Target Pharmacy

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unevache

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I worked at Target for 2 years at the Guest Service counter. When I graduate from pharm school this may help me get a job with Target as a pharmacist. I was just curious if anyone here works as a pharmacist or pharmacy tech for Target and what the working conditions and pay/benefits for pharmacists are like.
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I work as a Target pharm tech....what is your question???
 
It's better than most. The hours are great. The Target pharmacist I know gets guaranteed lunch and benefits for 32 hours a week, too. Both are rare in retail pharmacy.
 
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The Target pharmacist by my house is pretty happy with his job. But, I live in a smaller town (not super small by any means) so the customer volume isn't as big as, say, Wal-Mart. He told me they get a lunch (they close the pharmacy for 30 minutes at noon) and they have two full-time techs and an intern. They have regular hours with a decent script volume so it's not boring. The customers don't rush him either because they just shop while he fills their scripts. Not a bad deal, IMO.
 
The pharmacists at my Target have it made. We have a super low-volume store, as in no more than 50 scripts a day on weekends. I'm not sure about weekdays, but I bet it's not even 100 per day.

We don't close the pharmacy at noon (I think they're supposed to though :confused:) but the pharmacist gets a 30 minute lunch.
 
Target would be my choice retail job. It draws good looking young stay at home moms..... And what about the employee discount! Sign me up!

:smuggrin:
 
Target wasn't even at our second career fair. What jobs???

It's a BS company to apply to, if you ask me. The interview process was almost identical to beauty pageant interviews that I did in high school. :rolleyes:

Also, in some areas, stores are canning staff pharmacists and making the pharmacy managers work 6-7 days every week. *threw up in mouth*
 
WVUPharm2007 said:
I'd imagine the pharmacist gets to wear a labcoat.
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The pharmacist wears red and khaki with a short white coat that has a big ass Target logo on it.

Management makes it very clear that you do not **** with the Target dress code.
 
It's a really big "TARGET + [symbol]" on it, with Pharmacist underneath... and then a name-tag, with their name on it, that ALSO says Pharmacist...

It's like, whoa, I work at Target.
 
rxlea said:
Costco is better. What do y'all think about Sam's Club?
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I heard good things about Sam's....

I heard Target was good...but not as good as it used to be. The guy I know that used to work there says he got tired of having to work 40+hrs because they dont hire alot of pharmacists.

But, Target is still better than CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid.
 
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J DUB said:
I heard good things about Sam's....

I heard Target was good...but not as good as it used to be. The guy I know that used to work there says he got tired of having to work 40+hrs because they dont hire alot of pharmacists.

But, Target is still better than CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid.
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Being a garbage collector, sewer pipe cleaner, or working on the kill floor of a meat processing plant are all better than working for CVS, Walgreens or Rite Aid.
 
Sparda29 said:
I wouldn't do it because of the ugly ass uniforms. I'm not wearing a red shirt and khakis every day.
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Yeah - I know it's kind of a stupid reason, but I didn't even interview with them because of this. I already had a lot of nice professional clothing and I didn't want to have to get rid of all of it and buy a bunch of red shirts. A lot of guys seem to like it though - that way they don't really have to think about what to wear to work everyday.
 
rxlynn said:
Yeah - I know it's kind of a stupid reason, but I didn't even interview with them because of this. I already had a lot of nice professional clothing and I didn't want to have to get rid of all of it and buy a bunch of red shirts. A lot of guys seem to like it though - that way they don't really have to think about what to wear to work everyday.
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It does not sound stupid it IS stupid. Just wanted to clarify for you.:D
 
Passion4Sci said:
It's a really big "TARGET + [symbol]" on it, with Pharmacist underneath... and then a name-tag, with their name on it, that ALSO says Pharmacist...

It's like, whoa, I work at Target.
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Target's policies, and for that matter, their employees...er, "team members"...smack of utter tool-ism. I have never encountered so many pretentious douchebags in my life as I have whenever I enter a Target.

I seriously think that MTV did the casting for Jersey Shore entirely within the Electronics department of an area Target.

