Negotiating for more $$$ - Fresh out of school

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
You wanna know why I'm in pharmacy? I can't believe you even require justification. What, am I supposed to prove my worthiness to you? I'll do that if it's necessary.
FYI: I'm fearless, so you can expect an honest answer when the time comes.

honestly, I can careless what you do with your life. It was a rhetorical question because you honestly sound spiteful about the profession...

Members don't see this ad.
 
honestly, I can careless what you do with your life. It was a rhetorical question because you honestly sound spiteful about the profession...
I could careless what your perception of me is.
 
That was the cliff notes version. A great deal was left out to protect the innocent. I did warn people it would be a long post.

you got a more "terse" version? :laugh:
anyways, thanks for the info.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
I don't think that just because the customers call HQ and complain means that we give poor service. Perhaps it means we give legal service--we don't commit fraud, we follow the rules. About once every time I work, there is someone with no RX or no refills or who "has to have this medicine to sleep tonight." Our staff does its best, but we can't always meet the needs of everyone. Our DM has made it clear that he does not want to hear from customers, and of course the customers are quick to complain, knowing that CVS will throw money their way.
I know every company has problems. My main complaint was when 3 hard-working pharmacists were denied adequate raises because of their triple S scores--DESPITE the fact that if a customer walks up at 9:58pm (2 mins till closing) with 6 new RXs and is a new customer, the pharmacist stayed until 10:25 getting them all done (that really happened), or that these pharmacists sometimes work 14 hour days to cover each other's vacations, or these pharmacists work at the busiest CVS in our city and fill more scripts than anyone. They work long hours, they deal with customers in a very uppity area of town, they cover shifts at other stores when they are asked to, and they were all insulted.
To give you an example of one customer complaint that went to HQ: a man with a VERY strong accent called in a refill, and the pharmacist couldn't understand the man's name. He asked him to repeat it, and the man refused. The pharmacist told him that he couldn't refill the script unless he knew the man's name. The man hung up on him. 40 mins later corporate calls and wants to know why we refused the man's refill request.
 
We had a presentation today about how wonderful CVS is. It sounds like a croc to me.
 
To a certain extent yes, retail is retail. It has it's good points and it's bad points. I interviewed with Walgreens and was singularly unimpressed. I was told the entire interview how bad CVS was and how great WAGS was. If you think CVS is controlling, CVS is summer camp compared to Walgreens. Flexible is not a word associated with Walgreens. I really think CVS is on the cutting edge right now as a company. It's very aggressive in the market place and if you want to work retail, you will have a great future.


I am curious. What is CVS paying pharmacists for overtime now? And is your salaried base pay still based on a 42 hour workweek? Are they paying a full time and a half for over 40?
 
The base pay is a 40 hour work week. For the first...someone help me out here, 4 hours I think?, you get time and a half..every added hour..hour #45, etc..is your regular rate + $6. BUT, the hours are strictly regulated: for example, 8-6 or 12-10. If you stay till 10:30 helping customers who came in late or if you get their at 7:30 to get the pharmacy going before 8 (computer system, etc.) then you don't get paid for that.
One of our pharmacists is married to a pharmacist who works for Walgreen's. We all used to ask her what was better, and she said "oh they all are about the same." Then evaluation time came (read my above post) and she feels very differently now. The main benefit she sees of CVS is 4 day workweeks, of 10 hours each day. Wags pharmacists have 5 day workweeks. I talked to another pharmacist who worked a shift in our store, and she said the scheduling is her reason for staying with the company.
 
I think Old Timer is a recruiter/spy for CVS. I have never heard anyone say anything good about CVS except for him. CVS along with Walgreens are all that is wrong with retail pharmacy today. As long as there are dumb new grads willing to accept their bribery/bonus money they will continue doing what they are doing.
 
