For about as long as I’ve thought about what career I hope to go into, my thoughts have always been towards the sciences, particularly biological sciences. That is why when a classmate, Mel Baird, said she had an aunt who has held multiple jobs related to pharmacy I jumped at the chance to talk to her. Though it took a good bit longer than expected to get in touch with Mrs. Theron, once I did she had many very informative things to say regarding her job and field a few of which I will touch on now.

One of the first things we talked about was the range of jobs and opportunities in the field. I have only taken a small look into exactly how expansive the pharmaceutical field was for jobs. She explained how there were so many more jobs than just behind the counter at a store or in a warehouse. Those mentioned are definitely options, but there are also a great number of management jobs and office jobs as could be expected. She also talked about how she got her first senior role at about thirty and that there is a lot of upward growth that can take place rather quickly.

A little bit later we spoke about work/life balance. From the research that I had done beforehand, it seemed that the work/life balance for those working in this field was pretty good. It looked as if it wasn’t exceptional by any means, but there was still a decently even balance. From what we talked about in the interview, that is not the case. Davina stated that it was very dependent on which type of job you had, those in an office could be working your average Monday to Friday. But those in production had long hours many days a week and those in service especially hospitals might be called in at odd times or have busy schedules regardless. Finally, worst of all is management which is always notorious for having odd schedules coupled with international companies could mean meetings at all hours of the day with people all around the world.

Near the end and on a lighter note, I asked what her favourite part of the field was. Her answer was the challenge which surprised me somewhat until she explained. Once again it depends, but she explained “there’s always a curveball”. If one item is out of stock or was made wrong and now you’re missing x or y, how will you fix that? Summed up she said that “things will go wrong, how are you going to fix them?” As well, to prevent those problems from happening again she is always in contact with doctors in her area and around the world to strive for a simpler, more efficient time which I found an intriguing proposition.

I learned so many useful bits of information of all types in this interview and I’m very glad that Mel recommended Davina to me. I am so thankful to Mrs. Theron for taking the time to let me interview her and teaching me some of the many ins and outs of the pharmaceutical business. I wish her the best in her work moving forward and hope I can use the things she taught me well in my own path ahead.