Is it easy to get to these positions as a pharmacist? Or work your way up?
Vice President of a chain pharmacy
- Thread starter JakeSill
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2013
- Messages
- 771
- Reaction score
- 1,738
@ChalupaBatman86 @msweph can you please elaborate? The total compensation for VP of CVS is pretty high for a position that is easy to get.
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2014
- Messages
- 4,110
- Reaction score
- 4,075
someone's sarcasm detector is set to negative -99
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2013
- Messages
- 771
- Reaction score
- 1,738
You just need to complete all your PCQ calls and 7 day returns.
Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
- Messages
- 4,256
- Reaction score
- 3,512
It all depends who you are related to. If you are related to the right person, then yes, it is super-easy. If you aren't related to the right person, well, the it's going to be a bit more difficult.
I'm not related to anyone that works at a chain. What does that mean for me?
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2008
- Messages
- 4,191
- Reaction score
- 2,522
The right time, place, connection and the right butt kissing skill. I've seen someone reached VP in less than 3 years and I have seen people kissing butt forever without ever reaching this position getting passed over again and again. Still hoping to be sup/pdm, or still a pharmacy bitch ass manager forever doing every incentive the corp throws at them.
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2005
- Messages
- 2,351
- Reaction score
- 1,406
i don't think any job in pharmacy is easy to get.
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2014
- Messages
- 4,110
- Reaction score
- 4,075
you have about a 1 in 20,000 chance -
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2009
- Messages
- 173
- Reaction score
- 135
One will need a MBA and a good business admin track record (ensuring profitability and making hard, but necessary decisions including layoffs) with connections to get those positions.
A pharmacist puts their focus on meds, so their aims don't align with what is required from a top level executor.
A pharmacist puts their focus on meds, so their aims don't align with what is required from a top level executor.
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2016
- Messages
- 4,296
- Reaction score
- 5,095
Fixed your post
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2002
- Messages
- 4,361
- Reaction score
- 4,704
No, I take it you have never dealt with organization structure in this business. The nonsarcastic answer is that most divisional VP's do not have a business background if they promote from the pharmacy ranks. They are sponsored for Executive MBAs if there is a prestige issue (let's say the place I work for makes quite a bit of money off that). Walgreens does not mandate that, neither does CVS.
God no, the pharmacy VP DOES NOT have much to do with:
1. Finance or Accounting departments (more likely to be picked up from some management consultant company: Accenture (especially with healthcare), Delloitte (especially for international and taxation), McKinsey, etc.)
2. Nonpharmacy law (that's what the house counsel is for)
3. Mass personnel (that's what management consultants are for)
4. Contracting (almost always an HQ function)
An area pharmacy VP is just there as an intermediate communication reporting chain from the field supervisors and managers to corporate. They are more coordinators than they actually make decisions as that it reserved to HQ. The second is to stay out of trouble and deal with problem situations that arise from dumba$$ pharmacists and/or customers. Very little in the way of decision-making without policy/procedure support is given to anyone outside HQ.
Before the reverse takeover by Boots, Walgreens had three normal ways to become a VP:
1. Hired from another company (not even pharmacy related as there is a very strong management consultant and UPS bias)
2. Spent time in Deerfield HQ and rotated between HQ and area assignments
3. Sponsored by another AVP through corporate nepotism (to the point that it was understood that you had to have such a sponsor later on)
There are two unconventional ways to make VP (<5%):
4. Being an outstanding RxS (area pharmacy supervisor when they existed) or DM (District Manager)
5. Your surname is Walgreen and you don't even have to be a pharmacist
However, 4 alone usually never worked. You need a sponsor in 3 that will groom you for that promotion or your chances are far better getting hired by a competitor into that sort of position (Walmart is the common way station for that as very few of their own pharmacy corporate leadership is homegrown).
