Stay with CVS or take RPH position at Walmart?

[MyDogAteMySuboxone]

I have worked at CVS for several years, but I got a job offer at Walmart. For the same hours and similar pay, would you go with CVS or Walmart? The Walmart position is a floater position, vs. at the CVS I am a staff RPH. This would mean I wouldn't know my schedule very far ahead of time, which would be a little annoying. The Walmart also isn't in the best part of town, which isn't the case for the CVS store.

I have heard that Walmart is a better place to work as a pharmacist overall than CVS. Less understaffed, more tech hours, etc. Plus, many Walmart stores don't have a drive thru.

Which do you think would be better?

Also, does changing jobs look bad to another prospective employer (say if I had a slim chance of landing a hospital position... which I know is doubtful)? Do other employers look more favorably upon candidates who stay many years with the same company vs. a candidate who moves around between jobs more, even if each job has a year or more of time worked?

I have also heard Walmart punishes their pharmacists harshly for misfills, is this true?

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[JustFillIt]

Personally - I would go where there is a stronger and better trained team.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

It would entirely depend on the quality of the in-store restaurant. If it's a Subway, no. If it's one of the Walmarts with a Wendy's, I'd strongly consider it.

 

[projektreverb]

In my very brief stint with Walmart, they were much better than Walgreens. Way more help. Their floating system was super weird tho. You had to call ahead for alarm codes and they had to program you in.

 

[mentos]

Does CVS close for lunch now? That used to be a big benefit of Walmart. Also their bathrooms are inside the pharmacy. Don't have to share it with the public like at CVS. Plus no annoying "one pharmacy call" robo voice.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Does CVS close for lunch now? That used to be a big benefit of Walmart. Also their bathrooms are inside the pharmacy. Don't have to share it with the public like at CVS. Plus no annoying "one pharmacy call" robo voice.

Yes*

*Exclusion may apply. Such as working night shift. If you work night shift, you are considered superhuman and do not need breaks, sleep, rest, food, or water.

 

[Sunshine98*]

Depends...before covid walmart started cuts on pharmacists and pharmacists hours....some districts lost all floaters and double coverage went to single coverage in some stores....these days its a crap shoot!

 

[Chrish]

Go with WM..

 

[Dred Pirate]

The Walmart also isn't in the best part of town, which isn't the case for the CVS store.

honestly when I moonlighted I preferred working in the poorer areas vs the rich suburbs for several reasons
1. The poorer people tended to appreciate me more.
2. They questioned things less
3. I would rather deal with more medicaid (less copays, etc)- than private insurance, each having their own sets of rules, PA's etc. Having the majority of your patients on the same set of rules made things so much easier.
4. Entitled soccer mom's = enough said.
5. From my experience, the less desirable areas tended to have more security.

 

[WorthlessOxygen]

honestly when I moonlighted I preferred working in the poorer areas vs the rich suburbs for several reasons
1. The poorer people tended to appreciate me more.
2. They questioned things less
3. I would rather deal with more medicaid (less copays, etc)- than private insurance, each having their own sets of rules, PA's etc. Having the majority of your patients on the same set of rules made things so much easier.
4. Entitled soccer mom's = enough said.
5. From my experience, the less desirable areas tended to have more security.

Agreed. I never understood the disdain that my coworkers have for working in our inner city stores. I'd take them over suburbia any day.

 

[MyDogAteMySuboxone]

Can anyone who works for Walmart verify if 3 mistakes and you get "re-training" (AKA: 50% of the way to fired) is still a thing at Walmart?

Walmart peeps, enlighten me on bentonville

Hey guys, one of my buddies at the hospital I work at does some Wally world coverage on the side, and said that rph's he talks to that work there full time are freaked out cuz they are really starting to crack down on sending you to bentonville. Basically, they way I understand it is if u make...

forums.studentdoctor.net

I understand that as a pharmacist it's your duty to be careful to protect patients. This seems counterintuitive to the modernization of error reporting, though. Is it not better to report errors in a non-punitive way to ensure that all errors are reported? It seems with this system there would be unscrupulous pharmacists trying to cover up errors by not reporting them. Only 3 errors in a rolling year period also seems quite harsh, if they are minor issues like vitamin d2 vs. d3, or something of that nature.

honestly when I moonlighted I preferred working in the poorer areas vs the rich suburbs for several reasons
1. The poorer people tended to appreciate me more.
2. They questioned things less
3. I would rather deal with more medicaid (less copays, etc)- than private insurance, each having their own sets of rules, PA's etc. Having the majority of your patients on the same set of rules made things so much easier.
4. Entitled soccer mom's = enough said.
5. From my experience, the less desirable areas tended to have more security.

