just had interviews at the career fair, got one offer

[Hpower12]

so I interviewed with walmart, publix, target, walgreens, and CVS. walgreens sounded the best because they have 8 hours shifts. CVS said they did 14 hour or 12 I can't remember, but it sounded bad. walmart will give you a 30 min lunch, where they will close the pharmacy which I thought was cool. publix did something cool with vacation, after the first year you are there you can get like an extra 2 weeks of pay or an extra 2 weeks off. This was all this past thursday and CVS mailed me an offer today. 118k yr, 2 weeks vacation and in the location I want. Any advise on anything. I have read many of the other threads but I figured this one would be more personal regarding my situation.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[bva]

What state do you live in?

 

[Hpower12]

florida

 

[Caverject]

have you worked at the store you "know" you will be at? Will you be miserable or can you handle a 14 hour shift? Do you prefer a slower day? (Target or Publix) do you like 8 hour shifts? (Wags) Do you need a lunch break to sit down and collect your thoughts? (Walmart/Sams) You really need to think this out before you sign on

 

[phampau]

Is the offer based on a 40 hr/ work week? If you don't mind me asking, where in fl are you? If you are willing to work the long shifts and have more days off, that would be the way to go.

 

[pinkyrx]

so I interviewed with walmart, publix, target, walgreens, and CVS. walgreens sounded the best because they have 8 hours shifts. CVS said they did 14 hour or 12 I can't remember, but it sounded bad. walmart will give you a 30 min lunch, where they will close the pharmacy which I thought was cool. publix did something cool with vacation, after the first year you are there you can get like an extra 2 weeks of pay or an extra 2 weeks off. This was all this past thursday and CVS mailed me an offer today. 118k yr, 2 weeks vacation and in the location I want. Any advise on anything. I have read many of the other threads but I figured this one would be more personal regarding my situation.

Publix told me that they give their pharmacists 2 weeks pay as a bonus during the week of Christmas.

Also, about the lunch at Walmart. From what I've heard, it's tough to get the pharmacy actually closed on time to take your lunch because patients keep showing up. If you close late you still have to come back on time, so I'm guessing if it's a busy store that the 30 minute break would be cut short quite often. Does anybody else know more about this? I don't actually work there, just going on hearsay.

 

[Hpower12]

have you worked at the store you "know" you will be at? Will you be miserable or can you handle a 14 hour shift? Do you prefer a slower day? (Target or Publix) do you like 8 hour shifts? (Wags) Do you need a lunch break to sit down and collect your thoughts? (Walmart/Sams) You really need to think this out before you sign on

yeah these are things I have thought about. I really do not want 12 or 14 hour days. Idealy I would like 8 hour days at a slow store I think, but not sure that is a reality. I basically want to work at wags or publix.

 

[Hpower12]

Is the offer based on a 40 hr/ work week? If you don't mind me asking, where in fl are you? If you are willing to work the long shifts and have more days off, that would be the way to go.

I believe it was based on 44 hr work week. I would rather not say what location I am in incase there are recruiters on here.

 

[rxlynn]

I believe it was based on 44 hr work week. I would rather not say what location I am in incase there are recruiters on here.

That sounds reasonable to me - in the Atlanta market CVS pharmacists have a base of something slightly over 40 per week, unless they have an agreement for a part-time schedule.

 

[Hpower12]

should I ask about a signing bonus. I always read about them. I would only take one for a year a commitment tho incase I really can't stand the place and want to leave.

 

[Phlame217]

the 12-14 hours shifts are if you work a full day shift. CVS allows pharmacists to arrange their schedules however they like with the other pharmacists on staff. They way my store works is the PIC works every Monday and the other pharmacist works every Friday. They group days as in you either work Wednesday & the weekend plus your day or Tuesday Thursday and your day. This results in a 44hr/36 hr split each week and each pharmacist gets a couple of full days off each week.

The store down the street does split day shifts except for the weekends in which Monday - Friday the pharmacists work open till 4 and the other pharmacist works 2-close which gives a slight overlap. They trade off weekends to you have every other weekend off.

Your pay is also based off of 44 hrs/wk and the immediate downside is your first year, you get no vacation. After that, it works on(if i remember correctly) 5 year brackets as to how much vacation/sick leave/etc you get.

