Retail Discrimination

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IWantTheGenetic

IWantTheGenetic

Full Member
10+ Year Member
I found this while cruising the want ads. Position is for a hospital pharmacist . . .seems a little unfair:

Position Requirements
  • Must have BS in Pharmacy, PharmD. preferred
  • No retail pharmacist will be considered at this stage as per hospital request.
 
I'd say it's 100% the hospital's right to hire whoever they want and it's within their right to discriminate based on job experience and/or training not only legally but morally. In fact the whole point of looking at applications and interviewing is literally to discriminate.

With that being said I think it's really off-putting to put that in a job posting and would probably turn me off even if I did do a residency or had nothing but hospital experience. The funny part about it is that most retail pharmacists would probably be taking a pay cut anyways for that position, as others have said, which makes it a little more ridiculous/annoying.

I thought residency was supposed to transition pharmacists into NEW jobs. Rather, it's just raising the requirements for EXISTING jobs.
 
ldiot said:
I thought residency was supposed to transition pharmacists into NEW jobs. Rather, it's just raising the requirements for EXISTING jobs.
Click to expand...

Like I said all those years ago...

...all residencies have accomplished is simply shifting the cost of training onto the employee and is nothing more than an elaborate form of indentured servitude.
 
most hospitals unofficially do that - the two jobs have two very different skill sets - and don't always translate back and forth (not trying to argue one is easier or harder or intellectually more stimulating). But ya - to put it in the actual add is a D*&k move.
 
Reads like it was put together by a recruiter.

They rarely know what's actually going on anyway.


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njac said:
Reads like it was put together by a recruiter.

They rarely know what's actually going on anyway.
Click to expand...
I agree 100%, the recruiter took instructions from the hospital and is too lazy to sort out applications which is why they put this very unprofessional statement in. I'd probably fire that recruiter because it just says NEWB!

In any case, I am pretty sure hospital HR is just tired of the flood of resumes from retail RPh's fleeing CVS/Walgreens.
 
IWantTheGenetic said:
I found this while cruising the want ads. Position is for a hospital pharmacist . . .seems a little unfair:

Position Requirements



    • Must have BS in Pharmacy, PharmD. preferred
    • No retail pharmacist will be considered at this stage as per hospital request.
Click to expand...

This doesn't look like a job ad, it looks like instructions for a recruiter, which should have been retained by the recruiter as an FYI and not propagated in the ad.

But, well, since it's out there...yeah, lots of places have been burned by retail duds trying to escape retail, which sucks for the actual rockstar retail pharmacists that could easily retrain and thrive in a hospital setting.
 
WVUPharm2007 said:
Like I said all those years ago...

...all residencies have accomplished is simply shifting the cost of training onto the employee and is nothing more than an elaborate form of indentured servitude.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the life of the millennial. We get unpaid internships, student loans, and residencies. Baby boomers have managed to shift the cost AND training burden to new grads. Welcome to the new normal!
 
Monsterdaddy said:
I agree 100%, the recruiter took instructions from the hospital and is too lazy to sort out applications which is why they put this very unprofessional statement in. I'd probably fire that recruiter because it just says NEWB!
Click to expand...

I'd say they have the same hospital mind set - experience required. How is anyone ever going to get experience if you don't have entry level positions? (Rhetorical, not really asking)


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I have to say that there is a unstated but very strong anti-mail order pharmacist bias in the VA (the VA has hiring standards, who knew? 😉). Our versions of mail order (CMOP) are where have positions to put pharmacists out to pasture, but we don't want to hire someone immediately not usable in the pharmacy. Pretty much, I've even seen the HR department immediately toss out applications where the current position is mail order. Anti-retail, that's fairly new considering that hospital used to be so underpaid that only committed personnel did hospital (in my time, the pay difference was at least 20% less than retail). With pay close to parity now, institutional pharmacy can be choosers.

And to entry-level experience, if not a residency, then taking an undesirable job in an undesirable place. Working your way from the basement still works, despite what people think, even in California.
 
croquemonsieur said:
I think it's refreshing. I don't want to waste my time applying for a job for which I won't be seriously considered.
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Agreed. Wish more job postings would be more honest and upfront with what they want. Also, if a job is already going to be given to the manager's BFF, don't even list it for others to apply.

Instead of "retail" they should call it "outpatient"
 
steveysmith54 said:
Agreed. Wish more job postings would be more honest and upfront with what they want. Also, if a job is already going to be given to the manager's BFF, don't even list it for others to apply. Instead of "retail" they should call it "outpatient"
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For legal reasons, in hospitals jobs have to be listed even when the job has already been promised to the manager's BFF.

I agree, this job posting is rude and unprofessional. Honesty has nothing to do with it. It's already a given that for any job, all else being equal, the candidate with the job experience closest to the job they are applying for, will get the job. This is true for all fields everywhere, and retail would be no different. If someone wants a job in an area different from what they are working in, there are 2 options 1) become the manager at the new places BFF or 2) apply for jobs that nobody with experience in that area would actually take.
 
Most people who spend several years in retail and then go to hospital fail pretty miserably (I've heard this from multiple people). It's not discrimination.... just two different worlds and you've adjusted to working in one rather than the other. Hell, vice versa the hospital pharmacist would not do well in retail either more than likely.