I'd still work for them though if offered a job, though. I'd much rather work for oblivious tools than greedy slave drivers.
 
MountainPharmD said:
Being a garbage collector, sewer pipe cleaner, or working on the kill floor of a meat processing plant are all better than working for CVS, Walgreens or Rite Aid.
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What's wrong with working on the kill floor? I hear that at the end of the day, they let you take some of the meat home with you.
 
rxlynn said:
Yeah - I know it's kind of a stupid reason, but I didn't even interview with them because of this. I already had a lot of nice professional clothing and I didn't want to have to get rid of all of it and buy a bunch of red shirts. A lot of guys seem to like it though - that way they don't really have to think about what to wear to work everyday.
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That is the best reason ever to work for Target. Yeah, its great wearing a shirt and tie as I am standing up all day working a 12 hour shift with no breaks. I feel real comfortable and professional as my bladder nearly explodes from not being able to pee for 12 hours.

Wearing a red polo shirt wouldn't make any of that better but at least I would be comfortable and wouldn't have to worry about dry cleaning when my bladder explodes.
 
I worked at Walgreens for 2 years and give it a 0 out of 10. It sounds like people are giving Target about a 6 or 7 of 10. I know CVS is about on par with Walgreens.. Ive heard Sams/Costco is a good work environment. What are some of the better retail (grocery/bigbox/chain etc) jobs in terms of quality of life. ie where can you actually take bathroom breaks and eat lunch. Im not worried about a dress code or who works in other departments. No matter what I was wearing at Walgreens, the job sucked.
 
tablet said:
i worked at walgreens for 2 years and give it a 0 out of 10. It sounds like people are giving target about a 6 or 7 of 10. I know cvs is about on par with walgreens.. Ive heard sams/costco is a good work environment. What are some of the better retail (grocery/bigbox/chain etc) jobs in terms of quality of life. Ie where can you actually take bathroom breaks and eat lunch. Im not worried about a dress code or who works in other departments. No matter what i was wearing at walgreens, the job sucked.
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cvs = -10
 
I am an intern at Target and I enjoy it, especially the tuition reimbursement. Everyone I ask loves working there too. My store is open from 9-9 and we close for lunch between 1:30 to 2:00.
 
IrishHammer said:
Target's policies, and for that matter, their employees...er, "team members"...smack of utter tool-ism. I have never encountered so many pretentious douchebags in my life as I have whenever I enter a Target.

I seriously think that MTV did the casting for Jersey Shore entirely within the Electronics department of an area Target.

I'd still work for them though if offered a job, though. I'd much rather work for oblivious tools than greedy slave drivers.
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When I did my IPPE hours at Target, I never felt like the pharmacists' possessed the attitude of "I think I'm better than everyone b/c I work at Target." They were very helpful and friendly and I never thought the work environment was a bad one. I think if I go the retail route, I'd choose Target, Rite Aid, Sam's or Wal-Mart over CVS or Walgreens. I have my first rotation with Walgreens, hopefully I can learn something while being in retail and not just be a pill counter.
 
Several people in my graduating class were interested in working for Target.

Their (not) hiring process was a joke.

I'm not a fan of CVS, Rite-Aid, etc., but they've never given me the run-around or needlessly wasted my time when I approached them about getting a job. (Fortunately, I found a good position elsewhere.) Target, however, seems incapable of adopting a "no bull****" approach to hiring pharmacists.

If you want to apply with Target, be prepared to deal with arrogance, unanswered phone calls, wasted time, and disillusionment.

Furthermore, if your primary goal as a pharmacist is to be a facade, work for Target. If your primary goal as a pharmacist is to genuinely practice pharmacy, look elsewhere.
 
