Life as a floater at cvs

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ancienbon

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Monday was my first day as a floater. Though i used to pick up a lot of extra shifts but i had stopped as i was working a lot of hours at my old store.
It was my easiest Monday . I had only one tech . But it was extremely easy. During my 12 hrs we filled about 200. Usually at my old store i would fill 450 to 500 in my 10 hrs shift 8 to 6 . The 12 to 10 rph would fill about 150 to 200.
Oh the qt at my old store were hectic. There were so many accutes. Bromfed and albuterol were the top 10 drugs and we filled a whole bunch of antibiotics.
And yesterday was a good day as well. My experience in a busy store is helping tremendously.
Tech like me...

So far so good.
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ancienbon said:
Monday was my first day as a floater. Though i used to pick up a lot of extra shifts but i had stopped as i was working a lot of hours at my old store.
It was my easiest Monday . I had only one tech . But it was extremely easy. During my 12 hrs we filled about 200. Usually at my old store i would fill 450 to 500 in my 10 hrs shift 8 to 6 . The 12 to 10 rph would fill about 150 to 200.
Oh the qt at my old store were hectic. There were so many accutes. Bromfed and albuterol were the top 10 drugs and we filled a whole bunch of antibiotics.
And yesterday was a good day as well. My experience in a busy store is helping tremendously.
Tech like me...

So far so good.
Click to expand...
Glad to see that it is working out for you!
 
Some people like floating, nothing wrong with that. The only downside is not having a set schedule.
 
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Life is good depending on the techs. Im a pic of CVS who employs a bunch of slow elderly folks who still type with the pecking style .it's a nice refresher to go to a store where all techs know what they're doing and doing it with speed. Congrats for your life beginning as a floater. It might not be as bad as the stories you hear.
 
The truth is I don't hire any tech over age 30 (anymore... burned way too often by disgruntled 30-somethings) and I Google everyone to validate absence of red flags like easily visible social media presence.


Noob techs you can train or cut their hours if they can't hack it.
 
Sine Cura said:
The truth is I don't hire any tech over age 30 (anymore... burned way too often by disgruntled 30-somethings) and I Google everyone to validate absence of red flags like easily visible social media presence.


Noob techs you can train or cut their hours if they can't hack it.
Click to expand...

2 of my techs are over 60 y/o. FML. I"m getting written up left and right because our metrics are horrible and last in the district.
 
Keep working hard and try to leave good impression on everyone be it tech or rxm.. Once words get out to your sup or scheduler, hey can you send this floater at our store? It will ensure your good reputation in the mind of sup and in tern the job security.

Don’t slack off about your job search though.
 
ancienbon said:
Monday was my first day as a floater. Though i used to pick up a lot of extra shifts but i had stopped as i was working a lot of hours at my old store.
It was my easiest Monday . I had only one tech . But it was extremely easy. During my 12 hrs we filled about 200. Usually at my old store i would fill 450 to 500 in my 10 hrs shift 8 to 6 . The 12 to 10 rph would fill about 150 to 200.
Oh the qt at my old store were hectic. There were so many accutes. Bromfed and albuterol were the top 10 drugs and we filled a whole bunch of antibiotics.
And yesterday was a good day as well. My experience in a busy store is helping tremendously.
Tech like me...

So far so good.
Click to expand...

thanks for keeping us updated. Hope it will work out for the best. Can't you work your way back up to full time? seem like this district may be better for you.

Sine Cura said:
The truth is I don't hire any tech over age 30 (anymore... burned way too often by disgruntled 30-somethings) and I Google everyone to validate absence of red flags like easily visible social media presence.


Noob techs you can train or cut their hours if they can't hack it.
Click to expand...

By age only? Or by how long they work as techs? I mean you deal with this stuff more than I do but I would think 30 year-old who just started may not be too bad. Depending on what kind of jobs they did before. Make no mistakes I am very wary of techs but i believe most starters can be decent if the environment is right. As soon as you got one bad seed is when everything will go down to hell, just because it is easier to learn from the negatives than the other way around.
 
