anyone worked for target?

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pharm765

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Hello everyone,

I am graduating in May and trying to choose which retail company to work for. I've got a good offer from Walgreens and am interviewing with Target next week. My area doesn't have intern opportunities with Target so I really have no idea what it would be like. I'm guessing it would be slower than walgreens and hopefully less stressful, and it is nice to have a scheduled lunch break. But i'm afraid there will be less opportunities for advancement simply because there are less stores.

Does anyone know about the computer system at Target? what hours they ask pharmacists to work? anything else at all about the store? I'd really appreciate any insight.

Thanks!

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I know a pharmacist who works at target. He used to be my manager at the local kroger company. He told me he does not regret his switch to target. Target has scheduled lunch breaks which is good since sometimes you dont get a break at other stores. His script count is real low, he is doing about 35-40 a day. The area is starting to develop more so it will eventually increase. Target useds the PDX computer system. It is the same DOS based system kroger currently uses. In Arizona, Target does not accept the government assistance cards. So if you dont like dealing with access thats a plus.

He told me that overall the treatment he recieves at target is alot better then what he recieved at kroger. Your area/state may be different though.
 
I'm currently a tech at Target so I can answer some of your questions. Target is not a high volume pharmacy and I don't think their system is meant to handle a high volume of Rxs. In our area >100 Rxs is considered a busy store. Pharmacists usually work 12 hour shifts with a 30 minute lunch break or an 8 hour shift with another pharmacist overlapping. Target uses the DOS based PDX system which gets easy enough after a while, but its far from user-friendly. Target also requires pharmacists to do all the stuff techs/clerks do such as ring up customers, fill, etc...
 
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OT: Can I be nosey and ask how much vacation retail companies usually offer to new grads? I'd love to start out with 3 weeks, but I'm just wondering how common that is.

About Target... If I go the retail path I think I will consider working for them. I like the idea of working at a slower store where hopefully things aren't insanely hectic all of the time.
 
i think walgreens starts with 2 weeks. i worked as an intern for CVS for 4 years, and if I stayed and signed on as a pharmacist they would count the time I put in as an intern which I think that means starting with 3 (not sure how many years that takes, but I think maybe 2 or 3). I worked with a district manager who got 4, but I'm not sure if that was becuase he was management or for the time he's put in. i'll let you know what target says next week.
 
I have heard of some chains making pharmacists responsible for the OTC and/or health and beauty aisles....does anyone know if target does, or who else might? I definately heard albertsons does. I would hate to spend my time facing shelfs and ordering inventory....
 
I have heard of some chains making pharmacists responsible for the OTC and/or health and beauty aisles....does anyone know if target does, or who else might? I definately heard albertsons does. I would hate to spend my time facing shelfs and ordering inventory....
I did a rotation at Target, and the pharmacist would face the OTC aisles during the 2pm rounds. The tech was also in charge of outdates in the OTC aisles. Maybe we just had a really motivated crew who liked to help out...maybe it's not like this at all the Targets. It didn't take all that long, and didn't cut into regular duties since the script count is so low.
 
I did a rotation at Target, and the one I was at was really nice! No drive thru, pharmacists and techs got scheduled lunch breaks, and the store was low volume (about 45-50 scripts per day). The pharmacists and techs were not in charge of the OTC aisles--the regular Target staff took care of that.

Oh, and a heads up regarding the interviewing process at Target--from what my preceptor said, Target job interviews are pretty rigorous. At some of the big chains they don't tend to ask difficult questions, they just want to make sure you have a license, etc. and are willing to show up for work. At Target, expect more of a real interview situation, meaning, PREPARE ahead of time! According to my preceptor, lots of people that go on interviews with Target don't get offers because they roll in to the interview with a "ok, I'm here, how much money do I get, where do I sign" and blow the "tough" questions. Maybe it's just like that at the Target I was at, but I figured I'd pass that info along just in case it's a Target-wide sort of thing. Good luck, and congrats on your upcoming graduation!
 
thank you, that is very good to know! around here target supposedly has some sort of waiting list for pharmacist positions (doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but that's what I heard from a target pharmacist), and a good reputation about working there, so I can see why they would have a harder interview. Luckily i am applying for a different area. because i live far away, I actually have a phone interview (30-40min) tomorrow.

has anyone ever been through a phone interview (for any company)? any advice/insight into what they ask would be great!
 
I worked for Target for a little over a year as a tech. There were some good things and some bad things. A good thing was that it wasn't really busy- there was a lot of down time and you're guaranteed a lunch break. I knew some pharmacists who worked at stores that did about 20 rx's/day and most of the time they would just sit there reading a book. For me, that just doesn't fly. It's nice to have some downtime, but even at the store I was at (which was 3x more busy), it was just too much. Time went by sooo slowly and I personally didn't go to school for 6+ years to sit on my ass all day reading or sorting my bills. Some may disagree though. :laugh:

Another thing that I didn't like was that since Target is a low volume pharmacy, the district managers are obsessed with getting their numbers up, which means you have to be too. There are all these monthly goals for signing people up with Target red cards and the auto-refill system. I think it's just kind of hypocritical to be counseling people on their meds and then right after having to ask them if they want to sign up for a credit card with 20%APR. During your downtime pharmacists are also expected to roam the aisles and recruit people to use the pharmacy. Just not my cup of tea.

Their computer system was another drawback for me, probably because I was never really able to "get" it. The auto-refill part would always mess up and fill rx's too early and I had to spend so much time just figuring out how to fix it by counting the number of days in a cycle or whatever. Not very user friendly. Plus they always seemed to have constant updates and changes which would mess me up when I finally did start to get the hang of it.

The staffing at Target is way better than at the other big retail chains. If only Walgreens could solve this problem and add in a mandatory lunch break for pharmacists I think I would be at my ideal retail setting.
 
Another thing that I didn't like was that since Target is a low volume pharmacy, the district managers are obsessed with getting their numbers up, which means you have to be too. There are all these monthly goals for signing people up with Target red cards and the auto-refill system. I think it's just kind of hypocritical to be counseling people on their meds and then right after having to ask them if they want to sign up for a credit card with 20%APR. During your downtime pharmacists are also expected to roam the aisles and recruit people to use the pharmacy. Just not my cup of tea.


I'm interested in target for per diem work. How much of this is expected of the pharmacist, or does this just go for the techs and interns.
 
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