Are you kidding me??? Since the first day I started talking with Target recruiters I honestly have nothing but good things to say about the company. I’ve worked for Walgreens and have had experiences through rotations/shadowing with grocery stores, CVS and Target. If you don’t want to be a “facade” look elsewhere?!? Why…cuz they didn’t hire you??? You’re a joke…At Target I could literally spend half an hour showing someone how to use their new glucometer, or counseling on their new BP med, or teaching proper injection technique on the Lovenox they’ve just been prescribed. To me, that’s what pharmacy is about; I want to actually be able to talk to my patients about things other than insurance rejections. If you think you can do that at most other retail locations than you’re delusional. I know several classmates who wouldn’t even consider retail until they had a rotation with Target. On top of that, I know multiple pharmacists who now work at Target after previously working at other retail chains and are much, much happier now. I’m not saying life will be “peachy” at Target, it’s still retail…better yet, it’s still a job BUT the QOL of life seems leaps and bounds better than other places.
Their hiring process is definitely more extensive than other chains, I’ll admit that…but shouldn’t it be??? CVS, Wags, RiteAid could care less about you as a person but rather when will you have a license and what areas would you consider relocating to after you graduate? Other chains look at all pharmacists as equals…newsflash…we’re not. I can probably go to any pharmacy school in the nation and find a handful of kids who will graduate, yet have no right being a pharmacist. You can say the same of doctors, lawyers, nurses, etc…it is what it is…some s*** is always gonna slip through the cracks. During my interview process they actually asked questions that made me think. Wow, how dare they?!? Maybe you got a few bad eggs but I’ve now met with people from Target in different states and they’ve all been so helpful. Furthermore, the reason they don’t hire as many people is because there aren’t as many Targets as there are other chains, often times pharmacists there don’t leave the job as constantly as say a CVS, and they do less volume therefore requiring less hours and positions.
The one downside is the khaki and red but f*** it. I’d wear whatever you want to make that money, have a lunch break, no drive-thru, and get to actually practice pharmacy…I mean be a facade.
 
I have been w/ Target for 4 years and Walmart previously for 3 years. So here's what I think about Target.

Pro's
1. great work environment - Everyone at my store is courteous and professional. It's all business nothing personal.

2. I get to know 70% of my patients by name. So you know what that means?If I make a mistake or take a little longer filling their Rx my patients are understanding and patient.

3. I go home happy every day b/c I don't ever get yelled at for why something is not covered on their insurance.

Cons
1. If you need or want something done you would have to jump through hoops. There is not just one person to handle it. For instance if I felt I deserve a raise- at Walmart I went to the DM and he took care of everything. I got my raise. When I needed vacation pay or leave of absence pay the DM took care of it. At target my so called DM has no power. I asked for a raise and it took one month after he had to ask the higher uppers - no raise and nothing he could do about it. If I want LOA pay a third party company took care of it.

2. Twelve hr days and 30 min lunch. No time really for breaks and no second lunch. I have 2 techs one starts shift at 9am-545pm and the second starts at 1215 pm-9pm. When it's busy I'm expected to ring up patients at the register and put my calls on hold b/c customers come first.

3. Consistent reminders about being green on survey scores, signing up shoppers for Rx rewards and auto fills. As long as my pharmacy is green on all these no one really bugs us. When I'm not green I have management from all levels breathing down my neck.

So despite the cons I would stay because of the patient-rph interaction. I have gotten to know a lot of my patients and their families.


2.
 
I never have understood why all these retail companies care so much about those stupid surveys, reward programs, etc.

They should care about filling Rxs correctly and selling them to customers. I spend half my time doing BS. Trying to show them I am working hard and doing well; instead of actually doing it.

The corporate idiots need to come and work in a retail store so that they can see what really goes on. They simply just come up with more and more BS to make our jobs harder so that they can pretend they are doing important business to keep their jobs......

The whole retail game is messed up except in some, well-run independents, but then you have to put up with some ego maniacs that think the sun and earth revolves around them. :(
 
So maybe an independent is the way to go? I ask because I was turned off of retail when I worked at Osco (now CVS) because of all the drama around insurance and when we switched over Medicare Part D. But, I really liked the patient interaction and communtiy pharmacy is something I would do if it was low stress and I could get to know my patients. Before reading these forums, I was adamantly against retail, but it seems if you get hired at the right place, it is not so bad.
 
