Pay rate

[Ashleyy]

So I got an offer for $52/hr. Is that normal? I feel like this is so little compared to the work I will be doing. What rates are u all getting?

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[Momus]

90/hr. That's normal.

 

[projektreverb]

Which company and what area? It’s definitely lower than what I’m being paid.

 

[rxkrafted]

are you a new grad? retail or hospital?

 

[gwarm01]

Pay varies significantly depending on your region. That's a decent rate in the SE, but a bad rate in California.

 

[Litha]

So I got an offer for $52/hr. Is that normal? I feel like this is so little compared to the work I will be doing. What rates are u all getting?

It depends on a lot of things - location, area of pharmacy, full time vs part time, how much experience you have.

I have made $55 in hospice, $58 in LTC, $60 in retail, and now $63 in hospital.

$52 is a nice but low-end-of-medium hourly rate. If you will be staffing and work with a lot of other pharmacists that is probably fair. If you will be the only one running the show or it's a clinical position, it's not nearly enough. I would not take a job lower paying than that, and there better be room for raises.

 

[Lnsean]

Its low end but beggars cant be choosers

 

[mustang sally]

Started at $47/hr several years ago.

$52 seems reasonable to me, but depends on region and job type.

 

[Ashleyy]

It depends on a lot of things - location, area of pharmacy, full time vs part time, how much experience you have.

I have made $55 in hospice, $58 in LTC, $60 in retail, and now $63 in hospital.

$52 is a nice but low-end-of-medium hourly rate. If you will be staffing and work with a lot of other pharmacists that is probably fair. If you will be the only one running the show or it's a clinical position, it's not nearly enough. I would not take a job lower paying than that, and there better be room for raises.

So

are you a new grad? retail or hospital?

New grad retail.

 

[Ashleyy]

It depends on a lot of things - location, area of pharmacy, full time vs part time, how much experience you have.

I have made $55 in hospice, $58 in LTC, $60 in retail, and now $63 in hospital.

$52 is a nice but low-end-of-medium hourly rate. If you will be staffing and work with a lot of other pharmacists that is probably fair. If you will be the only one running the show or it's a clinical position, it's not nearly enough. I would not take a job lower paying than that, and there better be room for raises.

Yea I felt the same way. Its $52 and retail where I will be the only one running the show

 

[Ashleyy]

Which company and what area? It’s definitely lower than what I’m being paid.

Which company are u with? Or what is your rate

 

[radio frequency]

I started at $58. I think I’m now at $62-63-ish. I did take a paycut at one point to switch jobs but my pay has gone back up, thankfully. This is very regional though. New grad rates have been lower recently across the board I’ve heard, though at my institution they’ve actually gone up (surprisingly). That said, I haven’t seen a job posting for months.

 

[Dred Pirate]

I know somebody who made $14 an hour for their first job - but they also just retired after 35 years.

 

[Wickett]

Yea I felt the same way. Its $52 and retail where I will be the only one running the show

Non high COL areas that's the typical starting retail rate for new grads, in general. In Texas, it's dropped from high 50s to low 50s in just the past few years.

 

[WorthlessOxygen]

It's within $2 of what I'm making in retail as a new grad and right at what I've heard from Walgreens in my area

 

[alpha12]

90/hr. That's normal.

It is if you are a software developer 😉

 

[BidingMyTime]

Depends on your geographical area, but I agree with the others, $52 sounds like a reasonable offer in most parts of the country. What other benefits come with the job, that will determine if it is worth it or not.

 

[mentos]

Yes low $50s/hr is the going rate for new grads now. You are fortunate that you got any offer at all, it will only go down from here.

 

[Timbo]

Very low. I started at $57/hr 3 years ago in a rural low COL area. Negotiate for higher wage, they're trying to low ball you

 

[Gombrich12]

Yes low $50s/hr is the going rate for new grads now. You are fortunate that you got any offer at all, it will only go down from here.

It's quite puzzling when students graduate and complain about the lack of job opportunities and declining salaries since they are partly the cause of both. As long as there are 15,000 students graduating every year you can only expect things to keep getting worse.

 

[steveysmith54]

It's quite puzzling when students graduate and complain about the lack of job opportunities and declining salaries since they are partly the cause of both. As long as there are 15,000 students graduating every year you can only expect things to keep getting worse.

Agreed. They just need to refer to BLS report. I mean if there is admission spot for every applicant now, that has to tell you that the profession is a piece of crap.

 

[Wickett]

Very low. I started at $57/hr 3 years ago in a rural low COL area. Negotiate for higher wage, they're trying to low ball you

Big difference between three years ago and now. And good luck negotiating when there's 20 other new grads also applying for that spot.