I don't think that just because the customers call HQ and complain means that we give poor service. Perhaps it means we give legal service--we don't commit fraud, we follow the rules. About once every time I work, there is someone with no RX or no refills or who "has to have this medicine to sleep tonight." Our staff does its best, but we can't always meet the needs of everyone. Our DM has made it clear that he does not want to hear from customers, and of course the customers are quick to complain, knowing that CVS will throw money their way.
I know every company has problems. My main complaint was when 3 hard-working pharmacists were denied adequate raises because of their triple S scores--DESPITE the fact that if a customer walks up at 9:58pm (2 mins till closing) with 6 new RXs and is a new customer, the pharmacist stayed until 10:25 getting them all done (that really happened), or that these pharmacists sometimes work 14 hour days to cover each other's vacations, or these pharmacists work at the busiest CVS in our city and fill more scripts than anyone. They work long hours, they deal with customers in a very uppity area of town, they cover shifts at other stores when they are asked to, and they were all insulted.
To give you an example of one customer complaint that went to HQ: a man with a VERY strong accent called in a refill, and the pharmacist couldn't understand the man's name. He asked him to repeat it, and the man refused. The pharmacist told him that he couldn't refill the script unless he knew the man's name. The man hung up on him. 40 mins later corporate calls and wants to know why we refused the man's refill request.

Again, and I don't want to repeat myself. If your DM is a jerk CVS will not be a good place. Where is your Pharmacy Supervisor? Why is the DM dealing with these issues? How did corporate respond when you explained the situation? Do you know CVS has a language line service where you can conference call with an interpreter that speaks his language? What is the SSS score for your store? They were denied raises? I'd love to know what area of the country as this does not happen where I am. You get grief for not advancing controls when there is no refills? Sometimes it is in the delivery. It's not delivering the bad news, it's how you deliver the news. Again without specifics of each case, I can't really respond. If you stay 30 minutes late, you either arrange a time to come in late or leave early or if there is no overlap in your store, put in for the time. If you choose to come in early, that's on you.
 
We had a presentation today about how wonderful CVS is. It sounds like a croc to me.

Was this Scott Lason (I think that is his name)?? I remember seeing an ad for it in an email, but blew it off. What all was said??
 
Members don't see this ad :)
As with any chain, its really not about you (the pharmacist or technician). I have vented on this forum about bad experiences with the public. But you see, these retail chains are here for the business. CVS will be the easiest pharmacy to use because it will attract business. Its all about the patient, not you. As far as im concerned i am there to service the patient all day, 12 hrs per day.

The only time i have seen a pharmacist not get a raise was due to performance as an individual. The company wants to see improvement and you must show them that you want to improve.

As for the triple s scores, corporate must have a wayto measure your performance. Any employee who is caught calling in their scores is technically falsifying company records and from what I hear is grounds for termination (this is what i heard from the DM). Anyway, i find that in my store if we do our cycle counts, follow PSI, and call the patient when any refill cannot be refilled due to ins or out of stock, this eliminates so many problems. Again, I work at CVS and I stride to be the best pharmacy in service. I see my stores performance as a reflection on me and my work. Its also up to me, the PIC, to keep my staff happy and in line. CVS corporates job is to give me the resources I need to keep the business growing. They are not there to please me and if many PICS just showed their DM's and regional managers a little enthusiasm about what they (the PIC) can do to help the business, i bet many of them would be getting better raises than 1-3%.
To me,as a PIC, its a matter of servicing the patient 110% and fixing any issues within the pharmacy. As for the gift cards, let the DM give them a gift card! as long as its not my employee id associated with a medicaid ins, i could care less. It's a never ending battle with the gift cards so might as well just play along.
 
