Job Market Help

[ohiopharmacist]

Hello everyone,

I recently stumbled across this website and I was upset that I couldn't find it any sooner. Hats off to administrators and all the people who keeps this going.You are highly appreciated by many!

I am currently a student graduating from U of Toledo in May,2010. As far as job market, it is dry down here since there are two pharmacy schools (one on its way).Gone are the days with huge sign-in bonus and other incentives,I guess.

I was wondering if anyone could give me any insights(yearly or hourly pay, bonus,work schedule etc) into job market in Cleveland. I did get an offer to sign up with Walgreens in Cleveland region (10k offered if I had signed with them by 2009) but I was wondering what else was out there?

I am single therefore have no obligations,7 days off/7 days on schedule sounds good to me,not many companies offer that anymore but I know some still do. I currently work for K mart pharmacy, a company that doesn't contribute to your 401 k plans and survives on old technology doesn't seem too promising for me.

Any insights or thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[uicgrad]

I worked overnights 7 on and 7 off for Walgreens for 16 months. I also worked for Kmart so I know what you mean by old technology. If you are at all interested I would encourage you to try to get a hospital job. After 7 years of retail I am staffing at a large hospital and I really enjoy it. My hospital has about 35 pharmacists and I would say about half of them are refugees from retail burnout. I don't know if you have read about POWER or not, but as an overnighter for Walgreens you would be very vulnerable to any staffing cutback. Some stores that were 24 hours no longer are. Guess who loses the spot? You. Plus Walgreens overnighters get VERY LITTLE respect from other pharmacists or even from the technicians. Have you ever seen an overnighter "chore list" from a Walgreens pharmacy? ...mop the floor... vacuum...dust shelves... restock vials. You are treated like a lowly tech, who, by the way, can also fill and dispense RXs. I would strongly encourage you to give hospital a try if you are so inclined. You will learn acute care skills that will be more valuable then standing in one spot for 12 hours a day verifying that the vial is filled with oblong white tablets imprinted with "M357". I am a staffer and do all sorts of different things from entering and dispensing ER orders to dosing vanc and gent. If you really want to make decent money, do 7 on 7 off at a hospital. My salary is very slightly lower than retail but the working conditions are so much better plus I will have at least 3 weeks vacation my first year. Most of my friends that graduated and work for Walgreens, moved on and found better jobs. Many hospitals will train a new grad for a staff position. You don't need a residency. Food for thought. A $10 K sign on bonus is chump change. You want good working conditions as well. Check out the ohio jobs on rxcareercenter.com or indeed.com Good luck!

 

[ohiopharmacist]

thanks for your insight, do you work at Cleveland clinic hosp?

 

[uicgrad]

No, I am from Chicago. I worked retail in the Chicago area for 7 years on and off. I had to move out of state (Missouri) to find a hospital willing to train me because the Chicago job market is very tight and even though I have a PharmD it has been 7 years since I graduated. Hospitals around Chicago wanted either hospital experience 1 to 2 years. Even rural areas around Chicago they wanted my PharmD to be within the last 5 years.
Many of the ex-retails guys I am working with say they are very happy with hospital and they would never go back to retail. Others work retail part time. My advice to you is that if you have the interest and the oppportunity to try hospital you should. And you should try it now. Because later on if you burn out of retail, hospitals will be less willing to train you if you have been out of school very long. I think you could always go back to retail if you wanted to but getting into hospital would give you a chance to increase your skills and marketability and if you are like most people you will probably like it more than retail. The hospital that hired me gave me about 8 weeks of orientation (they really trained me) -- I don't think any chain would spend 8 weeks worth of salary on training you.

 

[ohiopharmacist]

I think you may have convinced me to look for a job in hospital too as I was sure I belonged to retail. The idea of getting some experience at hosp. then moving to retail sounds good.
So do you make up the difference in salary in hosp by working part-time in retail? Considering the amount of loans piling up, any extra money would help.

 

[lorain]

do not go to the cle district, its terrible there

i to recommend a hospital job, i know some cle hospitals were hiring a couple of months ago

 

[ohiopharmacist]

do not go to the cle district, its terrible there

i to recommend a hospital job, i know some cle hospitals were hiring a couple of months ago

did you mean cleveland retail chains,please elaborate..

 

[lorain]

did you mean cleveland retail chains,please elaborate..

no i meant wags, terrible leadership there...dont go there

 

[ohiopharmacist]

I would love to work for a pharmacy that has no drive thru,which probably reduces the hassles of retail by 60%....I would certainly prefer those ones before wags

Thanks for the heads up