 

[WorthlessOxygen]

rumor has it that Walgreens isnt even offering pharmacist jobs to students before graduation anymore. they are offering employment to be a grad intern and be placed wherever they decide they need you, which could be a different state.

Not in my area for the class of 2019. There were a lot of interns that were not offered positions but the ones that were had been given an offer for a specific district that would go into effect once they were licensed

 

[JustFillIt]

Play this song in the background as you read this thread

 

[pencilandpen]

So I got an offer for $52/hr. Is that normal? I feel like this is so little compared to the work I will be doing. What rates are u all getting?

its on the low end, but its the new norm, better get used to it, because wage is only going further down.

 

[mentos]

Very low. I started at $57/hr 3 years ago in a rural low COL area. Negotiate for higher wage, they're trying to low ball you

3 years ago does not apply to today.

 

[Sleepingdoc]

No wonder the generation above us think that milleneals are lazy... Work hard for 30$ an hour and you will do well in life. They used to do 80 hours a week for 5 bucks an hour and did very well for themselves.

 

[Twentytwelve2]

yeah when houses were affordable and the COL was low....

 

[Sine Cura]

Get off my lawn

 

[Timbo]

Big difference between three years ago and now. And good luck negotiating when there's 20 other new grads also applying for that spot.

3 years ago does not apply to today.

Either way she should negotiate for higher pay or find another job. It would demean our profession if new grads kept accepting lower pay. Don't be pathetic. Know your worth.

 

[rxkrafted]

$52 is an appropriate starting pay for a new grad if you live in an area with low COL

 

[angelsplight]

Sounds very normal. My friends at Rite Aid and CVS said that was their starting offer while my friend at Walgreens said his starting offer was $49.50. He was mad, saying he got such a lowball offer but ultimately decided against it because he said he was going to fine a independent to work at but even supervising positions at local independents is only $47 an hour.

 

[mentos]

Either way she should negotiate for higher pay or find another job. It would demean our profession if new grads kept accepting lower pay. Don't be pathetic. Know your worth.

That's the market rate for retail now. If OP doesn't take it, then 100 others will. We are lucky that we are grandfathered in.

 

[rxkrafted]

Either way she should negotiate for higher pay or find another job. It would demean our profession if new grads kept accepting lower pay. Don't be pathetic. Know your worth.

That isn't an unacceptable pay grade though, especially for a new grad right now. I mean, she could negotiate but with the 0 leverage she has a new grad, she won't get anywhere. I wouldn't even recommend finding another job because its easier said than done...

 

[pencilandpen]

Either way she should negotiate for higher pay or find another job. It would demean our profession if new grads kept accepting lower pay. Don't be pathetic. Know your worth.

except the worth right now is at about $50/hr for pharmacists. not that hard to count by 5s, match pill to an image, or look up some info in reference. market supply and demand.
those bills and loans aint gonna pay itself.

 

[Wickett]

Either way she should negotiate for higher pay or find another job. It would demean our profession if new grads kept accepting lower pay. Don't be pathetic. Know your worth.

Pride and economic reality dont often mix well together. Your worth in the job market is determined by economic forces....and every economic factor in our profession is trending pay down. It's easy for you to take your position when you aren't a new grad in this market currently looking for a job.

 

[910781]

I see jobs posted in Michigan (retail) at either $49 or $50. I guess that is the normal for now

 

[angelsplight]

Negotiating for a higher rate just isn't going to work now. There are hundreds of new grads every year and the amount of positions that open does not nearly match the amount of grads. I spoke with one of the Chinatown pharmacies here hiring at $45 an hour and he was like...If they are a new grad trying to negotiate for a higher pay, they aren't getting the job. Why would they even consider negotiating higher with a new grad with no experience as an actual pharmacist when they have tens of experienced pharmacist who are willing to leave their corporate retail position to be here at a lower rate.

 

[Timbo]

Pride and economic reality dont often mix well together. Your worth in the job market is determined by economic forces....and every economic factor in our profession is trending pay down. It's easy for you to take your position when you aren't a new grad in this market currently looking for a job.

The difference is that OP started pharmacy school in 2015 or 16 when everybody knew the job market was getting saturated. Therefore isn't it safe to assume she did not go into this for the money but rather for pride, standing up for the profession, and for the love of helping people?

 

[Sleepingdoc]

The difference is that OP started pharmacy school in 2015 or 16 when everybody knew the job market was getting saturated. Therefore isn't it safe to assume she did not go into this for the money but rather for pride, standing up for the profession, and for the love of helping people?

At some point economics do matter... "doing for the love of the profession" becomes something that we can stitch on a pillow. Bills dont pay by themselves you know.

