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Eggin' people on, huh? I think it's time to ban you...
CVS 14-hr days = ...torture?
Started by pharmaz88
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Eggin' people on, huh? I think it's time to ban you...
Honestly I thought West virgina (rural) and North Dakota and Alaska and rural Neveda or Arizona or whatever is where there were always job openings. And I'm quite curious how much unempoyment a 100K salary such as a pharmacist gets you.
You need to get it into your thick skull that NO PLACE, rural or NOT have jobs right now. The job market is beyond *****y and there are NO jobs. Why is that so hard for you to understand? If you get lucky right now you might get a job after looking for 2 to 3 years. In a few years? you won't get one. It's just that simple.
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Don't you work the graveyard shift? I like getting off 4 or 5 days in a row, but GRAVEYARD shifts? I don't think so! Was that all you were able to find?
I guess you can make a million dollar, and would still get roughly $350 a week.
http://www.ehow.com/how_4464449_calculate-unemployment.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_4464449_calculate-unemployment.html
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Wow i never seen such a passionate delivery of a horrible future perspective. I dont know where you are but here in Michigan i know someone that graduated last year and got....hear this...5 job offers. I know i cant generalize in this forum and i am only a lowly P1 but i am enjoying school and life in general as of right now. I like what i am learning, i like my class mates, the organizations i participate, the events and so on i will take one day at the time. I won't worry too much as of what will happen in 2015, when i graduate.
Who knows, maybe the economy will recover, the world might end, capitalism might crumble, China might conquer us, monkeys might take over the world. As i said why loose sleep and increase my chances of heart related problems in the future. There is an old budhist saying if i remember correctly "If it hasn't happened yet, it does not exist"
Cheers
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And I know for a fact that there are jobs all over the midwest. But I guess you know better than people that are actually living here...
If its so F ing bad, why dont you just quit and find a different field? Seems to me that you would be better of somewhere else instead of worrying if you are going to get a job in pharmacy...
It's too late for SHC, she is in her late 20s and OLD. Her life is practically over (all according to her). And I'm not sure many schools would take a chance on someone who dropped out of 2 professional programs. She will be a retail pharmacist someday and we all better say a prayer for prepharms who may one day ask her for her opinion on pharmacy.
*no job for you!Everything you said sounds ok except monkeys will not take over the world lol .. Funny though
Just to add to the conversation, yes CVS = torture. I worked for them years as an intern and loved it. Worked 2 months as an RPh and now I hate it. Its not the actual dealing with customers and filling medications and volume. Its the management and policys that I hate. Management is way over their heads and ignores what actually goes on at the front lines. Short staffed, cut hours, customers with personality disorders calling in complaints, etc. The policies are not set in stone either. What one supervisor will tell you varies from what another tells you.
Something I once read online says it best. "The company is ran like 1939 Germany. Employees are constantly on edge because CVS wants them that way. Fear of losing your job with CVS is common thought with their employees. go to any CVS and observe the employees. Notice how stressed they are."
CVS sucks a*s*s .. Unfortunately, it also pays my bills.
Time to get a resume together. One year from now I will be leaving. I don't want to get sucked into this black hole of pharmacy forever.
5 job offers huh?
Did the person get the job without an interview?
Did the person get >$60/hr?
Did the person a crazy ass sign-on bonus?
Did the person a sweet deal on a BMW/Audi/Merc?
Unless all the answers are yes, it is a ****ty job market.
Graveyard shift? Ive worked the overnight at CVS before and i got to do whatever i pleased after midnight. I can't blame you for working the overnight shift, but nothing compared to working the day shift and filling 600-700 daily.
Went to the art museum and checked out the rembrandt collection today. Gonna hang out and play the new Batman game tonight. Going to go the Philly Union NY Red Bulls game Thursday and see my Union clinch first place in the East. Hopping on a plane to Syracuse after the match to watch WVU kill the Orangemen. Fly back to Newark Saturday...roll over to the city and catch a show, hang out in Manhatten. Take the train back to Trenton and drive back over the river to my loft...and then enjoy my last few days of my extended 7 day, 8 night weekend.
