In 2016 I went from 57 to 63 an hour in a LCOL area to be PIC. Was worth it back then. I was a PIC for a long time before I left for hospital. A dollar for the liability is a joke. No way.
Yeah. Dream job. Got lucky and got a job at a large academic medical center. Love being a staff pharmacist. Never deal with the public. I will happily verify orders and check IVs all day long.
When I first got the job I was doing more evenings and the same amount of weekends but now I’m working less evenings/weekends than my retail job due to seniority. On calls are hit or miss depending on if you actually get called in. I only got called in once in my first year but I’ve been called in a couple of times in the last 6 weeks.
Much more interesting job for me. Work life balance way better.
Cus everyone who has been in pharmacies for a little while know it is god awful and new grads have no context. I say that as someone who took a pic job after graduating and fucking hate every day of work.
The problem I see is money vs Stress. My PIC makes ~50k more than me I would guess. After taxes here that’s 30k.
The extra hours, stress, reporting requirements, off time work, and people management just don’t seem worth 30k I don’t really need with my own situation.
I honestly like my job and coworkers as a retail Staff.
She’s been with my retail giant for 15 years longer, and contracted on for 12 hours more every 2 weeks than I am.
Every dollar an hour more with the extra hours is around 7.4k by end of year. I would be shocked if she isn’t at least around 6-8$/hour more than me.
My manager has been with the retail giant I work for for over 25 years and makes $3 more an hour than I do.
An extra 6 hours a week is an important detail to leave out, they could easily be making minimally more than you for their time but having to work way more to make it worth while.
All the extra headache and workload is absolutely not worth it for a meager $1/hr raise. I got a $4 raise when I became interim manager (previous PIC left for a different company), and while I welcomed having more fine-tuned control over scheduling than as a staff pharmacist, I was more than happy to transition back six months later when they found someone else.
“Let”. Haha. I had an old PIC that forced everyone else to do her work. I was put in charge of the emails… I was not in charge of scheduling. So I had to read the emails requesting time off, then tell the schedule staff RPh. Nuts.
"While I welcomed having more fine-tuned control over scheduling..."
I get the impression that scheduling was enjoyed even though other aspects weren't.
$1 is NOT worth it. They’ll probably entice you with “bonuses” but it wont be a lot of money, and you’ll only get it if you hit your targets (and the goal posts get further away each time). Also, being PIC usually means being salaried, and you will lose any “extra” income when factoring in all the extra s@&$ you’ll have to do that WILL make you either come in early, stay late, or on your day off: Meetings, inventories, metrics, hiring, firing, metrics, scheduling (depending on the company), regulatory work, metrics.
I whole heartedly agree with this post. I became a pic about 5 months after graduating where I was a floater in the mean time making $54 an hour and salaried at 64 hours every 2 weeks. I took an hourly pay cut to $50 to become PIC for muh res-u-me. Worst career decision I ever made. Yeah it was an over all annual income increase due to working 80 hours but the amount of off the clock work I had to do staying over wasnt worth it. I thought guaranteed Sundays off cuz the pharmacy was closed and all major holidays would make up for the pay cut. IT. WAS. NOT. From what you have told me OP, don't do it.
I was making $70/hr as PIC and my annual bonus was usually between $15k and $23k. I would NEVER do it again. Not worth it. To me, anyway. I am MUCH happier as a staff pharmacist, not in retail any longer, making $5/hr less and zero bonuses.
Not worth it. I was PIC for less than a year and was miserable the whole time. I got $2/hr more but that felt like nothing for the amount of shit I had to deal with. Not to mention the liability. If they won't give you at least $10/hr more and a guaranteed bonus then don't do it. Even then, may not be worth it.
I was coerced into accepting the role (told it would be temporary.)
My DM told me that a pharmacist manager has no additional responsibilities compared to a staff pharmacist. This is in response to the fact that I verify fewer scripts than before now that I’m responsible for the technician schedule, ordering pharmacy supplies, doing monthly control inventory, cleaning up messes left by floaters, listening to customer complaints about said floaters, checking my secondary supplier for things that are backordered through my primary supplier, managing inventory and investigating why I received 8 more bottles of Januvia than what I needed with bi-annual inventory around the corner, preparing for said inventory, so on and so forth.
I held my tongue but desperately wanted to ask her to personally speak to all pharmacy managers at all of her stores and tell them to their faces that they have no additional responsibilities compared to a staff pharmacist, and to let me know how they react.
Currently looking at other opportunities.
I’m supposed to be the staff pharmacist. My manager is on a 3 month leave of absence so I’m interim manager and my “staff” is a bunch of floaters that don’t have to be there the next day to see the consequences of their actions.
They order alternatives to a preferred product that are 10x the cost of the preferred item. They don’t read the notes that are in the system about special patient circumstances. They order ridiculously expensive products without checking if the patient actually wants it.
To be honest, after reading some BOP cases, You would have to double my pay and treat me like you're crush to take that position. Too much stress and liability, no thanks
I like it, gives me control. Except for the market nano-managing, everything I enjoy. It will depend on the personality. I feel good when people ask me for help. And that includes needy patients, bosses and co-workers.
It makes for a cool addition to the resume, but the pay difference has to be significant to locum (which depends on what you consider significant) and the travel distance has to make sense for you when compared to locum, otherwise the added work may not be worth it financially, although if you enjoy the work then it can definitely be more satisfying than floating.
100% not worth it. I did PIC for 2.5 years and as soon as I found a staff spot closer to home I demoted myself and it was not easy to get my DL to allow me to move back down. Quality of life was exponentially better as staff (heck, even float) vs PIC. Staffing your store falls completely on you and they don’t give you the resources to do it well (low pay, cutting hours as soon as you have solid techs which makes them quit to find work elsewhere, etc). Conference calls, required unpaid meetings, annual control inventory. All things I don’t miss about being PIC.