 

[Mambo#5]

The difference is that OP started pharmacy school in 2015 or 16 when everybody knew the job market was getting saturated. Therefore isn't it safe to assume she did not go into this for the money but rather for pride, standing up for the profession, and for the love of helping people?

Who hops on a sinking ship? Really?

 

[Wickett]

The difference is that OP started pharmacy school in 2015 or 16 when everybody knew the job market was getting saturated. Therefore isn't it safe to assume she did not go into this for the money but rather for pride, standing up for the profession, and for the love of helping people?

Not sure what counterpoint you're trying to offer in response to my comment. If anything, you're helping prove my point to not try to negotiate and to happily take the job offer. After all, we all went into this profession solely to help people, right?

 

[Pharmacy is a Scam]

It’s scary to think that if you give it 2-3 more years then new grads would have two options for employment:

A. Take a 1 year contract job at $25/hr with no guarantees of employment afterwards (residency/fellowship) if you want to work in a non-traditional setting.

B. Take a 3 month contract job at $25/hr or less with no guarantees of employment afterwards (grad intern) if you want to work in retail.

And of course, you have to be tops of your class/worked your butt off to be even considered for option A or B.

Either way you look at it, new grads just aren’t going to get permanent job offers anymore. Excluding nepotism and that sort of thing, of course. What a scary situation to be in if you’re still a pharmacy student.

 

[mentos]

It’s scary to think that if you give it 2-3 more years then new grads would have two options for employment:

A. Take a 1 year contract job at $25/hr with no guarantees of employment afterwards (residency/fellowship) if you want to work in a non-traditional setting.

B. Take a 3 month contract job at $25/hr or less with no guarantees of employment afterwards (grad intern) if you want to work in retail.

And of course, you have to be tops of your class/worked your butt off to be even considered for option A or B.

Either way you look at it, new grads just aren’t going to get permanent job offers anymore. Excluding nepotism and that sort of thing, of course. What a scary situation to be in if you’re still a pharmacy student.

Why are you on probationary status? You only post facts.

 

[Pharmacy is a Scam]

Why are you on probationary status? You only post facts.

I told some pre-pharm:

"But go ahead, keep chasing your dream. Come back to us 4 years from now when you have no job and we’ll say we told you so”

And some random mod who doesn’t even oversee the pharmacy forum warned me for being “toxic” and “unprofessional.”

 

[mentos]

I told some pre-pharm:

"But go ahead, keep chasing your dream. Come back to us 4 years from now when you have no job and we’ll say we told you so”

And some random mod who doesn’t even oversee the pharmacy forum warned me for being “toxic” and “unprofessional.”

This place reminds me of the media. They're always hiding relevant topics in the hidden forum, closing relevant threads, banning posters for speaking the truth. Just let people speak freely.

 

[JustFillIt]

I told some pre-pharm:

"But go ahead, keep chasing your dream. Come back to us 4 years from now when you have no job and we’ll say we told you so”

And some random mod who doesn’t even oversee the pharmacy forum warned me for being “toxic” and “unprofessional.”

I just want to say - if someone said something like that to me In person they might get smacked.

Maybe that’s why you got put on prob? It’s cool though, I have been put on prob also.. it adds to your street cred..

 

[Pharmacy is a Scam]

This place reminds me of the media. They're always hiding relevant topics in the hidden forum, closing relevant threads, banning posters for speaking the truth. Just let people speak freely.

Yeah it is what it is. No worries though, if I get banned I will be back, just like Modest Anteater/Ghost of Courteous Animals.

 

[dmd20000]

It’s scary to think that if you give it 2-3 more years then new grads would have two options for employment:

A. Take a 1 year contract job at $25/hr with no guarantees of employment afterwards (residency/fellowship) if you want to work in a non-traditional setting.

B. Take a 3 month contract job at $25/hr or less with no guarantees of employment afterwards (grad intern) if you want to work in retail.

And of course, you have to be tops of your class/worked your butt off to be even considered for option A or B.

Either way you look at it, new grads just aren’t going to get permanent job offers anymore. Excluding nepotism and that sort of thing, of course. What a scary situation to be in if you’re still a pharmacy student.

My tech was getting $20/hr and you telling me the pharmacist rate will be similar? She never went to college lol.

 

[Pharmacy is a Scam]

My tech was getting $20/hr and you telling me the pharmacist rate will be similar? She never went to college lol.

I believe your average retail pharmacist in the future will be making $25-30/hr. Now, that may come in the form of $40/hr x 24 hrs/week or whatnot, but I believe the average annual salary of a pharmacist should be just under a midlevel practitioner in the $60k range. Clinical specialists can maybe justify a $90-100k salary.