CVS upside is that you can sell back your sick leave at the end of the year, you get incredible stock options, and if your pharmacy bonuses, you get a bonus where as the store manager doesn't.

 

[Hpower12]

so, I guess how would I determine what my partner wants before commiting. it just kinda scares me to be working a 12 or 14 hour shift.

 

[Phlame217]

its not as bad as you think... that is, if you have a capable team of techs and a good methodology down. I'd ask CVS what stores had open slots and go around and meet the people before i made a decision.

 

[Hels2007]

I would only advise you to take your time and evaluate your options and don't pounce on the very first offer just to have one. Generally you can request that they give you time to think until a certain date. Good luck!

 

[Haldol]

you should definatly interview around and let those potential employers know that you still have up comming interviews. Personally that gave me leverage to negotate hourly wage and vacation time. If you are in a market that has a shortage you can pretty much have the opportunity to negotate. Don't rule out the grocery store pharmacies because you could end up with a very competitive hourly wage with less volume to deal with.

 

[Phlame217]

I dont know if you have homelands there, but the homelands here have awsome pharmacies because they pharmacist can actually have a tv in the pharmacy and watch football games or whatever since most grocery stores (other than walmart) have really slow pharmacies.

 

[Hpower12]

I dont know if you have homelands there, but the homelands here have awsome pharmacies because they pharmacist can actually have a tv in the pharmacy and watch football games or whatever since most grocery stores (other than walmart) have really slow pharmacies.

na, I have never seen one these.

CVS said I had 90 days to respond. I am going to wait as long as I can and hopefully get some more offers. Unfortunately I want to be in a desirable area so I don't think I have allot of negotiating room.

 

[firefighter9015]

Publix told me that they give their pharmacists 2 weeks pay as a bonus during the week of Christmas.

Also, about the lunch at Walmart. From what I've heard, it's tough to get the pharmacy actually closed on time to take your lunch because patients keep showing up. If you close late you still have to come back on time, so I'm guessing if it's a busy store that the 30 minute break would be cut short quite often. Does anybody else know more about this? I don't actually work there, just going on hearsay.

I have heard the same thing about Wal-Mart's from my fellow classmates. Def. shop around on your offers and visit the stores you have been offered spots at to get a feel of the environment there.

 

[Hels2007]

I dont know if you have homelands there, but the homelands here have awsome pharmacies because they pharmacist can actually have a tv in the pharmacy and watch football games or whatever since most grocery stores (other than walmart) have really slow pharmacies.

New Jersey pharmacy laws specifically forbid TVs in a pharmacy or in any area visible from the pharmacy.

 

[pinkyrx]

New Jersey pharmacy laws specifically forbid TVs in a pharmacy or in any area visible from the pharmacy.

Interesting. That seems like a strange law to me. I wonder how common it is amongst other states?

 

[Hpower12]

alright, well walmart called. they left a message and said they wanted to set up and interview and see if they could get me in a store anywhere. I will try and ask about the 30 min lunch thing. And is it appropriate to ask about salary? I would also like to tell them I would like to wait for awhile to think about the position, CVS gave me 90 days. Is it ok to ask them for that also?

 

[jawnly211]

alright, well walmart called. they left a message and said they wanted to set up and interview and see if they could get me in a store anywhere. I will try and ask about the 30 min lunch thing. And is it appropriate to ask about salary? I would also like to tell them I would like to wait for awhile to think about the position, CVS gave me 90 days. Is it ok to ask them for that also?

update on your walmart interview?

 

[gaba101]

alright, well walmart called. they left a message and said they wanted to set up and interview and see if they could get me in a store anywhere. I will try and ask about the 30 min lunch thing. And is it appropriate to ask about salary? I would also like to tell them I would like to wait for awhile to think about the position, CVS gave me 90 days. Is it ok to ask them for that also?

i guess it depends on area. a lot of walmarts I know in various states offer 1-hour lunches (paid, closed pharmacy). it's true that it is tough to close on time but we sent out the message by closing down 1 of the shutters at the drop-off 10 min before lunch, dimming 1 of the lights...oh and as the pharmacist in charge, if you end up closing really really late into your lunch break (like say 15 min or 30 min, highly highly rare though...usually just 5 min into your lunch, if anything), you have the right to post a sign on your pharmacy window that says closed late at X:XX & will reconvene at X:XX (1 hour from when you closed). If you know your patients, they will be understanding (after all, you don't want a hypoglycemic pt). We've never had problems with our DM when doing this. if they did, i'd quit.