Well i am working 42 hours this week and 37 hours next week. As a floater I am only guaranteed 30 hours ,which is full time. I had in the past helped the scheduler out a lot ,and she will always ask me for help. So i dont think it will be a problem to get over 40 hours.
The tech i worked with Tuesday said he was happy to work with me . He said I help a lot and I know what i am doing.
 
ancienbon said:
Well i am working 42 hours this week and 37 hours next week. As a floater I am only guaranteed 30 hours ,which is full time. I had in the past helped the scheduler out a lot ,and she will always ask me for help. So i dont think it will be a problem to get over 40 hours.
The tech i worked with Tuesday said he was happy to work with me . He said I help a lot and I know what i am doing.
Click to expand...

Did this tech also put a star on your forehead?

I get it..all we need to eat it. What I don’t get is why you are not looking for another company to work for?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
BMBiology said:
Did this tech also put a star on your forehead?

I get it..all we need to eat it. What I don’t get is why you are not looking for another company to work for?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Click to expand...
Well the fact is i am looking to get another job. Until i find that job, i still have to keep my job. I can't leave without securing an other job yet.
 
ancienbon said:
Monday was my first day as a floater. Though i used to pick up a lot of extra shifts but i had stopped as i was working a lot of hours at my old store.
It was my easiest Monday . I had only one tech . But it was extremely easy. During my 12 hrs we filled about 200. Usually at my old store i would fill 450 to 500 in my 10 hrs shift 8 to 6 . The 12 to 10 rph would fill about 150 to 200.
Oh the qt at my old store were hectic. There were so many accutes. Bromfed and albuterol were the top 10 drugs and we filled a whole bunch of antibiotics.
And yesterday was a good day as well. My experience in a busy store is helping tremendously.
Tech like me...

So far so good.
Click to expand...

Happy to hear that it's working out for you so far. But be cautious of over zealous PICs that will write you up at the drop of a hat. I used to pick up extra shifts at different stores and some PICs were just too childish to even respond to. This chick wrote me up for sitting down... later I found out from one of her techs that she purposely threw floaters under the bus...
 
ancienbon said:
Monday was my first day as a floater. Though i used to pick up a lot of extra shifts but i had stopped as i was working a lot of hours at my old store.
It was my easiest Monday . I had only one tech . But it was extremely easy. During my 12 hrs we filled about 200. Usually at my old store i would fill 450 to 500 in my 10 hrs shift 8 to 6 . The 12 to 10 rph would fill about 150 to 200.
Oh the qt at my old store were hectic. There were so many accutes. Bromfed and albuterol were the top 10 drugs and we filled a whole bunch of antibiotics.
And yesterday was a good day as well. My experience in a busy store is helping tremendously.
Tech like me...

So far so good.
Click to expand...
I always felt like floaters had it made in the shade. Zero responsibility. If they left the store a ****hole no one held them accountable. Just make sure you're verifying correctly and dust your hands off and call it a day. You've got the life my friend.
 
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mydogatemysuboxone27 said:
I always felt like floaters had it made in the shade. Zero responsibility. If they left the store a ****hole no one held them accountable. Just make sure you're verifying correctly and dust your hands off and call it a day. You've got the life my friend.
Click to expand...

Which area/district do you work at? man I should've worked in your district. People at my district were too busy stabbing people in the back. No one was safe. If you had ONE script go red, they would stab you in the heart like Denzel Washington in the Equalizer 2 lol Floaters were targeted like Arabs during 9/11 days...
 
ancienbon said:
Monday was my first day as a floater. Though i used to pick up a lot of extra shifts but i had stopped as i was working a lot of hours at my old store.
It was my easiest Monday . I had only one tech . But it was extremely easy. During my 12 hrs we filled about 200. Usually at my old store i would fill 450 to 500 in my 10 hrs shift 8 to 6 . The 12 to 10 rph would fill about 150 to 200.
Oh the qt at my old store were hectic. There were so many accutes. Bromfed and albuterol were the top 10 drugs and we filled a whole bunch of antibiotics.
And yesterday was a good day as well. My experience in a busy store is helping tremendously.
Tech like me...

So far so good.
Click to expand...

