Wags not hiring as an intern, only as a tech.

[104921]

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To be upfront, this did not happen to me, but to someone in the class below me, and when I found out about it I was pretty perturbed...even more so that she accepted the offer. I myself am an intern with regular status and pay, but she was starting her second year, and the Wags in this area would not give her any hours unless she worked them as a tech with no intern status, despite having proof she was in pharmacy school. Is this normal? Is this to save money? I could only presume. I guess you really don't "deserve" anything as a student, but it's industry standard at this point to pay someone in pharmacy school more and call them an intern and not a glorified tech; the only exception to this I've seen is if you're working for an independent.

 

[charfdorn]

To be upfront, this did not happen to me, but to someone in the class below me, and when I found out about it I was pretty perturbed...even more so that she accepted the offer. I myself am an intern with regular status and pay, but she was starting her second year, and the Wags in this area would not give her any hours unless she worked them as a tech with no intern status, despite having proof she was in pharmacy school. Is this normal? Is this to save money? I could only presume. I guess you really don't "deserve" anything as a student, but it's industry standard at this point to pay someone in pharmacy school more and call them an intern and not a glorified tech; the only exception to this I've seen is if you're working for an independent.

At the very least, they could give her tech pay but let her work as an intern to gain the experience, if she was willing to do that. That is, unless something in her app or interview gave them the opinion that she wasn't qualified to be an intern... it takes (a tiny bit) more than just being in pharmacy school. Maybe they DO NOT want her counseling patients yet...

 

[bacillus1]

At the very least, they could give her tech pay but let her work as an intern to gain the experience, if she was willing to do that. That is, unless something in her app or interview gave them the opinion that she wasn't qualified to be an intern... it takes (a tiny bit) more than just being in pharmacy school. Maybe they DO NOT want her counseling patients yet...

That's what they sometimes do, letting one work at tech pay but still letting them file intern hours. Is your friend allowed to file intern hours?

 

[Sparda29]

I think it's the hiring freeze that's currently going on at Walgreen's. I was told that a local Walgreens needed an intern. I talked to the manager but they said they can only allowed to get people who are already Walgreens pharmacy employees and can't make any new hires.

Apparently, this all started around the time of that whole CVS Caremark Vs Walgreens shenanigan. Walgreens cut the hours of all the stores, and then when the issue was resolved, they were basically like, "hey you managed to get by without the extra help, might as well keep it like this." (Newsflash: just because you can get by via being more efficient doesn't mean we want to work like that.)

 

[104921]

At the very least, they could give her tech pay but let her work as an intern to gain the experience, if she was willing to do that. That is, unless something in her app or interview gave them the opinion that she wasn't qualified to be an intern... it takes (a tiny bit) more than just being in pharmacy school. Maybe they DO NOT want her counseling patients yet...

Actually in North Carolina it doesn't take more than just being in pharmacy school. We don't even have intern licenses here and don't have to be certified techs. I was automatically upgraded to intern as soon as I got news I got in (this was 3 years ago though). I think it was a money-saving maneuver. I wasn't expected to counsel until my third year, so it didn't have anything to do with that. I can, however, immunize, so that may justify my position.

 

[104921]

That's what they sometimes do, letting one work at tech pay but still letting them file intern hours. Is your friend allowed to file intern hours?

I'm not sure what you mean by file. We just punch in the clock (techs, interns, and pharmacists included). Intern and tech hours count the same towards the store's budget, so whoever is available is scheduled. I'm not sure if she'll be able to file for the money lost working at the tech wage once she gets intern status; I actually got back pay for about month or so because it took them that long to upgrade me.

 

[owlegrad]

I'm not sure what you mean by file. We just punch in the clock (techs, interns, and pharmacists included). Intern and tech hours count the same towards the store's budget, so whoever is available is scheduled. I'm not sure if she'll be able to file for the money lost working at the tech wage once she gets intern status; I actually got back pay for about month or so because it took them that long to upgrade me.

Some states require logging in (filing) x amount of intern hours with the board in order to be licenced. Sucks to be in those states I guess. Here in Florida our intern licences have no fees, don't expire, and we don't have to log hours with the board. 👍

Edit: Funny story, I meet an intern from Boston when I was at CVS. She asked me if I was filing my hours with the board (she wanted to make sure I was getting "credit" for them - nice girl). I could not convince her that we don't do that in FL. She flat wouldn't believe me. I tried to explain that FL is good to their interns and told her about the above information. My preceptor overheard our conversation and then he wouldn't believe our intern licences don't expire. I took out my wallet copy and showed him where it says "Does Not Expire". He still wasn't convinced. I couldn't get ether of them to believe me. Some days you just can't win. 😆

 

[phathead]

I think it's the hiring freeze that's currently going on at Walgreen's. I was told that a local Walgreens needed an intern. I talked to the manager but they said they can only allowed to get people who are already Walgreens pharmacy employees and can't make any new hires.

Apparently, this all started around the time of that whole CVS Caremark Vs Walgreens shenanigan. Walgreens cut the hours of all the stores, and then when the issue was resolved, they were basically like, "hey you managed to get by without the extra help, might as well keep it like this." (Newsflash: just because you can get by via being more efficient doesn't mean we want to work like that.)

That's not entirely true, a hiring freeze means that the are no additional employees to be added. If someone quits, they can replace that person, that's how I snuck into one a few weeks back.

Really though it's how the regional director explains it to his minions.

 

[Mosep]

That's not entirely true, a hiring freeze means that the are no additional employees to be added. If someone quits, they can replace that person, that's how I snuck into one a few weeks back.

Really though it's how the regional director explains it to his minions.

This isn't entirly true either. Walgreens has slashed hours for pharmacy employees across the board. Our store is operating at about 2/3 the number of hours we had a year ago and i've heard some stores got it even worse. When an employee leaves, their hours are either given to the other techs and interns at the store or even given out to employees from other stores. We've had no less than 4 people quit at our store over the last few months, and we're finally getting around to hiring ONE person.

 

[phathead]

This isn't entirly true either. Walgreens has slashed hours for pharmacy employees across the board. Our store is operating at about 2/3 the number of hours we had a year ago and i've heard some stores got it even worse. When an employee leaves, their hours are either given to the other techs and interns at the store or even given out to employees from other stores. We've had no less than 4 people quit at our store over the last few months, and we're finally getting around to hiring ONE person.

True, like I said it more depends on the directions of the regional (or maybe it's a step down) directors.

It's all about interpretation.

 

[nervoushabits]

Yeah, I agree about the whole "how the regional explains" thing. I just transferred to my store here, and apparently before I did so, like 3 or 4 people quit. My new store does a ridiculous number (upper hundreds) of Rxs per day, so the shortage of help definitely affected us. Needless to say, this was oh.....3 months ago, and we're just now getting the chance to higher some new people. It's quite ridiculous.

Also, back to the OP, it took them a while to code me as an intern, even though I've already been with the company for many years. I'm guessing your friend's situation is due to $$$. Anyone know if there is a limit on how many interns you can have per district? That could also be another reason, if there is one.