But when the applicant pool shrinks enough, they will allow retail pharmacists to apply.
 
PharmDBro2017 said:
Most people who spend several years in retail and then go to hospital fail pretty miserably (I've heard this from multiple people). It's not discrimination.... just two different worlds and you've adjusted to working in one rather than the other. Hell, vice versa the hospital pharmacist would not do well in retail either more than likely.

But when the applicant pool shrinks enough, they will allow retail pharmacists to apply.
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Shrinks? Do you know something no one else does?

Please tell me one thing you think a retail pharmacist can't do?
 
wagrxm2000 said:
Shrinks? Do you know something no one else does?

Please tell me one thing you think a retail pharmacist can't do?
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When there isn't many applicants (if it's a smaller town that happens)... that is what I mean.

No need to be salty man. It's just what I've been told from my employer. Hope wags is treating you well, good day sir 😀
 
The funny thing is that a solid retail pharmacist could have the sort of hussle that would really help in a busy central pharmacy. When you fill those positions with hotshot young residency trained pharmacists who dream of being a clinical coordinator, you may find yourself with a disengaged and unhappy staff who will leave at the first opportunity.
 
gwarm01 said:
The funny thing is that a solid retail pharmacist could have the sort of hussle that would really help in a busy central pharmacy. When you fill those positions with hotshot young residency trained pharmacists who dream of being a clinical coordinator, you may find yourself with a disengaged and unhappy staff who will leave at the first opportunity.
Click to expand...

Very true, one of the best pharmacists I've seen was a retail manager at a chain for a year who left and now works as a clinical pharmacist at a hospital.
 
PharmDBro2017 said:
When there isn't many applicants (if it's a smaller town that happens)... that is what I mean.

No need to be salty man. It's just what I've been told from my employer. Hope wags is treating you well, good day sir 😀
Click to expand...

Small town jobs? But all I hear is there are no jobs. Are you telling me people could move and find a job?

This guy has inside information.
 
PharmDBro2017 said:
Most people who spend several years in retail and then go to hospital fail pretty miserably (I've heard this from multiple people). It's not discrimination.... just two different worlds and you've adjusted to working in one rather than the other. Hell, vice versa the hospital pharmacist would not do well in retail either more than likely.

But when the applicant pool shrinks enough, they will allow retail pharmacists to apply.
Click to expand...

I know I would be a terrible retail pharmacist.

I love and respect my retail brethren.


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wagrxm2000 said:
Small town jobs? But all I hear is there are no jobs. Are you telling me people could move and find a job?

This guy has inside information.
Click to expand...

what did PharmDBro2017 do to you? lol why are you picking on him? he didn't say anything bad
 
Oh, man, I've seen postings like that too. Agree that it could be worded better. This fosters that "us vs. them" mentality some people have, but there are certainly hospital pharmacists who also have retail pharmacy experience, and great retail pharmacists who thrive in hospital environments too.
 
msweph said:
We keep getting CVS and Wags managers applying for our clinical manager job...

That's probably why
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Yikes.

I guess that's the downside to going too far down one path. You may feel you deserve a similar level position on the other side, but you are in no way qualified for it (and that goes both ways [except it never would]).
 
PharmDBro2017 said:
Most people who spend several years in retail and then go to hospital fail pretty miserably (I've heard this from multiple people). It's not discrimination.... just two different worlds and you've adjusted to working in one rather than the other. Hell, vice versa the hospital pharmacist would not do well in retail either more than likely.

But when the applicant pool shrinks enough, they will allow retail pharmacists to apply.
Click to expand...

I couldn't disagree more. Every pharmacist that has come from retail in our hospital has done exceptionally well. Maybe this is because they are mostly referrals from currently employees, but I would argue they outperform the career hospital people. Central pharmacy is a breeding ground for laziness and lack of appreciation for your chill ass job.

gwarm01 said:
The funny thing is that a solid retail pharmacist could have the sort of hussle that would really help in a busy central pharmacy. When you fill those positions with hotshot young residency trained pharmacists who dream of being a clinical coordinator, you may find yourself with a disengaged and unhappy staff who will leave at the first opportunity.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Half of those kids come out of PGY1 completely detached from the reality of what pharmacists actually do.

msweph said:
We keep getting CVS and Wags managers applying for our clinical manager job...

That's probably why
Click to expand...

Haha. Errybody wants out
 
lane one said:
I couldn't disagree more. Every pharmacist that has come from retail in our hospital has done exceptionally well. Maybe this is because they are mostly referrals from currently employees, but I would argue they outperform the career hospital people.
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Your mileage may vary. Glad you guys have had that experience! We have not. Even when it was current employee referrals.

We've had better luck with new grads than retail converts.


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njac said:
Your mileage may vary. Glad you guys have had that experience! We have not. Even when it was current employee referrals.

We've had better luck with new grads than retail converts.


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Click to expand...

I'm sure it depends heavily on each institution's staffing model and workflows. When I was a new grad the former retail staffers were great at teaching me how to prioritize tasks and not waste my time obsessing over things that are clinically insignificant. On the flip side, they would ask me for refreshers on kinetics (since that's about all I was good for at first).
 
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