It is easy because it's summer.
 
mydogatemysuboxone27 said:
I always felt like floaters had it made in the shade. Zero responsibility. If they left the store a ****hole no one held them accountable. Just make sure you're verifying correctly and dust your hands off and call it a day. You've got the life my friend.
Click to expand...

We've had quite a few bad floaters let go here.
 
owlegrad said:
200 with one tech was easy? Maybe my memory of retail is rusty but holy **** that sounds like hell to me!
Click to expand...

200 should have 2 techs. I think OP really is a good worker that just ended up in a bad position.

The pharmacist would have to do all the filing. Unless it's one of those all drop off but no pickup days.

How many of those 200 aren't e-scribe? Maybe 50? So if only 100 or so are picked up that day, I could see it being somewhat easy.
 
Sabril said:
By age only? Or by how long they work as techs? I mean you deal with this stuff more than I do but I would think 30 year-old who just started may not be too bad. Depending on what kind of jobs they did before. Make no mistakes I am very wary of techs but i believe most starters can be decent if the environment is right. As soon as you got one bad seed is when everything will go down to hell, just because it is easier to learn from the negatives than the other way around.
Click to expand...

Not a few people with no life prospects are looking to collect unemployment after being fired unfortunately. The barrier to entry to become a tech is very low after all. At least someone in their early 20s with some ambition has a little more work ethic and integrity.
 
Sine Cura said:
The barrier to entry to become a tech is very low after all.
Click to expand...

Depends on the state. Although having a higher barrier to entry just means having a smaller pool from which to draw decent techs in my experience. I found it so much easier to get good help when I could hire anyone off the street to replace a bad apple.
 
WVUPharm2007 said:
No drive through? Yeah, 200 with one tech seems pretty easy assuming that's for an entire day.
Click to expand...

Even without a drive through, this would still depend on if it's flu season or not... or how many controls you typically do per day... and ultimately, how good of a tech you have haha
 
CetiAlphaFive said:
LOL, Ancienbon must be the Lebron of floaters.

My target did 3-400 with like 4 techs, and I thought that was easy
Click to expand...

You know it just occurred to me that “one tech” might have meant he had a tech all day. I was thinking one tech for 8 hours and alone the rest of the time. If he had ‘one’ tech at a time but was never alone 200 soonds much easier.
 
After floating for 4 weeks, the district leader gave me a store. I had a very good experience as a floater. If i were guaranteed 40 hours a week, i would not want to have a store .
Now as a staff i am working 38.5 hours every week. The store is not bad,it has good metrics and is close to my home.
So far ,everything turns out to be ok.
 
ancienbon said:
After floating for 4 weeks, the district leader gave me a store. I had a very good experience as a floater. If i were guaranteed 40 hours a week, i would not want to have a store .
Now as a staff i am working 38.5 hours every week. The store is not bad,it has good metrics and is close to my home.
So far ,everything turns out to be ok.
Click to expand...
Well done.

Happy to hear things are looking up
 
Sine Cura said:
The truth is I don't hire any tech over age 30 (anymore... burned way too often by disgruntled 30-somethings) and I Google everyone to validate absence of red flags like easily visible social media presence.


Noob techs you can train or cut their hours if they can't hack it.
Click to expand...
Same. I hire techs straight out of school, or maybe 1-2 years experience max. I need people who can move from drop off to pick up fast or put load away asap. You guys that have 50 yr old techs with braces on trying to run around are hilarious
 
6GodPharm said:
Same. I hire techs straight out of school, or maybe 1-2 years experience max. I need people who can move from drop off to pick up fast or put load away asap. You guys that have 50 yr old techs with braces on trying to run around are hilarious
Click to expand...
It is unbelievably hard to work with these kinds of techs. As well as the techs in their twenties who just sit on their phones and just eat up counter space. Like they will literally just lay their crap all over the production area and not move for anything but still act like they are helping. Drives me crazy when I'm trying to count or file.
 