Truthfully, I feel the same way. Definitely not a fan of the soccer moms. However, there have been 3+ recent shootings in the area (within 5 min vicinity) of this pharmacy, and I have been through armed robbery at the pharmacy before. It's not so much the patients I'm worried about as the pharmacy being a target for narcotic diversion.

It would entirely depend on the quality of the in-store restaurant. If it's a Subway, no. If it's one of the Walmarts with a Wendy's, I'd strongly consider it.

Personally, I prefer Subway over Wendy's, but their spicy chicken sandwich is still bomb. To each their own.

 

[sunnyandseventytwo]

It would entirely depend on the quality of the in-store restaurant. If it's a Subway, no. If it's one of the Walmarts with a Wendy's, I'd strongly consider it.

If food is the issue, OP should work for Costco. The cafe menu still hasn't recovered since covid, but there's a lot to be said for a $1.50 lunch. Of note: buying anything in the store to eat for lunch is an ordeal. You need a manager to sign off on your purchase. I was always afraid they'd do a locker search and find my bagels and I wouldn't have appropriate documentation and I'd go to jail over $6.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

If food is the issue, OP should work for Costco. The cafe menu still hasn't recovered since covid, but there's a lot to be said for a $1.50 lunch. Of note: buying anything in the store to eat for lunch is an ordeal. You need a manager to sign off on your purchase. I was always afraid they'd do a locker search and find my bagels and I wouldn't have appropriate documentation and I'd go to jail over $6.

We should all want to work for Costco. If that's an option, work there. But they are the one true retail unicorn job.

 

[sunnyandseventytwo]

We should all want to work for Costco. If that's an option, work there. But they are the one true retail unicorn job.

Things are rough all over Ponyboy.

 

[Dred Pirate]

We should all want to work for Costco. If that's an option, work there. But they are the one true retail unicorn job.

a decade ago or so I worked for Rph on the go. They had a relief shift at a local costco - I was actually the second pharmacist there and they weren't even busy - I couldn't believe they were paying a staffing agency for double coverage at a store that did less Rx's than my full time gig where I had single coverage.

 

[vinapharm]

It is really depend on the team of that Walmart, OP. You should come to the store to see how are the staffs there. I would choose Monday. Come around 3 pm and 7 pm. To see how they're handling the chaotic time and if everything is clear and dead by 7 pm. But overall, my experience with walmart is good. I was from WAGS and things are much much better at Walmart. More helps, better flow. Just you gonna needs a log of alarm and key box codes but heck still beat WAGs.

 

[quickpic007]

I have worked at CVS for several years, but I got a job offer at Walmart. For the same hours and similar pay, would you go with CVS or Walmart? The Walmart position is a floater position, vs. at the CVS I am a staff RPH. This would mean I wouldn't know my schedule very far ahead of time, which would be a little annoying. The Walmart also isn't in the best part of town, which isn't the case for the CVS store.

I have heard that Walmart is a better place to work as a pharmacist overall than CVS. Less understaffed, more tech hours, etc. Plus, many Walmart stores don't have a drive thru.

Which do you think would be better?

Also, does changing jobs look bad to another prospective employer (say if I had a slim chance of landing a hospital position... which I know is doubtful)? Do other employers look more favorably upon candidates who stay many years with the same company vs. a candidate who moves around between jobs more, even if each job has a year or more of time worked?

I have also heard Walmart punishes their pharmacists harshly for misfills, is this true?

Sorry late here! I went from cvs to wm.
Wm hands down is easier for same wage.
Hospital wont care, retail is retail to them
No harsh punishment, just fill out form like cvs, harsh punishment ended 5+ years ago

Personally - I would go where there is a stronger and better trained team.

This is true some, but with high turnover it changes frequently

It would entirely depend on the quality of the in-store restaurant. If it's a Subway, no. If it's one of the Walmarts with a Wendy's, I'd strongly consider it.