I find it so interesting to see so many students bashing the company. Many of you just dont get it. The company supports you as a professional, they pay you a salary and ask that you follow policy. It took me a few years after graduating to get the jist of the game. You cant please every patient and the company doesn't expect you to break laws;they do expect you to provide superior customer service but they dont expect you to be be abused by pts. If you did everything possible to help the pt and still the pt is not satisfied then the sup or DM takes over. But if you didn;t call the pt on a problem with the rx, or the rx is not ready when promised, then there are issues that need to be addressed. Corporate doesn't want to hear the blame game, they want to see the problem resolved and the pt satisfied. They dont want to hear that you are understaffed. As a PIC, you need to watch the hours but you also need to schedule to the needs of the business. Why are you over in hours? You should be cutting the poor performers hours first. Its the nature of the business and im sure walgreens is no different. Its retail, so quit the bitching and if you do become a PIC, you run the store to be the best pharmacy in the region. :)
 
very great write up on CVS
all of which is so true

quite honestly, i could care less what anyone else makes. I worry about myself and not joe schmoe. Yeah, it sucks how they do it, but again, i worry about myself and my performance as a manager.
 
To a certain extent yes, retail is retail. It has it's good points and it's bad points. I interviewed with Walgreens and was singularly unimpressed. I was told the entire interview how bad CVS was and how great WAGS was. If you think CVS is controlling, CVS is summer camp compared to Walgreens. Flexible is not a word associated with Walgreens. I really think CVS is on the cutting edge right now as a company. It's very aggressive in the market place and if you want to work retail, you will have a great future.

Old timer, i have to agree with you on this. I also interviewed with walgreens and was also not impressed. CVS has more flexibility with scheduling.walgreens just seemed to controlling. I may be wrong. anyway, i really dont have many complaints with CVS. I really think it all starts with the PIC at the store one is at to have a good experience. The store must be run efficiently and keep the pts happy. This will go a long way in having a great time at work in my opinion.
 
From what I understand is that the further away you are from headquarters the better off you are. CVS is based out of Rhode Island and my store is about 15 minutes away. Lets just say we get alot of "corporate tours" and we are always under a microscope. We are also being hassled about SSS, even when we drop below 90%. I have been there 3&1/2 years and I have just about had it. I understand CVS is a business but I feel like an assembly line worker when I'm there. It doesn't help that we are the 3rd or 4th busiest CVS in the country. I could probably enter the speed filling Olympics, and recite condor codes until im blue in the face, but I dont use enough of my schooling to say that I have had a very fulfilling Intern experience.

I don't think I will be looking for a job with CVS upon graduation, but then again, I'll have to see what else is out there.
 
Corporate doesn't want to hear the blame game, they want to see the problem resolved and the pt satisfied. They dont want to hear that you are understaffed. As a PIC, you need to watch the hours but you also need to schedule to the needs of the business. Why are you over in hours? You should be cutting the poor performers hours first.

I wish that was the way things happened to me. Instead, the cashier would walk off and shop while she was on the clock. The best part is...the cashier was an extended relative of the PIC, the PIC was friends with the DM, and the DM was friends with the other interns. It was sick, truly disgusting. Also, an intern was designated to make the schedule after the PIC went on leave instead of the other staff pharmacist.
I could keep going with these messed up stories, however I suggest that we stop talking about it, so that we can get some peace among us retail employees.
Truce, anyone?
 
I support that wholeheartedly. One of my best friends just resigned from CVS a couple weeks ago after working for them for just two months. She said that while she was working as a graduate intern, everything was fine and dandy, but as soon as she got licensed, the problems started. First of all, they didn't honor their promise of keeping her in the town where she was hired to work and tried to send her all over. And they were violating the state law of 2 techs to 1 pharmacist by having 7 techs and 1 pharmacist on a daily basis. The state board of pharmacy people kept showing up - 4 visits in the 8 weeks she worked as a graduate intern. However, what made her resign was when they wanted her to sign off the CII log that was off by 30 tablets - and that's when the store was already being investigated for for missing CIIs! Of course, she decided not to risk her license and good reputation and resigned on the spot. She is with an outpatient pharmacy of a hospital chain now.

Whose they?and why was the state board showing up so much? i guess im missing something. and also, what CII log did she have to sign? I guess im curios to know who was making her do all this. the sup or DM? Were all the employees techs or were some cashiers (PSA's)?
 
