corporate retail -> independent worth it?

[Pretzyum]

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Hello fellow pharmd, rphs:

newly grad pharmD who's been working at the 3 letter for a good 6 month now. recently got offered a position at an independent pharmacy. before you laugh at me for even thinking about the switch, the indepdent offers a lower pay, vacation start from scratch, and no 401k plan. so im losing quite a bit of mula if i decide to stay long term. obviously the trade off here would be way better hours and stress level. can anyone who has gone thru similar situation give me some guidance as to what to do? my end goal is probably trying to work my way into hospital but i feel like it is a lot to give up going from corp to independent. thoughts?

 

[Lnsean]

Hello fellow pharmd, rphs:

newly grad pharmD who's been working at the 3 letter for a good 6 month now. recently got offered a position at an independent pharmacy. before you laugh at me for even thinking about the switch, the indepdent offers a lower pay, vacation start from scratch, and no 401k plan. so im losing quite a bit of mula if i decide to stay long term. obviously the trade off here would be way better hours and stress level. can anyone who has gone thru similar situation give me some guidance as to what to do? my end goal is probably trying to work my way into hospital but i feel like it is a lot to give up going from corp to independent. thoughts?

Can you relocate? I don't think the move to an independent is worth it for the lower pay and no 401k. Find opportunities in other settings right away. The longer you stay in retail, the harder it is to get out...if that is your goal. Some people love retail...but you already want out...so best to apply and get out now.

 

[steveysmith54]

Plenty of people made the switch. Usually after longer time spent working at the chain; having more financial freedom and stability. If you want to break into hospital, this does not get you closer, obviously. All independents vary a ton, some are loyal and treat their employees like family while others will get rid of u tomorrow if they decide.

 

[Z-Qualizer]

Hello fellow pharmd, rphs:

newly grad pharmD who's been working at the 3 letter for a good 6 month now. recently got offered a position at an independent pharmacy. before you laugh at me for even thinking about the switch, the indepdent offers a lower pay, vacation start from scratch, and no 401k plan. so im losing quite a bit of mula if i decide to stay long term. obviously the trade off here would be way better hours and stress level. can anyone who has gone thru similar situation give me some guidance as to what to do? my end goal is probably trying to work my way into hospital but i feel like it is a lot to give up going from corp to independent. thoughts?

How much lower is the pay? Any chance you can negotiate at all (maybe a little more pay or vacation time)? Probably a better shot at the latter...

How strong is this Independent pharmacy's business? How old is the owner? Do you think they'll be around for awhile? Any risk of them going out of business, or the owner retiring?

How miserable are you at your current job? How much student loan debt do you have?

I would consider all of these things...

 

[Pretzyum]

The pay is lower by around $4 per hr. I dont have student loans i borrowed money from fam for school and so its easy for me to pay back. The pharmacy makes majority profit from derm stuff and does compounding. I will contact and try to negotiate for some vacay today. Just want to make sure im not giving up too much to get out of cvslave

 

[Wickett]

The pay is lower by around $4 per hr. I dont have student loans i borrowed money from fam for school and so its easy for me to pay back. The pharmacy makes majority profit from derm stuff and does compounding. I will contact and try to negotiate for some vacay today. Just want to make sure im not giving up too much to get out of cvslave

The lower pay and less vacation would be worth it to me, but the lack of 401k would give me pause. Your long term loss of retirement income would compound pretty greatly.

 

[Pretzyum]

The thing is i dont really imagine myself staying onboard long term here either its merely a steppingstone for me to get out of chain while looking for a better position elsewhere. So idk how much 401k will comee into play if i only expect to be onboard for a couple of years at most?

 

[Z-Qualizer]

The pay is lower by around $4 per hr. I dont have student loans i borrowed money from fam for school and so its easy for me to pay back. The pharmacy makes majority profit from derm stuff and does compounding. I will contact and try to negotiate for some vacay today. Just want to make sure im not giving up too much to get out of cvslave

~$8k per year is significant, but not astronomical, considering the improvement in work environment and on your general well-being... I'd probably take it. I've never taken a pay-cut like that for a better situation, but I've turned down pay raises of that level that to avoid worse situations.

How much vacation do you have at CVS after only 6 months? And what is the initial vacation offer from the independent?

 

[rxdawg21]

~$8k per year is significant, but not astronomical, considering the improvement in work environment and on your general well-being... I'd probably take it. I've never taken a pay-cut like that for a better situation, but I've turned down pay raises of that level that to avoid worse situations.

How much vacation do you have at CVS after only 6 months? And what is the initial vacation offer from the independent?

I took a ~$14 (minus a dime or two) pay cut for a better spot. Granted it was to get out of retail completely and step down from being a PIC. After being here about two years its an $8.13 pay cut. Definitely worth it in my opinion. Taxes eat ~34% in my state of all your top tier income so the pay cut off the top isn't quite so bad.