Subway is on the way out from WM. Not many buy subway when WM has deli subs for less. Less wendy and mcdonald in WM these days as well.

Can anyone who works for Walmart verify if 3 mistakes and you get "re-training" (AKA: 50% of the way to fired) is still a thing at Walmart?

Walmart peeps, enlighten me on bentonville

Hey guys, one of my buddies at the hospital I work at does some Wally world coverage on the side, and said that rph's he talks to that work there full time are freaked out cuz they are really starting to crack down on sending you to bentonville. Basically, they way I understand it is if u make...

forums.studentdoctor.net

I understand that as a pharmacist it's your duty to be careful to protect patients. This seems counterintuitive to the modernization of error reporting, though. Is it not better to report errors in a non-punitive way to ensure that all errors are reported? It seems with this system there would be unscrupulous pharmacists trying to cover up errors by not reporting them. Only 3 errors in a rolling year period also seems quite harsh, if they are minor issues like vitamin d2 vs. d3, or something of that nature.


Truthfully, I feel the same way. Definitely not a fan of the soccer moms. However, there have been 3+ recent shootings in the area (within 5 min vicinity) of this pharmacy, and I have been through armed robbery at the pharmacy before. It's not so much the patients I'm worried about as the pharmacy being a target for narcotic diversion.



Personally, I prefer Subway over Wendy's, but their spicy chicken sandwich is still bomb. To each their own.

No, 3 mistakes is out. Rph cannot keep doing this job if they cannot verify D2 vs D3 correctly though.

Shootings are a gamble either way. WM is much less risk for gunpoint robbery but much much higher for domestic terrorism type mass killing (El Paso 2019, also see numerous grocery store killings this year). We train multiple times yearly on how to handle active shooter situation.

Let us know which way you go!

 

[O.State]

wild that this thread was made, as Im currently in the same boat. but Im leaning towards Walmart. had 10 years at cvs so that means Ill have to start afresh networking with a whole new corporate office & whatnot

Update: Turned down the WM offer. 3 letter made a counter which was better

 

[Rxxxpharmd]

How much did they counter with?!

 

[O.State]

3% raise and 20 additional vacation hours (on top of original 150). WM was only going to match my current rate +160 something vacation hours

 

[vinapharm]

3% rate but load of stress. More pto but they never approved cuz no coverage….good luck buddy. Oh wait, that is WAG , don’t know about CVS 😂

 

[VA77]

3% raise and 20 additional vacation hours (on top of original 150). WM was only going to match my current rate +160 something vacation hours

Did they ask to see your offer letter?

 

[O.State]

3% rate but load of stress. More pto but they never approved cuz no coverage….good luck buddy. Oh wait, that is WAG , don’t know about CVS 😂

Unfortunately, you are correct about the pto part. They have asked me a few times to cover my own vacation day because no one else available... but I always refuse & that has worked so far. If worse comes to worst, Ill cash them out... so its money on the table. Am used to the stress, tis the same where ever you go I hear (retail)

Did they ask to see your offer letter?

No. Im thinking because I approached DL with a 2 weeks notice, or maybe they just take my word for it 🤷‍♂️

 

[vinapharm]

Unfortunately, you are correct about the pto part. They have asked me a few times to cover my own vacation day because no one else available... but I always refuse & that has worked so far. If worse comes to worst, Ill cash them out... so its money on the table. Am used to the stress, tis the same where ever you go I hear (retail)

No. Im thinking because I approached DL with a 2 weeks notice, or maybe they just take my word for it 🤷‍♂️

Not just that but they also not cover weekends for pto. I meant here you are enjoying 2 weeks in Hawaii but have to go back to work Saturday and Sunday….

 

[Firestorm]

3% rate but load of stress. More pto but they never approved cuz no coverage….good luck buddy. Oh wait, that is WAG , don’t know about CVS 😂

Same at CVS. You have PTO but no one to cover it

 

[Firestorm]

Unfortunately, you are correct about the pto part. They have asked me a few times to cover my own vacation day because no one else available... but I always refuse & that has worked so far. If worse comes to worst, Ill cash them out... so its money on the table. Am used to the stress, tis the same where ever you go I hear (retail)

No. Im thinking because I approached DL with a 2 weeks notice, or maybe they just take my word for it 🤷‍♂️

Be careful with thinking about cashing out PTO. Max they will pay out is 40hours.