I wish that was the way things happened to me. Instead, the cashier would walk off and shop while she was on the clock. The best part is...the cashier was an extended relative of the PIC, the PIC was friends with the DM, and the DM was friends with the other interns. It was sick, truly disgusting. Also, an intern was designated to make the schedule after the PIC went on leave instead of the other staff pharmacist.
I could keep going with these messed up stories, however I suggest that we stop talking about it, so that we can get some peace among us retail employees.
Truce, anyone?

If indeed what you say is true about the relatives and DM, then that would be unprofessional on the part of the PIC. You could call the ethics line or speak to someone in HR. If its affecting the business in a negative way (cashier shopping on company time) then you need to bring that to the attention of HR. Anyway, we are at peace and all that i am saying is that no CVS store will be perfect. In your case, you just need to find a different store and a PIC that is there to help you succeed.
 
From what I understand is that the further away you are from headquarters the better off you are. CVS is based out of Rhode Island and my store is about 15 minutes away. Lets just say we get alot of "corporate tours" and we are always under a microscope. We are also being hassled about SSS, even when we drop below 90%. I have been there 3&1/2 years and I have just about had it. I understand CVS is a business but I feel like an assembly line worker when I'm there. It doesn't help that we are the 3rd or 4th busiest CVS in the country. I could probably enter the speed filling Olympics, and recite condor codes until im blue in the face, but I dont use enough of my schooling to say that I have had a very fulfilling Intern experience.

I don't think I will be looking for a job with CVS upon graduation, but then again, I'll have to see what else is out there.

Yes, you are right about that. But we do get visits from corporate, not as much as you of course. Just had Larry, hanley, and mitch come down for a visit. They asked me so many questions that i was bathing in my own sweat!

We also get hit if out sss falls below our target, but thats what CVS is all about. The way I see it, I came to them for a job and I will do whatever i have to get these patients in and out and make my day go smooth. As for the schooling, i agree with you on this 100%, i use my schooling as much as i can but not enough. I have no arguement there;the only thing i can say is that if i dont know, i will look it up. Good luck with the rest of your schooling!
 
The main benefit she sees of CVS is 4 day workweeks, of 10 hours each day. Wags pharmacists have 5 day workweeks.
Is it just me...but I don't see 4 day work weeks of 10 hours a benefit. 10+ hours a day is for the birds.
 
Is it just me...but I don't see 4 day work weeks of 10 hours a benefit. 10+ hours a day is for the birds.

depends all on you... i prefer longer days, more days off. It just depends on you.
 
I will never tell my secret. If you tell anyone, i will find you...;)
and then we'll have a hurricane mixed drink on Bourbon St.
645131-Pat_OBriens-New_Orleans.jpg


Good Night!
 
Im still here...and why are we creepy? And i am up for a drink anytime (away from work of course!)
 
If you stay till 10:30 helping customers who came in late or if you get their at 7:30 to get the pharmacy going before 8 (computer system, etc.) then you don't get paid for that.

Isn't that...illegal? If you're at work working, and you are not salaried, then you should get paid. There's a clear distinction between salaried vs. hourly.

Also, I work with one tech and one pharmacist on sundays. The pharmacist exercised her right to a lunch under California law and quoting 45 minute waits and the tech just started talking smack to me how "no one else at this pharmacy does that." I also talked to one of the district people (being general on purpose) and asked about that...and I also got the impression that it was something that just was not to be done.

Thoughts on that?

*someone maybe should split off this thread into a CVS - A nice place to work? thread*
 
Isn't that...illegal? If you're at work working, and you are not salaried, then you should get paid. There's a clear distinction between salaried vs. hourly.

Also, I work with one tech and one pharmacist on sundays. The pharmacist exercised her right to a lunch under California law and quoting 45 minute waits and the tech just started talking smack to me how "no one else at this pharmacy does that." I also talked to one of the district people (being general on purpose) and asked about that...and I also got the impression that it was something that just was not to be done.

Thoughts on that?

*someone maybe should split off this thread into a CVS - A nice place to work? thread*
Hopefully SDN1977 will answer this. She lives in that state.
 