 

[Pretzyum]

~$8k per year is significant, but not astronomical, considering the improvement in work environment and on your general well-being... I'd probably take it. I've never taken a pay-cut like that for a better situation, but I've turned down pay raises of that level that to avoid worse situations.

How much vacation do you have at CVS after only 6 months? And what is the initial vacation offer from the independent?

Ive been with them since i was a technician so all in all im giving up 3 wks.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

Independent isn't just a walk in the park.
There are plenty of frustrations.

HOWEVER, I'd never work for CVS or Walgreens again

 

[mentos]

Independent isn't just a walk in the park.
There are plenty of frustrations.

HOWEVER, I'd never work for CVS or Walgreens again

What are the frustrations like compared to retail? I'm sure the staffing levels and lack of metrics/corporate BS are much nicer?

 

[ajl87]

I made the switch in December and haven't looked back. Sure, it has its bad days but I don't have to answer to corporate about flu shots or give any vaccines. No benefits at my job too but I like the 8-hour days. I get to eat lunch which is huge.

The major point is you don't have debt, so you can invest a portion of your income. I'm also using my position as a stepping stone to something else. At the end of the day, I enjoy retail but it's still retail. I don't see myself as a lifer.

 

[farmadiazepine]

It depends on who you are, what your personality is, and what you want for the future. This is coming from a pharmacist who worked in retail chain, independent, and now in a hospital full time and independent 2 days a week.

For me, if I were you, I would stay in the chain as long as possible. Stick with the guaranteed hours, guaranteed salary, good pay, good benefits (pay, vacation, sick, 401k with match, employee stock purchase program, medical, dental, vision), and a growing company.

I know, it sucks, but nothing in America is for free. You have a great job that pays you a lot of money, and a lot of people would kill to be in your position. I know a lot of pharmacists who went from retail to independent, and now either do not have a job, got laid off from the independent, or the independent closed. I, personally, worked in an independent which closed after 40 years in business. The owner was 70 years old, and it was time for him to retire, and he sold to Walgreens. We closed June 2015, and that was it for me. I was out of a job.

I know another guy who worked at Duane Reade as a PIC who was in his 50s. He was doing 60 hours a week making great money. He then got lured to work at an independent in the Bronx for 40 hours a week. The owner of the store cut his hours a year ago. He now works 24 hours every 2 weeks. His wife is sick, and he is foreclosing on his house because he can't pay the bills. Nobody wants to hire a 60 year old pharmacist these days.

For me, if I could go back, I would have stayed at CVS a bit longer, that is if my supervisor stayed as well. It's because she left and went to Rite Aid, and I got some "God's gift to pharmacy" jackas*, 30 year old, hot shot supervisor that I left CVS. It turns out this jackas* supervisor left CVS a year later because he couldn't hack it.

There's not many people who would agree with me when I tell you to stick to the chains. I'm sure people would be surprised by my response.

I still worked independent, definitely 2 days a week, and sometimes 3 days a week. I love it, but do I see it as a career or a job I'll have in the future? No. Retail independents are dying, and if you aren't doing the next big thing in pharmacy like specialty, then slowly the independent stores will close one by one. I work retail independent now to milk it as much as possible until the opportunity is not there any more.

Stay at CVS. They have a PBM, specialty, LTC, mail order, retail stores, etc. They keep buying up everything around them and are involved in so many different aspects of health care. If you don't like being a staff pharmacist, move within the company, or ask your supervisor to help you.

 

[Pretzyum]

It depends on who you are, what your personality is, and what you want for the future. This is coming from a pharmacist who worked in retail chain, independent, and now in a hospital full time and independent 2 days a week.

For me, if I were you, I would stay in the chain as long as possible. Stick with the guaranteed hours, guaranteed salary, good pay, good benefits (pay, vacation, sick, 401k with match, employee stock purchase program, medical, dental, vision), and a growing company.

I know, it sucks, but nothing in America is for free. You have a great job that pays you a lot of money, and a lot of people would kill to be in your position. I know a lot of pharmacists who went from retail to independent, and now either do not have a job, got laid off from the independent, or the independent closed. I, personally, worked in an independent which closed after 40 years in business. The owner was 70 years old, and it was time for him to retire, and he sold to Walgreens. We closed June 2015, and that was it for me. I was out of a job.

I know another guy who worked at Duane Reade as a PIC who was in his 50s. He was doing 60 hours a week making great money. He then got lured to work at an independent in the Bronx for 40 hours a week. The owner of the store cut his hours a year ago. He now works 24 hours every 2 weeks. His wife is sick, and he is foreclosing on his house because he can't pay the bills. Nobody wants to hire a 60 year old pharmacist these days.

For me, if I could go back, I would have stayed at CVS a bit longer, that is if my supervisor stayed as well. It's because she left and went to Rite Aid, and I got some "God's gift to pharmacy" jackas*, 30 year old, hot shot supervisor that I left CVS. It turns out this jackas* supervisor left CVS a year later because he couldn't hack it.