Yeah. My work schedule sure does suck.
Night shift is the best shift available. Low stress. Nice pay. Ample time off. What more do you really want? Now if you are fooloish enough to create obligations in your life that require subscribing to the typical 8-hours-a-day-5-time-a-week lifestyle, then it would be a burden. But I have no kids, don't want no kids, my family lives 500 miles away, and I live in the middle of the Eastern Megalopolis. Do you have any idea how much living I get to do 26 weeks out of the year? Hell, I pity the rest of you...
Yeah. My work schedule sure does suck.
Night shift is the best shift available. Low stress. Nice pay. Ample time off. What more do you really want? Now if you are fooloish enough to create obligations in your life that require subscribing to the typical 8-hours-a-day-5-time-a-week lifestyle, then it would be a burden. But I have no kids, don't want no kids, my family lives 500 miles away, and I live in the middle of the Eastern Megalopolis. Do you have any idea how much living I get to do 26 weeks out of the year? Hell, I pity the rest of you...
I got a GREAT deal on a Merc Sable a few months ago.
I have the same work schedule. Overnight RPh for CVS. I think my problem is that I work on my week off also. It makes me hate the company even more. Maybe I should just be happy doing that one week on and shouldn't work my week off. I also work for an extremely busy store. Don't wanna say where.. But the people just keep coming in and in at night while I have 10 - 17 pages of ReadyFill a night.
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lol at all the prepharms dismissing the job situation. The last issue of Drug Topics I read had not 1 but 4 articles on the oversupply of pharmacists we have.
How many days off do CVS pharmacists get? I would do gladly do 3 14 hour shifts if I could get 4 days off.
You say that now. The problem with a 14 hour shift is that you literally get home and go immediately to bed. You only have 10 hours not at work per 24, so if 7-8 of that is sleeping and you have to get up and get ready, plus driving time, you can't do ANYTHING. You can't go to the grocery store. You can't see your kids. You can't. do. anything. You'll spend at least half the days you have off catching up on stuff you'd normally do after work, so you only end up with a couple days OFF anyways.
I could never do it. I work 10s and that's my limit. The extra time off is nice, but I wouldn't and couldn't do longer shifts to get more time off. It's a good thing we don't all like the same schedule or we'd all be competing for the same jobs. Then the shortage would be even worse!!!!
Our health system is hiring 4 hospital pharmacists with PGY1 only. The chain I work for PRN is looking for a couple of 1.0 FTEs and a PIC for their RURAL MIDWEST STORES. Interesting, since there are no jobs even in the rural midwest according to those who don't live here.
Our health system is hiring 4 hospital pharmacists with PGY1 only. The chain I work for PRN is looking for a couple of 1.0 FTEs and a PIC for their RURAL MIDWEST STORES. Interesting, since there are no jobs even in the rural midwest according to those who don't live here.
Night shifters unite! +1
The bolded is the key to life. Yes, the majority of us have student loans. And they are crushing. But the other obligations? The 30 year mortgage? The leased BMW? 4 children? Look at yourself in the mirror.
You could probably make your case better without resorting to hyperbole like this. It's hard for people to understand because saying there are no jobs, anywhere, is blatantly untrue.
The hospital I work at has job postings for pharmacists open right now, and nearly every hospital in the local area has jobs posted as well. Prime Therapuetics and Express Scripts are almost always hiring, and IHS hires dozens of pharmacists every year. Every recent grad that I know has found a job within a few months, not 2-3 years as you claim. Those are just a couple of examples, so I'm not sure how you can so authoritatively state that there are no jobs anywhere.
People also say there is NO chance for you to win the 250 million dollar lottery. Is that WRONG? Techincally they are "wrong" b/c you have 1:10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
chance of winning the lottery.
I see that with getting a job in pharmay right now. Yes, you have a very small chance, but it's so small that it's pretty much non-exsisent.
So yes, you have a chance (very SMALL) of winning the lottery and getting a good job in pharmacy!