In our district with CVS, a lot of the stores hours have been cut since the summer ended. There is a rumor going around that the last week the interns were with CVS, they got billed to the individual stores instead of the intern program. Therefore, the district was over 700 hours that week. In turn, the DM tries to cut ours to be under for the year.

I think that might be more than just rumor. I had an issue with this as well the last week before I went back to school in August. The DM (who was reportedly very upset about this directive from corporate) called my store to say that my hours had to be in the store's tech budget for that week (which of course put them over budget), and my PIC basically told the DM that she wouldn't call me on Friday and tell me I couldn't work hours they had already scheduled me for the very next week.
 
So is the majority of people here are against Corporations like Walgreens and CVS. You guys own your own pharmacies or work for private ones?
 
The base pay is a 40 hour work week. For the first...someone help me out here, 4 hours I think?, you get time and a half..every added hour..hour #45, etc..is your regular rate + $6. BUT, the hours are strictly regulated: for example, 8-6 or 12-10. If you stay till 10:30 helping customers who came in late or if you get their at 7:30 to get the pharmacy going before 8 (computer system, etc.) then you don't get paid for that.
One of our pharmacists is married to a pharmacist who works for Walgreen's. We all used to ask her what was better, and she said "oh they all are about the same." Then evaluation time came (read my above post) and she feels very differently now. The main benefit she sees of CVS is 4 day workweeks, of 10 hours each day. Wags pharmacists have 5 day workweeks. I talked to another pharmacist who worked a shift in our store, and she said the scheduling is her reason for staying with the company.


Our area, 44 hours per week is base week. No time and half. wage +6 bucks is all- not sure if that's after 44 or after 40, but its only 6 bucks more, so who cares either way? 14 hour days are common! blah.
 
I find it so interesting to see so many students bashing the company. Many of you just dont get it. The company supports you as a professional, they pay you a salary and ask that you follow policy. It took me a few years after graduating to get the jist of the game. You cant please every patient and the company doesn't expect you to break laws;they do expect you to provide superior customer service but they dont expect you to be be abused by pts. If you did everything possible to help the pt and still the pt is not satisfied then the sup or DM takes over. But if you didn;t call the pt on a problem with the rx, or the rx is not ready when promised, then there are issues that need to be addressed. Corporate doesn't want to hear the blame game, they want to see the problem resolved and the pt satisfied. They dont want to hear that you are understaffed. As a PIC, you need to watch the hours but you also need to schedule to the needs of the business. Why are you over in hours? You should be cutting the poor performers hours first. Its the nature of the business and im sure walgreens is no different. Its retail, so quit the bitching and if you do become a PIC, you run the store to be the best pharmacy in the region. :)

...could be because students make up a majority of the population on this board. We can all go survey our supervising pharmacists if you'd like to hear their bashing remarks.
 
...could be because students make up a majority of the population on this board. We can all go survey our supervising pharmacists if you'd like to hear their bashing remarks.

Well, learn this now if you intend to work retail (any retail chain): The pt comes first over anything else (you, your employees, your wife etc). Any good SP or DM will tell you to do whatever you can to fill any prescription you can within the law and to take care of the customer. And of course an SP will bash...they have to listen to the complaints and bitching of patients all day long...again, its not about the SP or DM. Its about keeping the customer...a non-abusive customer of course:). Im trying to put it into your heads that when a SP goes behind your back and gives a pt a $25 GC whether it was you fault or not, its all about the customer. CVS or walgreens or whoever really isn't gonna care what you think (unless of course the customer was cursing at you etc...). I learned this very quickly out of school and it ate me up inside when I knew I was right but the company just wants to fill the rx and increase their numbers. Good luck with the rest of school...:)
 
Our area, 44 hours per week is base week. No time and half. wage +6 bucks is all- not sure if that's after 44 or after 40, but its only 6 bucks more, so who cares either way? 14 hour days are common! blah.

its 6 dollars premium pay after 44 hours.
 
So is the majority of people here are against Corporations like Walgreens and CVS. You guys own your own pharmacies or work for private ones?

