Chain salary

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cleanshirt

cleanshirt

Full Member
10+ Year Member
From personal experience or from second-hand knowledge, what's the starting salary for new-grads in your area?

In suburban Cleveland I know CVS starts out at $119,000 as of last year.
 
Yeah that's a normal starting salary in California, but you also have to consider most chain positions are not full time in the desirable areas. You'd have to move to the boonies lol
 
Don't forget Cali has an ungodly high income tax and high sales tax. If you can live affordably you will probably still come out on top though. They still have better labor laws and seem to be more progressive with pharmacy practice.
 
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Please share how many years you worked as an intern to get those job positions after graduation as well 🙂
 
I'm making ~$53 an hour as a full time floater at a grocery chain in the Southeast. Most of the stores I float to are super easy with plenty of tech help, but I'm seriously thinking about switching to Walmart or elsewhere for better pay.
 
Swishers said:
I'm making ~$53 an hour as a full time floater at a grocery chain in the Southeast. Most of the stores I float to are super easy with plenty of tech help, but I'm seriously thinking about switching to Walmart or elsewhere for better pay.
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SE seems like the lowest paying region. I'm making sub-$50 in a hospital and seeing these higher wages almost makes me want to jump ship.
 
Looks like it varies by state/region. This is according to BLS

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58. 40 per hr in an area with 2 pharmacy schools ( 40 miles) southeast florida. 5 YEARS experience under my belt.
 
ancienbon said:
58. 40 per hr in an area with 2 pharmacy schools ( 40 miles) southeast florida. 5 YEARS experience under my belt.
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That's about what I should be making in 5 years if I get a 2% raise each year. I have a feeling we work for the same company.
 
W19 said:
By the way, do the chain store managers make more than the pharmacists?
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At my company, a new grad gets 60/hour and a new grad PIC starts at 62.50. A friend was able to negotiate 3 weeks of vacation in lieu of higher pay. They usually get a bonus, as well. For me, it's just not worth the headaches. I get 66/hour as an overnight pharmacist. I run around like a mad man trying to get everything done and it's never all done. While I am new, I heard that the other overnight pharmacist at my store constantly complains about his workload and not being able to do everything when he has patients constantly calling for stupid stuff like "are my prescriptions ready?" or coming in from urgent care with prescriptions for acne (lol, this is in the suburbs).

Anyway, that's my two cents
 
Hesitated to respond...hospital. FT range $62 - $80 per hour. Evening shift diff $3 to $5 per hour. Weekend $7. Median $71. I am starting new hire at $70+. PIC at $85 per hour. Per Diem 8% higher.

Excellent health benefits and 21 days of PTO to 35 day after 10 years.
 
Its Z said:
Hesitated to respond...hospital. FT range $62 - $80 per hour. Evening shift diff $3 to $5 per hour. Weekend $7. Median $71. I am starting new hire at $70+. PIC at $85 per hour. Per Diem 8% higher.

Excellent health benefits and 21 days of PTO to 35 day after 10 years.
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This sounds like a dream job... do you consider new grads? 😀
 
Digsbe said:
Vacation time, hospital setting, and pay.

Personally, I'd like to work something hospital related but also make enough to blitz down loans and support traveling around the world. That's why it sounds like a dream job.
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Ok, that's fair.

Yes, I hire new grads. PGY1 in my experience pick up and assimilate quicker than non-pgy1, everything being equal, if that's possible. I have also hired from retail, LTC, etc.

Many hospital systems out west have great benefits. New grads get so caught up on the base hourly salary, they can't seem to evaluate shift differentials and PTO and how much that amount to improved salaries and quality of life.
 
Its Z said:
Ok, that's fair.

Yes, I hire new grads. PGY1 in my experience pick up and assimilate quicker than non-pgy1, everything being equal, if that's possible. I have also hired from retail, LTC, etc.