Doktor_dud3 said:
It is unbelievably hard to work with these kinds of techs. As well as the techs in their twenties who just sit on their phones and just eat up counter space. Like they will literally just lay their crap all over the production area and not move for anything but still act like they are helping. Drives me crazy when I'm trying to count or file.
Click to expand...
Hire straight out of school, and set an example. I had trouble with phones with older techs and they’re gone. Newer ones early 20’s hardly touch it. Remember you went to school and you are their boss. Just like DM comes in and you get that aww **** look, that should be your techs and honestly the separation between RPH and tech is much larger than DM and RPh. So why do we have this discussion over and over, why are RPH p*ssies when it comes to techs? Don’t be. I’ll put them back on the street as fast as they came if they can’t get stuff done.
 
For some reason staff pharmacists and floaters have this idea that they should just verify and consult without having to supervise actively. If a tech is doing something against policies and procedures or against pharmacy regulations the pharmacists need to document this and pass the information on. Most chains do not permit cell phone use in the pharmacy.

Less black and white issues like performance still need to document shortfalls to get the paper trail going
 
6GodPharm said:
Same. I hire techs straight out of school, or maybe 1-2 years experience max. I need people who can move from drop off to pick up fast or put load away asap. You guys that have 50 yr old techs with braces on trying to run around are hilarious
Click to expand...
Finding it "hilarious" that a 50 yr old tech in a brace is doing his or her best to ambulate between drop off and pick up seems a bit shallow.
 
SELDANE said:
Finding it "hilarious" that a 50 yr old tech in a brace is doing his or her best to ambulate between drop off and pick up seems a bit shallow.
Click to expand...

Yet a 50 yr old pharmacist in a brace is expected to ambulate between verification and consultation (not to mention flu shots and every other station) with alacrity. Doesn't seem like too much to ask for a tech to do.
 
owlegrad said:
Yet a 50 yr old pharmacist in a brace is expected to ambulate between verification and consultation (not to mention flu shots and every other station) with alacrity. Doesn't seem like too much to ask for a tech to do.
Click to expand...
I don't care who it is. If someone is trying their best to complete their task with a brace and you find it "hilarious" then you are out of line.
 
owlegrad said:
Yet a 50 yr old pharmacist in a brace is expected to ambulate between verification and consultation (not to mention flu shots and every other station) with alacrity. Doesn't seem like too much to ask for a tech to do.
Click to expand...
THIS! Stop feeling sorry for a 50 year old techs when they don’t give a **** about a 50 year old pharmacist. Not your fault they have 3-4 kids, on welfare and live paycheck to paycheck.
 
SELDANE said:
I don't care who it is. If someone is trying their best to complete their task with a brace and you find it "hilarious" then you are out of line.
Click to expand...
Take your brace, and take your ass to Bingo Betty.
 
6GodPharm said:
Take your brace, and take your ass to Bingo Betty.
Click to expand...
Hmmm... I chastised you on your lack of empathy and this is how you respond. With pharmacists like you who needs Jeff Bezos or Larry Merlo to destroy a profession?
 
Technically he was referring to pharmacists or pharmacy managers ("you guys") as he said previously "why are RPHs ******* when it comes to their techs." Sad but true but every time I switch stores I have to clean house and it can be really difficult with HR interference because of bogus concerns about age and racial discrimination. You spend a lot of time documenting everyone to show you are not targeting and HR moves like a snail.

It is "hilarious" that they are not remediating or putting underperforming techs on an action plan and yes part of performing is completing tasks in a timely fashion (you can tie anything back to customer service standards).
 
Sine Cura said:
Technically he was referring to pharmacists or pharmacy managers ("you guys") as he said previously "why are RPHs ******* when it comes to their techs." Sad but true but every time I switch stores I have to clean house and it can be really difficult with HR interference because of bogus concerns about age and racial discrimination. You spend a lot of time documenting everyone to show you are not targeting and HR moves like a snail.

It is "hilarious" that they are not remediating or putting underperforming techs on an action plan and yes part of performing is completing tasks in a timely fashion (you can tie anything back to customer service standards).
Click to expand...
Technicality aside, the intent of his post was clear with the response that I elicited. I too have had to manage a pharmacy and had to deal with less than performing technicians and pharmacists. As a pharmacy manager I would have expected a little more empathy and a lot more finesse.
 
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