rxlea said:
So maybe an independent is the way to go? I ask because I was turned off of retail when I worked at Osco (now CVS) because of all the drama around insurance and when we switched over Medicare Part D. But, I really liked the patient interaction and communtiy pharmacy is something I would do if it was low stress and I could get to know my patients. Before reading these forums, I was adamantly against retail, but it seems if you get hired at the right place, it is not so bad.
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yeah.. i have a bit of independent experience myself. and it is a completely different world.

pharmacist routinely had 5-10 minute convos with each patient!!
 
rxlea said:
So maybe an independent is the way to go? I ask because I was turned off of retail when I worked at Osco (now CVS) because of all the drama around insurance and when we switched over Medicare Part D. But, I really liked the patient interaction and communtiy pharmacy is something I would do if it was low stress and I could get to know my patients. Before reading these forums, I was adamantly against retail, but it seems if you get hired at the right place, it is not so bad.
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let me put it this way: i was thinking about pharmacy school when i was in the middle of undergrad. i got a job at a 24 hour walgreens the year before i graduated. i swore off pharmacy school based on my experience. i ended up happening into a job at an independent right when i was going to quit walgreens. it changed my perspective on what [real] pharmacy is about. enough to where i was motivated enough to apply to pharmacy school a total of 3 times before getting accepted. of course, this will depend on the store and owners. i have heard of independents where it's a nightmare to work at as well. you don't ever really have to worry about some store manager, who has little d**k syndrome because he's supposed to be running the show but makes less than the pharmacists going on power trips trying to run pharmacy operations that he knows absolutely nothing about, being in charge at an independent. the PIC is the boss, unless the owner's not a pharmacist which happens but is uncommon. you don't have to deal with corporate bitching about your performance index, or the number of rx's that got flavored this month, or that you manually reviewed too many scripts instead of using the f4 key to bring them up in order, etc. the downside is independents rarely offer many benefits. i don't get paid vacation/sick days/holidays, insurance, or profit sharing, but i do get peace of mind and a sense of fulfillment on being able to give quality patient care with enough people working to get the job done well.
 
By3Times1Minus1 said:
let me put it this way: i was thinking about pharmacy school when i was in the middle of undergrad. i got a job at a 24 hour walgreens the year before i graduated. i swore off pharmacy school based on my experience. i ended up happening into a job at an independent right when i was going to quit walgreens. it changed my perspective on what [real] pharmacy is about. enough to where i was motivated enough to apply to pharmacy school a total of 3 times before getting accepted. of course, this will depend on the store and owners. i have heard of independents where it's a nightmare to work at as well. you don't ever really have to worry about some store manager, who has little d**k syndrome because he's supposed to be running the show but makes less than the pharmacists going on power trips trying to run pharmacy operations that he knows absolutely nothing about, being in charge at an independent. the PIC is the boss, unless the owner's not a pharmacist which happens but is uncommon. you don't have to deal with corporate bitching about your performance index, or the number of rx's that got flavored this month, or that you manually reviewed too many scripts instead of using the f4 key to bring them up in order, etc. the downside is independents rarely offer many benefits. i don't get paid vacation/sick days/holidays, insurance, or profit sharing, but i do get peace of mind and a sense of fulfillment on being able to give quality patient care with enough people working to get the job done well.
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I'm currently a Target tech and our pharmacy team generally consists of one tech and one pharmacist except on Sundays when we are slower. Target isn't so bad except for the dress code and the corporate BS you have to deal with. For instance our tech help is soley based off script count, not the fact that we have 5 billion other things going on like inventory or basic house-keeping tasks that don't ever get done because we are constantly filling prescriptions. Also, as mentioned above, the store manager... or STL as Target so cleverly calls it... is always asking the PIC to commit to unusual tasks such as working a manager shift on the store sales floor???? It seems that jealousy may play a part or the simple fact the the STL has no IDEA what goes on day to day in the pharmacy. Now if you store manager is familiar with the business of retail pharmacy... it may be different as I've heard.

