a couple of pharm tech questions

[pharmgrl5]

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I just got hired to a Hy-Vee that is opening in my city in May. I don't have any prior experience or training, they hired 3 techs and at most only 1 of us has training or certification. I'm assuming that because there were 3 spots being hired for and 8 people applied. One of the spots was hired immediately, I can only assume that it was because that person had prior training. The other two spots were filled after, I got one and someone else got the other. I am betting the other person has no training either. We start training this coming week.

My questions are:

1. The starting salary is $9/hour... is that good?
2. What can I expect from a pharmacy located in a grocery store?
3. Anyone work for a Hy-Vee pharmacy? What is it like?
4. Is it usual for there to be only 3 techs hired for the entire store?
5. If there are 3 techs hired for a store open about 85 hours/week then how many are likely to be on shift at one time?
6. If the techs are all starting out on even playing ground is that going to change how things are done?

Sorry, that's quite a few questions there but after reading through a few threads here I'm a bit nervous about this all.

 

[chinki]

it all depends on your manager and your co-worker..regardless if you going to work in retail..just prepare to get yell at by customer😡 I'm currently working for Costco right now..usually we have 3 to 4 techs at a time..if you new, you are most likely to do the jobs that others don't want to do..such as cashier, help out at drive through, and cleaning (I would recommend stay away fr. pharm w. drive through) bc ppl can be so so rude. On the other note, you have to be very very quick on everything that you do "time =$$$" for retail pharmacy. ALSO, the pharm staff don't have time to train you much. YOu have to learn stuff on your own, and when you do it wrong just be prepare to be yell at. I hope I didn't scare you, but that is truely how I felt sometime . O well, if pharmacy is what you want to do then just hang in there like me =) i'm sure it'll worth it..

 

[Sparda29]

$9/hr is pretty good for starting pay and no experience.

Working in a grocery store, you will have a lot of *******es asking you where the bread is, or if something is on sale, or if they can ring up their 50 groceries at the register, then they get their million coupons out, and then review the receipt for 15 minutes, and if you messed up by not scanning their club card, and they didn't get their sale prices, they'll want a refund.

 

[justyliz]

I've worked with several pharmacists and techs from Hy-Vee and they have all only said great things about the company. Hy-Vee is "employee-owned" so in general they care more about their employees - they also seem like one of the few grocery store pharmacies that are trying to do things right by taking their time before hastily releasing $4 prescription plans that they cannot sustain.

A lot of retail pharmacy depends on the location of your store - if it's in a shady neighborhood, get ready for the difficult customers with ridiculous requests. A lot of people have already said this, but the first few months really determine how you will do at the pharmacy. The retention rate for techs is pretty poor the first couple months, but once you know you can get through it, you'll be fine. My advice for you is to make a small notebook and write down any information you can learn while they are training you - nothing is more annoying when techs repeatedly ask the same question because they are making no effort to retain the information. I would suggest dividing your small notebook into a few sections: insurance information, overrides, sigs, unit/conversions, or something to that effect. Good luck, you'll do great!

 

[redley]

My mom started working in a grocery store pharmacy last year and she had no experience. She got in trouble a couple times at first for making big mistakes, but it didn't take too long for her to figure it all out. She works in one of those shady neighborhoods, too. She said she's heard that the people in the super-rich neighborhoods are actually a lot more rude and impatient.

 

[pharmgrl5]

Is it likely then that all 3 of us will be working every single shift? I was told that they are open (approximately, can't remember for sure!) 8 a.m. - 9 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. weekends. I was told I could have as many hours as I'd like, up to 40/week. I go for orientation tomorrow and will be able to ask more questions then but I'm having trouble figuring out how many of us will be working at one time and how many days.

I'm feeling pretty good about it overall, it'll be a brand new store with brand new employees so morale should be high (at least for awhile) and training is going to be more extensive because of this. I have customer service training first and then will be doing pharmacy specific training after that. They have approx. 4 weeks to have us trained and ready for the opening on May 6th. I also think that the store's load of scripts should be low for at least awhile which would be good b/c it would allow everyone to learn in a slower environment.

The store is actually in the higher income area of the city, um hate to say it but that was one thing that also looked attractive to me. I live way across town and regularly shop in a store that is in the lower income area (I live in a middle class area) and that store is not taken care of, people don't seem as happy or friendly and the number of rude people you come across is incredible. Ugh hope that didn't just offend anyone but it is true that a store in a nicer area is likely to be more pleasant.

 

[Medicaljunkie]

I start at hyvee this summer at $8 dollars, no experience.

My brother has people ask him about random things all the time. Where's the bathroom, where are the pot roasts, and how long are you supposed to cook one, for example...

 

[pharmgrl5]

I start at hyvee this summer at $8 dollars, no experience.

Where are you located if you don't mind me asking? I'm in Kansas. I'm just wondering why you are starting at $8. It probably depends on the area. It's not a huge difference anyway though. 🙂 When do you start? Have you gone through training and orientation yet? I go for orientation tomorrow night, I'm curious to know what it's all like. 😀