Many hospital systems out west have great benefits. New grads get so caught up on the base hourly salary, they can't seem to evaluate shift differentials and PTO and how much that amount to improved salaries and quality of life.
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I try to explain this to my interns but most don't listen. They focus on a hourly number and have trouble considering quality of life, benefits, retirement and pto...
 
Its Z said:
Hesitated to respond...hospital. FT range $62 - $80 per hour. Evening shift diff $3 to $5 per hour. Weekend $7. Median $71. I am starting new hire at $70+. PIC at $85 per hour. Per Diem 8% higher.

Excellent health benefits and 21 days of PTO to 35 day after 10 years.
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What state is this in?
 
PumpkinSmasher said:
I try to explain this to my interns but most don't listen. They focus on a hourly number and have trouble considering quality of life, benefits, retirement and pto...
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I have trouble explaining to my grads who get hospital positions that even though they will be making 22/ hr, CVS pays more in the long run because their years count toward their seniority (3 weeks vacation when they get hired)..., and that we guarantee them a job versus the hospital who is known for not hiring any of their interns and treating them like techs...
 
Aznfarmerboi said:
...their years count toward their seniority (3 weeks vacation when they get hired)...
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Sort of. All the hours get compressed into the equivalence of 40 hour work weeks. You have to work a lot to get 3 weeks vacation immediately the first year. I worked for CVS for 4 years, working full time hours during all breaks, work some during the year and rotations, and still didn't end up with a full 3 weeks right off the bat (pretty close though). All your other points I mostly agree with (the hospital I interned with for the same 4 years didn't hire me after graduation obviously), although I still think it is possible to decide to intern with a hospital and "take the risk" as it were.

Edit: Also, not all CVS interns end up with jobs. Remember when they accidentally sent out the whole spreadsheet company wide of which interns were being offered jobs two years ago?
 
owlegrad said:
Sort of. All the hours get compressed into the equivalence of 40 hour work weeks. You have to work a lot to get 3 weeks vacation immediately the first year. I worked for CVS for 4 years, working full time hours during all breaks, work some during the year and rotations, and still didn't end up with a full 3 weeks right off the bat (pretty close though). All your other points I mostly agree with (the hospital I interned with for the same 4 years didn't hire me after graduation obviously), although I still think it is possible to decide to intern with a hospital and "take the risk" as it were.

Edit: Also, not all CVS interns end up with jobs. Remember when they accidentally sent out the whole spreadsheet company wide of which interns were being offered jobs two years ago?
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Hmm that must be a recent change because all of my part time years counted for my vacation time, I have only been a pharmacist for 5-6 years and will be at 4 weeks starting in January.
 
Verified with HR over the phone (you get 4 weeks the next year after you have your 14th anniversary). You can see your hire date on the profile page of the myHr website.
 
owlegrad said:
It's been that way since I started. It's what all the interns in my year were told. I should probably know this, but how do you know you will be at 4 weeks in January? Any way to check that?
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It is based off years work (on your 4th year anniversary, you should you get 3 weeks)- so if you started as a P1... and was with the company for 4 years of pharmacy school, and when hired, have over 4 years (48 months), you should start with 3 weeks. Some people get screwed if they became a pharmacist at 3 years 11 months, etc...

I was no where near full time hours when I was an intern and got 3 weeks vacation when I graduated.

You can track how many years you work by going to myHr and viewing your history...
 
Aznfarmerboi said:
It is based off years work (on your 4th year anniversary, you should you get 3 weeks)- so if you started as a P1... and was with the company for 4 years of pharmacy school, and when hired, have over 4 years (48 months), you should start with 3 weeks. Some people get screwed if they became a pharmacist at 3 years 11 months, etc...

I was no where near full time hours when I was an intern and got 3 weeks vacation when I graduated.

You can track how many years you work by going to myHr and viewing your history...
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Perhaps I am remembering incorrectly, but I don't think so. I had a little over 2.5 weeks when I became a pharmacist and I seem to recall the intern coordinator going over the benefits with us at the grad intern orientation meeting. I recall a bunch of fellow interns being disgruntled about it. :shrug:
 
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