Sorry for the misunderstanding. 🙄
Yes, there are still jobs right now. VERY FEW, but if you move to a very rural place you can land one RIGHT NOW. I already mention that 100X already. RIGHT NOW, THIS SECOND you still have a chance of landing a job if you move out in the middle of nowhere.
So that's why I feel that people in the class of 2011 and 2012 should still stay in pharmacy school...b/c they still have a small chance of landing a job if they MOVE to a RURAL area. The chances are small but you still have a shot so you better hurry while you can! It's like trying to get a sold out concert ticket! you better HURRY UP! Time is ticking fast!
However, what people should worry about is if they are just now applying to pharmacy school or just now a p1 or p2 in their pharmacy class. Those people really need to worry big time b/c when they graduate there really will be no jobs. Jobs are decreasing very fast. There are still jobs RIGHT NOW, but it is decreasing at a very fast rate. Kinda like water going down a drain? You get it? So for the people that are just now applying, they really should just do something else b/c by the time they graduate jobs will not be here anymore. It wouldn't be a bad idea for P1 to drop out either.
Get it now?
The chances of getting a pharmacist job are the same as winning the lottery? Someone is trolling.
Yes finding a job in a field with less than 2% unemployment is exactly like winning the lottery. I finally understand! It's too late for me though, I can only hope that it is not to late for undergrad students.
Like I say. It might not be like this RIGHT NOW so if you are in the class of 2011 or 2012 ignore this message. But in a few years when all 130+ (hell, it might be a lot more) schools all start graduating students then I see that happening.
You guys can be wishful thinkers and ignore this problem. But that means I'll just come on here in 3 or 4 years and say I told you so! I can't wait to come back on this thread and prove you all wrong.
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It's a date. 😉
And I hate to nit-pick but mathematically there are not enough Americans to make finding a job as a pharmacist the same as winning the lottery, even if every American alive today started pharmacy school tomorrow. The numbers just work out that way. BTW, how many pharmacy jobs do you think there are total? I don't mean available, I am total in the US, how many pharmacy jobs (available as well as filled) do you think there are? 10,000? 100,000? I am curious how you view the total market.
There are ~268,030 jobs right now according to this website. http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291051.htm Right now the supply is a little bit more than demand...but that is changing rapidly. Basically, that number 268,030 better INCREASE faster than the number of pharmacy students graduating every year in order for there to be jobs. So if there are 30,000 pharmacy students graduating every year then that means jobs better be increasing by 30,000+ a year if not then you might not get a job.
And do you honestly think pharmacy jobs will increase by 30,000 (there are proberly more students graduating every year...) so do you think there will be several thousand NEW JOBS FORM every year to keep up with the new grads being pump out???
I don't think so. If you think so then you really are a wishful thinker. And that's just NEW grads...don't forget the thousands of forigen grads each year. The point is there is NO way in hell for demand to increase that much every year to keep up with the supply.
There will ALWAYS be a small chance for you to win the lottery, BUT if the demand is much much much much SMALLER than the LARGE supply then you won't have a chance at a job. That's 0% chance. Granted you are right, that isn't NOW, but it will be in the future.
Unless you can somehow get 30K or 50K new pharmacy jobs to magically appear EACH YEAR (not just ONCE but each year!!!) to set off the large amount of grads each year, the market is pretty much dead or will be soon.
So no one ever retires? You do not need 30,000 new jobs every year, you just need the number of new grads to be equivalent to the number of people retiring+new jobs.
Even if we don't factor in retirement, your numbers do not make sense. There would have to be one job for every thousand pharmacists to make your chances approach zero (even 1 for even 100 would still be a 1% chance). There are not enough Americans to make that mathematically possible.
14 hours a day for me anyway are torture... I can't say that I am as fresh as focused after working 9 hours straight in a high volume store with no break. While some people may enjoy the extra days off, I question the value to the patient and the dispenser. Did they get the right drug? Did you just jeopardize your license by giving the wrong drug? But it's okay, so long as you and the company get paid.
I agree with you. The added drama is hard for most introverts to swallow, but I agree with your point nonetheless. 😛
I've been looking for a full-time inpatient job for a while now. And it's easier in this state than most to find a job like that without a residency, etc. The only problem is that no one is hiring! It's the same for rad techs, too.
