need your advice

[Witold]

Hi everyone,

I'm Witold a Polish pharmacist. I came to the UK about 2 weeks ago, and now looking for work as a locum.
I'm RSPGB registered, and have about 2 years experience, working in a hospital pharmacy in Poland.

My questions are:

1. Is it possible for me to find a job if I don't have UK experience? ( I have sent a few CVS, but no reply yet)
2. What job boards , websites, magazines do you use mostly to find good work offers?
3. What agencies do you use? Why them?

I'd be really grateful if you could help me with that. I'm getting relly confused and frustrated

many thanks

[Rafael]

Hey and welcome
upstart replied to your post on the locum forum. to add on his post, some multiples organise 2-3 months supervised training for european pharmacists. i do not think this is available for you, if you intend to locum.
be aware not to rush into locuming! i doubt you have a good understanding of 'pharmacy and the NHS in the UK' so might be a good idea to work under supervision for a month and two.

if you did not hear about the locum pharmacist jailed because of a dispensing error have a look at this article Pensioner died after Tesco chemist accidentally gave her the wrong pills | Mail Online

a lot of locums reported poor working conditions in some busy pharmacies. this includes lack of staff support, untrained staff....etc so be aware of that.

good luck, as a pharmacist in the uk, you really need luck to avoid the poor pharmacies.

[Sir_Dispensalot]

I believe lloyds and boots both recruit polish pharmacists with support programmes in place to help you adjust to the intricacies of UK practice.

I would advise against going it alone as a locum until you are more comfortable with UK systems, operating procedures and law & ethics. It would be very easy for you to have something go wrong without realising it and end up being prosecuted or even sent to prison.

Some hospital trusts now operate a buddy system for EU pharmacists but these are local initiatives and may not be available in hospitals close to your location.

[Witold]

Thanks for that guys.

Do you think Boots and Lloyds employ directly or through recruitment agencies? How shall I approach them?

I'd be grateful for any tips you may have

[johnep]

Just google them and application details on their websites.
johnep

[Fleegle]

Thanks for that guys.

Do you think Boots and Lloyds employ directly or through recruitment agencies? How shall I approach them?

I'd be grateful for any tips you may have

Approach them directly, ignore the counter staff especially if they are young females and demand to talk to the manager, even if it happens to be a woman. Never wear a suit and tie, and do not shave (apart from your head)..they like the dominant look.

[Witold]

Approach them directly, ignore the counter staff especially if they are young females and demand to talk to the manager, even if it happens to be a woman. Never wear a suit and tie, and do not shave (apart from your head)..they like the dominant look.

Can I at least shower? And what if they're not females, but dominant looking males?

[johannes]

1. "Yes", probably there is no water shortage and you are waterproof.
2. ->Smile like Fleeg
LoL

[johnep]

Take no notice of this lot. Wear a suit and tie and look like the professional you are.
johnep

[Witold]

Take no notice of this lot. Wear a suit and tie and look like the professional you are.
johnep

No worries. I might not be long in the UK but I can still recognise famous British sense of humour