I'm currently a Target PharmTech and
 
redraiderrx said:
I'm currently a Target tech and our pharmacy team generally consists of one tech and one pharmacist except on Sundays when we are slower. Target isn't so bad except for the dress code and the corporate BS you have to deal with. For instance our tech help is soley based off script count, not the fact that we have 5 billion other things going on like inventory or basic house-keeping tasks that don't ever get done because we are constantly filling prescriptions. Also, as mentioned above, the store manager... or STL as Target so cleverly calls it... is always asking the PIC to commit to unusual tasks such as working a manager shift on the store sales floor???? It seems that jealousy may play a part or the simple fact the the STL has no IDEA what goes on day to day in the pharmacy. Now if you store manager is familiar with the business of retail pharmacy... it may be different as I've heard.
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Sorry, I guess I didn't make myself clear, but I wasn't ragging on Target by any means. I was just posting how much I like working at an independent more than when I worked at Walgreens. As far as retail chain pharmacies go, I've heard Target and Albertson's/Sav-On are actually two of the better ones to work at, and I'm actually thinking of applying to Target. After my experience at several Walgreens, I'm avoiding Walgreens/CVS/Rite-Aid/Wal-Mart like the plague till I'm forced to do a rotation at them during P4. With any chain, you'll have to deal with the corporate BS of course.
 
i guess it all depends on a number of factors, but my experience doesn't match that of others.

target pharmacists are always complaining about something and take it out on their techs. it was a very unprofessional atmosphere. in addition, i've heard of major cutbacks to many stores because of under performance leading to laid off pharmDs. totally makes it stressful as everyone's main goal is kiss the customer's ass no matter what for your job security. also their entire workflow is not designed for speed/efficiency. also if you like solving puzzles, like where did we place Mr. X's meds, then this is the place for you.

on the plus side, the general clientele is on the younger side, in other words, you may have some more eye candy compared to the major chains.
 
Target is not the oasis in the retail desert. It is just another chain with non pharmacy supervisors, long shifts, and limited overlap of pharmacists. Just you and the tech(s).
 
Its Z said:
Target would be my choice retail job. It draws good looking young stay at home moms..... And what about the employee discount! Sign me up!

:smuggrin:
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This is true. My wife shops there. I've been trying to talk her into modeling for a little extra dough. She's ridiculously attractive...not sure why she likes me lol.
 
jinga said:
This is true. My wife shops there. I've been trying to talk her into modeling for a little extra dough. She's ridiculously attractive...not sure why she likes me lol.
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You have a hot wife, and you're complaining about it on a message board?

Forget points off, I'm revoking your man card entirely. Hand it over so I can rip it up. :smuggrin:
 
IrishHammer said:
You have a hot wife, and you're complaining about it on a message board?

Forget points off, I'm revoking your man card entirely. Hand it over so I can rip it up. :smuggrin:
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Lol def. not complaining. Actually, I have a hot wife with awesome parents who like to bring over beer, food, etc. I'm a pretty lucky dude. :)
 
jinga said:
This is true. My wife shops there. I've been trying to talk her into modeling for a little extra dough. She's ridiculously attractive...not sure why she likes me lol.
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Rule #1 dood. TPIWWP
 
Its Z said:
Rule #1 dood. TPIWWP
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Damn, you are old. Us damn kids meddled, rule #1 means something completely different nowadays. Generally it's also used in conjuncton with Rule #2.
 
IrishHammer said:
Damn, you are old. Us damn kids meddled, rule #1 means something completely different nowadays. Generally it's also used in conjuncton with Rule #2.
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Rule #2: See Rule #1.
 
nice, I enjoyed that comment and it is very true like a fact.
 
Target intership interviews were the toughest. The guy just sat there with a bored look on his face and read all his questions off a paper. They had arrogant recruiters.
 
how is the compensation at target compared to walgreens/cvs? I heard it was considerably higher (~127000) but was wondering if someone could confirm this. Also how are the benefits?
 
I'm a first year student in pharmacy school and I am curious as to how much pharmacists make starting out in a Target pharmacy. I know it may fluctuate a little based on location, but overall does anyone know how much do pharmacists fresh out of pharmacy school make at Target? I heard Target offers one of the more generous salaries for pharmacists... but I could be totally off!
 
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