I have had bouts of discouragements with my company in the past but in the long run so far CVS is a good company to work for. It really depends on the PIC you have and what you want to contribute to your store. Just make the best of it!
 
Watch out for those flirty plastic surgeons at work! They can be a little too chummy when they've missed their Haley.
Even if he offers you a secretary job at $20/hr, when what's her face leaves, I wouldn't take it! Just kidding. What's her face needs the employee discount, so you don't have to worry about a job offer.

Have a nice week, and good luck with that frickin' Physics class!
 
Well, learn this now if you intend to work retail (any retail chain): The pt comes first over anything else (you, your employees, your wife etc). Any good SP or DM will tell you to do whatever you can to fill any prescription you can within the law and to take care of the customer. And of course an SP will bash...they have to listen to the complaints and bitching of patients all day long...again, its not about the SP or DM. Its about keeping the customer...a non-abusive customer of course:). Im trying to put it into your heads that when a SP goes behind your back and gives a pt a $25 GC whether it was you fault or not, its all about the customer. CVS or walgreens or whoever really isn't gonna care what you think (unless of course the customer was cursing at you etc...). I learned this very quickly out of school and it ate me up inside when I knew I was right but the company just wants to fill the rx and increase their numbers. Good luck with the rest of school...:)


It is also not only a corporate standpoint, but also a professional one. Yes, there will always be abusive patients. It is our job to take care of them. A lot of us have forgotten that taking care of sick grouchy patients is not only part of the job (We get paid for that), but also part of the profession. I have seen a lot of pharmacy techs, interns, and pharmacists get way above their head (we all do). We take for granted that a patient might not be as understanding because of whatever reason.

Of course there are the really bad ones that we shouldnt pay as much attention to, because they are just too "parasitic", and stops us from spending valuable time on other patients that we can actually help.

PS. In terms of retail, a patient being grouchy is never a reason why we cant take care of them better (as with eveywhere else from doctors to cops). However if they are just too much, refer them to the DM and, if it gets really bad, just tell them that you felt threatened and thus refuse them service. Never let the crappier side of you take control as it is simply just not professional (and you cant think as well).
 
The pt comes first over anything else (you, your employees, your wife etc).


sorry man, I disagree. God and family come waaaaaay before my employer or the PT. worst case, they go across the street to get their rx filled. I bend over backwards everyday, but I have limits.

when my wife goes into labor in December, I am closing the pharmacy no question asked. And if they don't like it then I'll take my license with me when I leave.
 
yes, God and family should come first...but for the 8 hours or 12 hours [in my case] that you're at work, the patient is the first priority. that's why we're here...not to serve our egos, or satisfy some corporate mentality...we're here to help people, the patient comes first.

leaving the pharmacy and locking the door, at least in NY, can be considered dereliction of duty. if your wife is going into labor in december, and this is not yet october, you should have ample time to find coverage for your shift so that you don't leave your patients hanging as well as be able to take care of your family. to say you're going to just leave and "take your license with you" is not professional.
 
yes, God and family should come first...but for the 8 hours or 12 hours [in my case] that you're at work, the patient is the first priority. that's why we're here...not to serve our egos, or satisfy some corporate mentality...we're here to help people, the patient comes first.

leaving the pharmacy and locking the door, at least in NY, can be considered dereliction of duty. if your wife is going into labor in december, and this is not yet october, you should have ample time to find coverage for your shift so that you don't leave your patients hanging as well as be able to take care of your family. to say you're going to just leave and "take your license with you" is not professional.

so I am supposed to get coverage for all of Decmeber? or maybe just ask the baby when he is coming out....I am sure he'll tell me.

what I am saying is that if my employer were to give me a problem about leaving (which I do not expect) than I would simply leave for good. case closed.

I'll call my DM first. And if he cant come, so be it.

no one will be 'left hanging.' there is a CVStress right across the street. Everyone will get their Percs and go home happy.

Heaven forbid a retail pharmacy closes!! oh noes!! what is next?? LUNCH BREAKS??
 
Top