If hindsight was 20/20, then I would have applied for a couple of the openings in July 2010 and said "to hell with everything else", but, alas.
There are not 30,000 students graduating each year. In 2009, it was around 11,500. There have been 14 new schools opened since 2009. Unless each class in those new schools is 1300+ people, 30,000 is not a realistic number of new graduates to expect.
This also assumes that the economy will never improve, and no new community pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, clinics, or hospitals will ever be opened. And that no currently practicing pharmacist will ever retire, or quit, or be fired, or die, or move, or have a baby and decide to work less, or decide to switch careers because they don't like pharmacy. It also assumes that, if pharmacy does become a less attractive career, that those private schools which just opened will be able to continue funding their programs if/when people stop applying. I mean, I guess all those things could all happen but I find it unlikely.
I don't think there's anything wrong with letting students know that you can't get any job you want, anywhere you want, with a 30K sign-on bonus and a free car, just because you have a license and a pulse anymore, but saying no one will ever get a job after a certain date is not an argument most people can take seriously. A lot of things are highly variable by area, as well. I live in an urban area, and we have hired three new inpatient pharmacists (no residency required) over the past few months due to our steadily increasing census at the hospital.
Well said. SHC's rants are completely obnoxious and what I'm assuming to be tongue-in-cheek, but are definitely filled with sage advice, ESPECIALLY for someone who hasn't been in the field for a while who knows the changes that have occurred and the watering down of pharmacy.
SHC, you are being obnoxious and way overdramatic. I live in a city with 2 pharmacy schools and plenty of students graduating in 2012 are still getting job offers from the chains they work for. Mostly for the outlying region. We produce over 180 students from this one city each year. The company I work for is creating a new position for a current pharmacist and then replacing that pharmacist (inpatient hospital). Do I agree that the job market is getting worse? Yes, but the "surplus" is not only due to the opening of pharmacy schools, but also the severe recession we've been in for 3 years. Pharmacies arent expanding and opening so we aren't creating jobs like we were in 2005. The fact of the matter is:
1. Careers work on principles of supply and demand.
2. If the supply increases faster than demand, competition will be greater for jobs and eventually salaries will decrease.
3. Salary decrease and job scarcity will push people away from the profession.
4. Eventually supply and demand will equal out or swing back in the other direction and we can start this talk all over.
5. Quit freaking out. We still make 6 figure salaries and unemployment is 1/4 that of the national average and 1/10th of some of the harder hit professions.
1. Careers work on principles of supply and demand.
2. If the supply increases faster than demand, competition will be greater for jobs and eventually salaries will decrease.
3. Salary decrease and job scarcity will push people away from the profession.
4. Eventually supply and demand will equal out or swing back in the other direction and we can start this talk all over.
5. Quit freaking out. We still make 6 figure salaries and unemployment is 1/4 that of the national average and 1/10th of some of the harder hit professions.
You're just a naive pharmacy student. The LAST pharmacy job will be handed out in 2013. Anyone and everyone graduating in 2014 and after are SCREWED. It's simple supply and demand. Listen to SHC, she has been a pharmacist for how many years... I graduate in 2014, but don't worry, I am going to work hard to stand out.
I am actually a pharmacist before SCH comes in saying my opinion doesn't matter. I graduated in 2010 with 3 job offers and have received a job offer from another in state hospital within the last 8 months for a CLINICAL POSITION without a residency which I unfortunately had to turn down.
That's all good and well, but what happens whenever they graduate another class, then another class, then another class?
You're just a naive pharmacy student. The LAST pharmacy job will be handed out in 2013. Anyone and everyone graduating in 2014 and after are SCREWED. It's simple supply and demand.Listen to SHC, she has been a pharmacist for how many years... I graduate in 2014, but don't worry, I am going to work hard to stand out.
For exactly.......zero years.
Ok guys:
SHC is over the top on just how bad things will get. However.... I think most people will agree that we are on a down swing. Things are going to get worse, possibly a lot worse, before it gets better.
