I have been an intern with CVS for the past 2 years. I can tell you that CVS is probably one of the worst chain/retail pharmacies to work for as a pharmacist from what I have observed myself and from pharmacists that I know and have worked with have told me. There are MANY CONs about CVS, but there are also some PROs
CONs: (depending on what district you're in, who you work with, etc)
- worked like a hog, no lunch, no breaks
- understaffed, but expected to perform like a beast
- your supervisors/DMs don't appreciate you, most of your patients don't appreciate you (note: patients may or may not appreciate you at many places other than CVS)
- metrics, metrics, metrics and more metrics (#s here, #s there, #s everywhere)
- the new MySchedule sucks... splits shifts based on how much staff the system thinks you need based on your history. Full-time employees often now have to work 5-6 days to get 40 hours in... YOU ARE GRADED on how well you stick to the skeleton
PROs: (depending on what district you're in, who you work with, etc)
- Job security. CVS is one of THE strongest if not the strongest in terms of security as a company. Stock prices are good, consumers like CVS, we're not worried that CVS will go bankrupt (as some other pharmacy chains seem)
- I have done a rotation at Rite-Aid and even though many people have told me the Rite-Aid system is better than CVS's old fashioned, hit 1 letter, hit enter, hit another letter, hit enter system... there are things that the CVS system excels at. The E-script system at CVS is quite good, everything can be seen on screen and nothing needs to be printed before being typed. Whereas, at Rite-Aid, E-scripts need to be printed, cut, then typed. Same with the verification steps at CVS vs Rite-Aid. CVS is far superior in the production stand point. everything is more streamlined.
- ^ this is one of the reasons that CVS excels. They push #s and metrics, but it really does improve wait times, customer service, and overall speed (sometimes at the expense of our bodies as sacrifices...)
- CVS being the "worst" chain that people have mentioned before, anyone that can survive in CVS is either: A) Very passionate about retail/community pharmacy, B) a very good pharmacist C) can't get a job anywhere else D) any combination of these and other things...
- I have worked with some really amazing pharmacists at CVS (worked at tons of stores and districts), what makes a store good or bad, tolerable or intolerable often depends on who you're working with, with the right staff, pharmacists and supervisors, your CVS employment can be rather easy and nice (this is usually not the case), if you do get a good store, where everyone is truly motivated to do good for patients and the store, it really uplifts everyone. *cue in the "everything is awesome" song from the lego movie*
- long time employees of CVS are truly hard working, diligent and strong individuals. working for CVS is not easy...so if you can work there for 10 years, you are really made out of steel
You probably won't get anymore information than what I have said here. All in all, CVS is probably one of the worst to work for, but I actually enjoy it as long as I have the right amount of staff who are well trained and work together well. I have worked with some of the strongest and brightest pharmacists and preceptors at CVS as well.