is it easier to get a contract job?

[madgirl]

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During my search for job hunting, I found an agency that place pharmacist in retail and mail order area. They don't offer any benefit (health, 401K, vacation). Do you think is it a good idea to start from here?

 

[angryrx]

Some of my friends love working their contracts and buying their own health insurance, retirement planning, etc. They enjoy the option of leaving when they get tired of a work environment. They wait for their assignment to end, and they move on to the next pharmacy. $ wise, it's not a good deal. They often get paid less than the benefited employees.

The big advantage is...it's an opportunity for you to interview the work environment. If it's a good fit, and they have openings, there's a good chance they will ask you to stay as benefited staff. If you don't like it, you move on. I think it's a great place to start.

 

[BMBiology]

Just keep in mind you would have to pay self-employment tax as an employee and employer so 15.3% (12.4% for social security up to ~ $107,000 and 2.9% for medicare).

http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small...yment-Tax-(Social-Security-and-Medicare-Taxes

 

[madgirl]

Some of my friends love working their contracts and buying their own health insurance, retirement planning, etc. They enjoy the option of leaving when they get tired of a work environment. They wait for their assignment to end, and they move on to the next pharmacy. $ wise, it's not a good deal. They often get paid less than the benefited employees.

The big advantage is...it's an opportunity for you to interview the work environment. If it's a good fit, and they have openings, there's a good chance they will ask you to stay as benefited staff. If you don't like it, you move on. I think it's a great place to start.

Thanks, Is it easier to get this job with no experience compare to get hired by employment?

 

[angryrx]

Thanks, Is it easier to get this job with no experience compare to get hired by employment?

Well, being hired and getting the assignments that you want are a different thing. I think it depends on what each assignment requires; for example, if there's a hospital assignment open, they might require that you have hospital experience, or they might be desperate enough to take anyone. It all depends. If they have easy assignments they need to fill, you should be able to get in with no experience.

I have heard of inpatient assignments where the non-experienced pharmacists just check pyxis fills all day (what a dream 😍 ) and the hospital-experienced pharmacists have to do all the clinical and orders. Either way, if they like you, and they have an opening at the present or in the future, you would have a foot in the door.

I don't think it's a long term "career" or any real solution to work registry, but it really is a great place to start.

 

[MatCauthon]

I almost took a contract job, but remember it is not as easy to get a job after as you make it out to be. Contract jobs have non-compete clauses with the employers they contract with. The buy-outs for these contracts are typically $10,000. The job I was going to take contracted with dozens of pharmacy companies. They would not guarantee to null my contracts until after I worked there for 2 years. In my opinion, it would be pretty devastating to leave before 2 years and then not be able to find a job because no one would pay the buyout. Some hospitals may pay the buyout, but that is probably becoming less and less common with an abundant supply of good candidates that are available.

So, I would not work a contract job unless you fully understand the terms of the contract and what the buyout is. While I was researching whether to do this, I did find about a pharmacist who almost went bankrupt because she couldn't find an employer willing to buy her out of the contract (she had worked at most of the pharmacies in a large geographical area).