Pharmacy Worst Career Possible

[PCATBOMBER]

I think my worst job is working in the hot sun in the corn field plucking corn stalk. Sometimes when i think about it yes pharmacist especially retail get alot of ****ty stuff but compare to hard labor or working in a company that will lay you off and only pay you 40-50k a year..just not worth it also. Retail pharmacist may not be as rewarding but other areas of pharmacy is rewardable at the cost of less annual income.

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[Hoona24]

I spent six years in the military before attending pharmacy school. Maybe you had a different experience than I did, but I wouldn't hesitate to say it was worse than what I do now working in a pharmacy (and I wouldn't even say that the time I spent in the military was the worst career I could have had). That's the point. No one was making a direct comparison, because it isn't comparable. I can't imagine how being paid 100k+ a year to stand in a climate-controlled building and fill prescriptions is the worst possible thing a person could be doing. It's unfortunate that you don't enjoy your job, but it's a far leap to say that the entire field of pharmacy is the worst career possible just because you don't enjoy the work environment at a particular store that you work at it.

Edit: Ugh I just looked at your post history. Can't believe I even wasted time typing this reply. Oh well, live and learn.

Hi,
I was just curious to know when did you start your studies for pharmacy ?

 

[babybull]

More like keeping up with cost of living. The highest paid technicians in the state make the same as the lowest paid pharmacists in other parts of the country, basically.

I think I had a detailed post where $160k in Silicon Valley, California is equivalent to $80k in Western Pennsylvania when you take into account state taxes, median housing costs, and a few other things.

I couldn't assign a dollar amount to shoveling snow, though.

True. My mom is pharmacy technician at General Hospital in San Francisco. I got to see her IRS tax return files a few years back and saw she made 90k-100k a year. I barely make more than her as a pharmacist. I wish had a become a pharm tech outta high school and have gotten to work there.

 

[Sine Cura]

Is it wild conjecture to assume pharmacists don't get paid 3-5 times more than techs at SFGH like it is in retail?

 

[gwarm01]

Is it wild conjecture to assume pharmacists don't get paid 3-5 times more than techs at SFGH like it is in retail?

You're probably right. I'm sure @confettiflyer could give you a better idea about salaries in the area, but job postings I've seen tend to start pharmacists in the mid $70/hr range. California also has generous labor laws, so that 90-100k/yr probably included overtime. That's still a damn good deal considering how easy it is to become a pharmacy tech.

Speaking of overtime, nothing like having your manager game the system in a way to make sure you don't get any OT pay. Oh sure, pull a series of double shifts.. but then we give you one day off, so it's even. Or work 12 consecutive days, but have it be split over two pay periods so technically you aren't working more than 40 hours/week.

 

[BidingMyTime]

Is it wild conjecture to assume pharmacists don't get paid 3-5 times more than techs at SFGH like it is in retail?

Hospital techs make considerably more than retail techs. And hospital pharmacists make considerably less than retail pharmacists (mandatory disclaimer, this does not pertain to the nation of California.)

 

[confettiflyer]

You're probably right. I'm sure @confettiflyer could give you a better idea about salaries in the area, but job postings I've seen tend to start pharmacists in the mid $70/hr range. California also has generous labor laws, so that 90-100k/yr probably included overtime. That's still a damn good deal considering how easy it is to become a pharmacy tech.

Speaking of overtime, nothing like having your manager game the system in a way to make sure you don't get any OT pay. Oh sure, pull a series of double shifts.. but then we give you one day off, so it's even. Or work 12 consecutive days, but have it be split over two pay periods so technically you aren't working more than 40 hours/week.

Few things:

1) You have to consider that "pharmacy technician" may not actually mean "pharmacy technician" in a traditional, pill counting/med delivery sense. We have a lot of administrative staff support (340b management, product acquisition, IT support, etc...) that are technically classed as "pharmacy technician" but if you scrub the title and look at the description, these people look more like traditional administrative specialists.

So paying $90k to a 20+ year experienced administrative support spec at a public hospital in SF seems less egregious to me than "$90k to a pharmacy tech."

2) Salaries in the bay area probably start between $75-85/hr at this point in time, so $156-$176k+, with many more above that range and possibly retail joints at/slightly below (I'm not 100% sure). Just remember $102k/yr is considered poverty level here.

3) That's what managers are supposed to do but it's a bit more difficult in CA to do that because of how strict the limits are. 12 consecutive days over 2 pay periods, assuming 8hrs/day, will still net you overtime no matter what. (6 days x 8hrs in one pay period = 8 hrs OT, mirrored in the next pay period). The law here is over 40hrs in a 7 day period, or over 8 hours in a single day (10hrs if you're under AWS). So your double shift example would be OT here (say you work 16 hours monday and tuesday and have the rest of the week off - you would earn 16 hrs regular pay, 16 hours OT, even though your total worked in one week is 32 hours).

 

[gwarm01]

Meanwhile, my alma mater has released their annual salary survey and the results aren't great. Starting salaries have decreased for the third year in a row. 75% of students have accepted a position (down from 97% in 2010, and close to 90% just a couple years back). 54% of students have classified the market as "good" or "excellent", meaning 46% feel it is fair or poor. Student loan burden has increased yet again. Every year the downward trend continues in this survey, and yet they still remark that the pharmacy job market is doing well.