There's not many people who would agree with me when I tell you to stick to the chains. I'm sure people would be surprised by my response.

I still worked independent, definitely 2 days a week, and sometimes 3 days a week. I love it, but do I see it as a career or a job I'll have in the future? No. Retail independents are dying, and if you aren't doing the next big thing in pharmacy like specialty, then slowly the independent stores will close one by one. I work retail independent now to milk it as much as possible until the opportunity is not there any more.

Stay at CVS. They have a PBM, specialty, LTC, mail order, retail stores, etc. They keep buying up everything around them and are involved in so many different aspects of health care. If you don't like being a staff pharmacist, move within the company, or ask your supervisor to help you.

Thank you for thr thorough response. One of the reason i want to leave is because i feel that cvs has a social stigma on pharmacists and i dont want to be the pharmacist who has no other work experience besides cvs on my resume. I feel its hindering my ability to get hired at other pharmacies

 

[steveysmith54]

Thank you for thr thorough response. One of the reason i want to leave is because i feel that cvs has a social stigma on pharmacists and i dont want to be the pharmacist who has no other work experience besides cvs on my resume. I feel its hindering my ability to get hired at other pharmacies

it's usually the opposite. Most agree that if you can work at CVS, you can work anywhere. What's hindering your ability to get hired is a mere 6 month of experience as RPh. You're a baby pharmacist competing against some RPh with multiple yrs of experience. I think that sticking around at CVS for 1-2 years, preferably 2 yrs, will show future employers commitment , strength, and perseverance. I think a good way to improve ur resume is to pick up perdiem jobs in various settings. I worked at 3 different independents as perdiem before I transitioned to Hospital. All varied a lot....

 

[Pretzyum]

That makes sense. but do you think that with the increased number of grads coming up this year if i do pass up this opportunity , it will be harder for it to come by again? I mean do independents often hire?
With my schedule it would be hard to do per diems because i work every other weekend..

 

[steveysmith54]

That makes sense. but do you think that with the increased number of grads coming up this year if i do pass up this opportunity , it will be harder for it to come by again? I mean do independents often hire?
With my schedule it would be hard to do per diems because i work every other weekend..

The general trend is that there will be less jobs across the board. As Pharmadaziane described, independents are all unique entities, with very different owners, business outlooks, etc. My own personal experiences varied a lot. One that comes to mind, had a very stingy boss that had me leave up to an hour earlier than my scheduled shift end bc it was "slow". Yeah it's possible to make a nice career working for an independent and evade the CVS BS. However, it's just as likely to be out of a job in a month after being hired. You got to know what you're signing up for with at least 90% certainty IMO. Without knowing the perspective pharmacy personally, there is no way that people can give u a good answer, we are all speaking from a general POV.

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

I would work at a major chain until you have some financial footing. The truth is, you are working for CVS regardless if you are at a chain or at an independent. From my experience, the majority of plans at independents are from CVS and they barely pay anything. In fact, 95% of scripts are not profitable. Atenolol will be reembursed at 1.00 from CVS and that is coming from the patient's co-pay which a lot of people will complain about...

The biggest benefit for working at a chain is that you get to learn the business and build up your resume so that you can lateral to a better job when you see one...

The biggest benefit for an independent is no metrics.... but no structure and resources so you are more prone to screw ups.

 

[Pretzyum]

Thank you all for your responses. After numerous contemplating and thinking it they i decided to pass. The lack of benefit and vacay is a little too much to handle. I will continue looking i guess. Again thank you all for thoughtful answers!!

 

[Abby Atwood]

I am still in school, so my experience is limited. I did one APPE rotation at an independent pharmacy and I interned with a retail chain through school. Although I was really excited about the opportunities for enhanced patient care in an independent setting, I was very disappointed by what it wound up being. Independent pharmacy can be extremely profit driven to the point of causing patient harm. The pharmacists working at that independent site would withhold coverage information from patients to prevent a loss of customers. In some cases, patients did not receive treatment because that information was withheld. They also billed for different NDCs than they filled if it would provide better profit margins. One pharmacist allowed early dispensing of a CII to avoid losing a sale. The 6 weeks were a nightmare. I can't imagine committing to years of that.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

I am still in school, so my experience is limited. I did one APPE rotation at an independent pharmacy and I interned with a retail chain through school. Although I was really excited about the opportunities for enhanced patient care in an independent setting, I was very disappointed by what it wound up being. Independent pharmacy can be extremely profit driven to the point of causing patient harm. The pharmacists working at that independent site would withhold coverage information from patients to prevent a loss of customers. In some cases, patients did not receive treatment because that information was withheld. They also billed for different NDCs than they filled if it would provide better profit margins. One pharmacist allowed early dispensing of a CII to avoid losing a sale. The 6 weeks were a nightmare. I can't imagine committing to years of that.

Those guys sound like *******es.
Hopefully you reported them to your board.