentrate on my job.
It's always worth a try and if you don't like you could move back to community no problem.

Doggymummar · 21/12/2023 20:51

Not really, it was only 20 years ago

Doggymummar · 21/12/2023 20:53

Helluvawomen · 21/12/2023 08:37

genuinely interested as to why she got another job when she had full NHS pension. When I get my pension, I won’t be doing anything other than gardening!

Show quote history

Cos she was 55 and fit and healthy. Couldn't stand the thought of gardening, dog walking for potentially another 50 years. She retired properly when she got her state pension and moved to Spain

TurnthePotatoes · 22/12/2023 10:12

tooneedyme · 20/12/2023 23:25

What is a private Pharmacist?

Show quote history

As @PharmaFarmacist posted. The same job. But for a privately owned pharmacy, or a private hospital.
I thought it would be obvious tbh you already working in the industry. But I just googled, there are loads near me, especially with the shitshow of the NHS nowadays private healthcare is expanding. I do know one person working for Spire.

But then again, it's not WFH

Original poster
tooneedyme · 22/12/2023 10:18

I've been looking atprivate hospitals for months but no opportunities near me in Scotland.

OP posts:
pharmachameleon · 22/12/2023 11:11

@tooneedyme I'm in Scotland too. I don't know if I can see the benefit of working as a private hospital pharmacist. I'm sure the salary would be similar to NHS hospitals and you'd be in a much smaller team so fewer opportunities. I used to cover the surgical ward in a private hospital and it's quite 'different' to NHS work. The patients call the shots and the staff bend over backwards for them even if the requests are ridiculous. I'm probably not explaining myself properly but the NHS just seems a safer option.

Scatterbrain156 · 29/12/2023 21:43

If you don’t know what jobs are out there, it’s difficult to know what to google. 🙄 Someone asked a question: if you’ve got nothing helpful to say in answer to it, don’t comment. 🫠

OwlWeiwei · 29/12/2023 21:45

I agree with PP that being a medical editor and copywriter for pharma firms is well paid. You might be able to negotiate doing soem of it from home, so,e in the office. I used to work for an ad agency that had a lot of medical clients and they were desperate for qualified medical writers who understood the pharmaceutical details.

Sandy8765 · 30/12/2023 10:47

Oh yes you can i did a degree at 40 as a single parent and have been in my new career 18 years which i love

Bookkeepermum · 30/12/2023 10:48

What about a veterinary pharmacist?