 

[Hpower12]

update on your walmart interview?

it was ok. kinda informal. the DM just sat with me in the back and we talked about the job. he said there were no openings in a store so I would have to float for awhile. he kinda annoyed me alittle, he seemed to slick or hard to explain but something sorta bothered me, but he did make the company sound pretty good. lets see what I can remember, basically he said the schedule is pretty flexible he just needs to have all the hours covered but after that i should be able to get off when I need to. said walmart has no lifetime max on health insureance stuff. not that important to me but he told a few stories of people were one guys son had cancer and he used up like all 5 million of his health insurance stuff at his other place in a year so he came to work for walmart. I have to go to work now I will type more later.

Ok, lets see. he said that once you work for walmart and if you want to transfer somewhere else walmart will pay for all your moving expenses. As far as benefits go they match something like 2% on 401K, but they have several other things that make if more competative. One was something like buying stock at a 15% discount or you are given so much at a discount. Some other tax free saving fund. I forget all the stuff I will have to look over the papers once they get here in the mail.

I did get a letter from walgreens saying someone would contact me or I could contact them. I have my current rotation at a retail pharmacy and the tech that works there used to work at publix and he said he thought that was the best place. He said the stock options are very good, something like for every 100 or so dollars they pay you, you get so much free stock. He said he worked there for 4 years and had about 9k in stock. He also said he knew a few DMs and store managers that retired when the publix stock split. I will update every time I find something more.

 

[PharmaTope]

Interesting. That seems like a strange law to me. I wonder how common it is amongst other states?

that's NJ for you. NJ is one of the big states to not go to if you want to be on the forefront of pharmacy. the laws are very restrictive and they are very behind nationally.

 

[Doctor M]

so I interviewed with walmart, publix, target, walgreens, and CVS. walgreens sounded the best because they have 8 hours shifts. CVS said they did 14 hour or 12 I can't remember, but it sounded bad. walmart will give you a 30 min lunch, where they will close the pharmacy which I thought was cool. publix did something cool with vacation, after the first year you are there you can get like an extra 2 weeks of pay or an extra 2 weeks off. This was all this past thursday and CVS mailed me an offer today. 118k yr, 2 weeks vacation and in the location I want. Any advise on anything. I have read many of the other threads but I figured this one would be more personal regarding my situation.

Walk away...that is all.

 

[PharmDstudent]

Walk away...that is all.

Oh Dr M... you say such eloquent words .

 

[Old Timer]

Interesting. That seems like a strange law to me. I wonder how common it is amongst other states?

Pennsylvania has the same law. It's called a distraction. They want you paying attention to the prescriptions not the TV screen.

 

[golf299]

Isn't a radio a distraction? Or a ringing phone? Or a screaming patient? Or any patient? Or over-head pages? Or any other number of things? If that's the arguement, that's pretty weak.

 

[Old Timer]

Isn't a radio a distraction? Or a ringing phone? Or a screaming patient? Or any patient? Or over-head pages? Or any other number of things? If that's the arguement, that's pretty weak.

First of all there is a difference between a visual distraction and and an auditory distraction. That's why it's OK to listen to the radio and drive a car and it's not OK to watch TV and drive a car.

Even if your argument made sense, it doesn't matter because it's against the law.

 

[tussionex]

Isn't a radio a distraction? Or a ringing phone? Or a screaming patient? Or any patient? Or over-head pages? Or any other number of things? If that's the arguement, that's pretty weak.

i agree. that's a weak argument.
annoying customers tapping their fingers on the counter or craning their necks to see into your window, to see how long their prescription is going to take aren't distractions?
customers fighting with your tech about their copay and cursing at you and your staff arent distractions?
in my hospital, the phones ringing off the hook, the noise of the dispensing machines and nurses/reps/techs/MD's stopping by the pharmacy window every 5 minutes arent a distraction?

i'll take a TV any day.

i'm one of those people who can't work without music or some other white noise. we usually listen to someone's ipod or pandora/streaming local radio, but if we had tv capabilities, we totally would have it on the background.

i practice in NY, which is also a backward state. if they wanna bust be for "distractions" they can disconnect my phones first!