Who pays more for Certified Pharmacy Techs? CVS or Walgreen's?

SDN Members don't see this ad. (About Ads)

I'm trying to get experience by working as a Pharmacy Tech at CVS or Walgreen's. I have interviews with both, but I know they pay for you to get certified.

However I heard that Walgreen's pays more than CVS. Is that true?

There are probably half a dozen posts about who pays more for certified technicians. It depends on your area, but overall I think Walgreen's pays more. I'm a certified technician at CVS and I make $7.15 (minimum wage in Pennsylvania).

CVS definitely is the champion of worst technician pay rates. I think Walgreen's, Kroger's, Walmart, and Target give better rates. Rite Aid and Duane Reade also start you off at minimum wage.

I've heard good things about Target.

CVS only pays $7.15? Your skills are definitely worth more!!

Indies pay the best by far in my experience. We start our techs here at $11.25. Rong-Aid starts them at just over CA minimum wage and Target is $1.75 over minimum wage. Not sure about Wal-Mart.

it depends on location, maybe you should be worried about who gives you a job first.

Originally Posted by thephoenician88

it depends on location, maybe you should be worried about who gives you a job first.

Yeah first you should see if both of them even offer you a job. There are other factors you should consider too like where you'd like to work, the # of scripts they do in a day, and which pharmacy manager you seem to like and connect with more. Otherwise I really have no clue which pays better but i'd assume they'll tell you what they are going to pay you before they make you accept the job.

Originally Posted by Passion4Sci

Indies pay the best by far in my experience. We start our techs here at $11.25. Rong-Aid starts them at just over CA minimum wage and Target is $1.75 over minimum wage. Not sure about Wal-Mart.

What's the name of your independent pharmacy, if you don't mind me asking?

Originally Posted by sungieality

What's the name of your independent pharmacy, if you don't mind me asking?

PM'd.

I was a certified tech at CVS for 2 years. I started at $8.00 and left making $8.93. I started working at Walgreens making $11.25. From my experience CVS is is cheap as hell. You're supposed to get a 4% raise each year but a month before mine was due they cut it to 3%. I think I remember Walgreens saying they give raises every 6 months instead of a year but I'd have to check on that. I can't recommend working there as a tech if other opportunies are available.

Definitely Walgreens I have worked for both CVS and Walgreens and the pay and amount of work you have to do is better at Walgreens. I was a shift manager at CVS. Walgreens pay me the same amount to be a photo tec. and they have a lot more people. So we can actual help customers. I did not realize how bad it was at CVS till I started working for Walgreens. Go easy on CVS people they have it bad.

Originally Posted by Angel222

Definitely Walgreens I have worked for both CVS and Walgreens and the pay and amount of work you have to do is better at Walgreens. I was a shift manager at CVS. Walgreens pay me the same amount to be a photo tec. and they have a lot more people. So we can actual help customers. I did not realize how bad it was at CVS till I started working for Walgreens. Go easy on CVS people they have it bad.

I'm still debating working or not during P1. From your experience, what's a good way for me to distinguish myself from the chaff when applying for a job at either place? Did they ever hire students that only wanted to work like 10 hours a week on weekends?

Not sure if this is true across the nation, but Walgreens in Oregon is facing huge budget cuts. I make over $12 as a certified tech but am struggling to get more than 20 hours a week. Personally I think it is much more important to find an environment that you work well in rather than the one that pays the most.