1) no signs of this economy recovering anytime soon yet. Japan's been in a recession for 20 years, started due to a real estate bubble just like ours. So don't count on an economic recovery any time soon.
2) pharmacist with a job will work longer, retire later, because of the economy and their retirement money went up in smoke. This will decrease the number of job openings that would normally be available.
3) all the new schools cranking out more students. Supply is higher than normal. When I was applying for pharmacy school in 2005, there were 91 schools. Now we have 120+. Seriously, do we need a 33% more pharmacists all the sudden?! What really happens is a bunch of more students fighting each other for fewer jobs.
4) health reform. Whether you universal coverage or not, the reimbursement level will keep on dropping. That's the only way to cover more people with less money. Job creation is based on profitability, companies are not going to pay people to lose money. It points towards more work for less pay, not more jobs with more pay.
So SHC might to over the top in saying how bad things are, but students should be expecting things to get worse, not better for the foreseeable future.
My personal guess:
optimistic projection -- economic recovery by 2014, salary stagnates but doesn't fall.
Realistic projection -- economic recovery in 3-10 years, salary fall ~10%, pharmacy unemployment rise to 50-80% of national average
pessimistic projection -- recovery in >10 years, salary falls 20%, pharmacy unemployment at or slight above national average.
SHC is over the top on just how bad things will get. However.... I think most people will agree that we are on a down swing. Things are going to get worse, possibly a lot worse, before it gets better.
1) no signs of this economy recovering anytime soon yet. Japan's been in a recession for 20 years, started due to a real estate bubble just like ours. So don't count on an economic recovery any time soon.
2) pharmacist with a job will work longer, retire later, because of the economy and their retirement money went up in smoke. This will decrease the number of job openings that would normally be available.
3) all the new schools cranking out more students. Supply is higher than normal. When I was applying for pharmacy school in 2005, there were 91 schools. Now we have 120+. Seriously, do we need a 33% more pharmacists all the sudden?! What really happens is a bunch of more students fighting each other for fewer jobs.
4) health reform. Whether you universal coverage or not, the reimbursement level will keep on dropping. That's the only way to cover more people with less money. Job creation is based on profitability, companies are not going to pay people to lose money. It points towards more work for less pay, not more jobs with more pay.
So SHC might to over the top in saying how bad things are, but students should be expecting things to get worse, not better for the foreseeable future.
My personal guess:
optimistic projection -- economic recovery by 2014, salary stagnates but doesn't fall.
Realistic projection -- economic recovery in 3-10 years, salary fall ~10%, pharmacy unemployment rise to 50-80% of national average
pessimistic projection -- recovery in >10 years, salary falls 20%, pharmacy unemployment at or slight above national average.
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Yeah, the job market somewhat stinks (although all my friends got jobs...) and it definitely has gotten worse than it was when I started school. But SHC's posts are ridiculous hyperbole to the point of stupidity. There are jobs, and there will continue to be some jobs. People may not get their preferred job or location. It may take longer to get a position. Etc.
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I don't know what the hype is about no jobs. I myself prefer to live off of the government forever. I got me some Medicaid babies, I'm set.
You're right, of course. I just got my new government issued car b/c I had one too many babies to fit in the Hummer. The car is sweet, but I forgot to pick up my free bag of Medicaid cocaine this month. 🙁
How does every thread end up into a "no jobs" thread? I continue to laugh at these doom and gloomers. As somebody has pointed out, pharmacists have a what....2% unemployment rate? Yes, we are worse off than 5 years ago; but then again, EVERY profession is worse off. If you don't want to do pharmacy then, GTFO. Quit scaring people into believing that there will be 0 jobs in the next few years, even in a "bigger city". That is just an idiotic statement.
Where will these jobs come from? The hospitals that are slowly closing down across the country? The retail companies that are not expanding? Where, pray tell?
This assumes that there will be no more growth in your lifetime. That's something that history indicates would most likely not be the case. However, if someone wants to assume that, then there is still nothing for them to worry about because that would also mean that most people in other professions would not survive either. Even MDs, DOs, and dentists would eventually suffer if there is no growth for decades on end and very few people left with the means to pay for their services.