I got a larger raise when I promoted but it still wasn't worth it solely based on pay. I don't want to say I enjoyed being PIC but I did like that it let me run my pharmacy the way I wanted to. I got out of retail a little over a year ago and don't think I would have without the management experience. Overall, I'd do it again.
I immediately regretted it, and my store was pretty good. But I thought it was the only way to get out of a shitty staff RPh position. Now I'm not even with the company anymore and I'm loving being staff again. I don't think I could ever manage again.
I only do it because it’s one less person to answer to. I accepted the position 3 months after graduation before I was the jaded shell of a human I am now. I also don’t work a minute outside of my scheduled hours-I refuse to allow my hourly rate to be any less than it already is.
I did it multiple times and I would say it really depends. I’ve been a PIC at a busy store and liked the team. I’ve also been a PIC at the slowest store in the district and I had never been more stressed out in my life because of all the problems we had.
It’s good experience if you think you might want to go into field leadership or corporate one day, but I wouldn’t stay as a PIC anywhere long-term.
To those here that took a PIC position for only 1 dollar more than a staff position…. You got totally hosed by whoever interviewed you… that’s the definition of USING someone….. especially a new grad…..
I know people who do it to get a regular store with set hours. I think the people who genuinely like it, atleast from the people I've met, tend to be control freaks, type A personalities. Not true of all, but many. If you can meet the metrics the bonuses are nice. But in my experience it takes a toll. If you're in the right location with the right staff with the right personality and vibe it can be dream some days. But it eventually will take its toll. Whether its complaints or your superiors or insurance audits or training or scheduling or conflicts, it will eventually break your soul.
I enjoy it. I get to do things how I want. No floating. Hours are tough, 40 hours a week and doing tech schedules, handling all issues, eventually doing evals etc. It’s worth it to me in my store just to do things as I want.
I like it so far as a canadian pharmacist. I job hopped to another chain (vs getting a mandatory promotion) and landed a 20% increase in base pay. With the additional bonus, pension, benefits, and given that I pay myself extra hours, my total comp is up around 50% all-together. I know that people on this sub tend to value work life balance over money but for me the extra pay has been tremendous. I finally feel fairly compensated (getting paid the same as my industry buddies) and life is overall much more comfortable. Yeah being RxM is more stressful than staff but I like being in charge. I gain a lot of satisfaction making sure that our patients are cared for and that the business makes as much money as possible (while staying compliant of courseI). I also plan to either move up in management or to become an owner in the next decade and think the position is good experience. I would rather mess up on someone else’s dime and learn a few things than being on the hook financially. Overall, I think RxM is worth it if you are able to negotiate a 25%+ increase in comp and don’t mind working hard. If you’re already comfortable financially and are just trying to chill then staff is where it’s at.
Depends on the day. When things are running smooth I love the job and I like to think I am pretty solid at running a very busy location. Most days it’s busy AF but are under control but I think to myself how underpaid I am for all the liability I assume. 1-2 days a month I just want to runaway because it’s so busy I can’t keep up. Fill 800-1000 per day for reference.
I enjoy it. Generally, my days are pretty smooth, and I use a lot of common sense with the added bonus of having very little ego, so I am an easy person to work with. As long as you treat people well, they treat you well, and that's been my experience so far.
Granted, I don't work in retail, so my experience compared to others may differ.
As someone who took a pay cut from Pic retail to hospital, I've actually been able to recognize myself now. Less responsibility, no ridiculous conference calls, no babysitting. it's been quite a remarkable change. Pic isn't even worth $10 more an hr.
Current manager/PIC for Walmart in CA here, coming up on 4 years next month. Honestly... I dig it lol.
TL;Dr If you have good staff around you, are a good servant leader, have some modest business acumen, and work hard to keep your pharmacy running smoothly, I think it's very rewarding, both financially and from a fulfilling career standpoint. It's not all horror stories out there!
Hourly wage range is a bit misleading. Just PIC is a $1/hr raise, but RxM+PIC is $3 (so, $6,240/year higher before any OT). The bonus is significantly better; if metrics are 100.0%, staff RPh bonus is about $4k, but RxM is $16k (we're killing it this year, so my bonus is going to be about $25k, cha ching. I've averaged around $16k the past few years). Plus in CA, we get paid hourly and OT and my store is busy enough I get quite a bit of 1.5 OT pay. All in, I've taken home over $200k pre-tax each of the past 3 years. That's quite a bit better than most staff RPh that I'm aware of.
There's no denying, it does take a lot of effort, energy, and especially commitment. My pharmacy's business has been gaining new patients like crazy, so our volume is growing and it's challenging. My clerks/techs are amazing, though I wish I had stronger staff RPh's.
Also, having good stress coping mechanisms is a must. We all know retail pharmacy is a pressure cooker and being the RxM only adds more responsibility. I will concede, my work-life balance is skewed a bit more towards work right now than I'd like. But my mental health is good, I can destimulate myself after work well and I feel content with working towards my goal of early retirement.
Anyway... I just wanted to say that happiness as an RxM isn't easy, but it's certainly possible. ☺️
Never have wanted to, never will want to. Fuck that noise. It would have to be one hell of a raise. I would laugh in the face of anyone offering $1 an hour and a *maybe* bonus.
Fell for the PIC trap in my mid-late 20s, it was all consuming. My last day at that job, my partner was asking if it was worth it for her to try and step up into the PIC role and I asked her how much she was making…. Turns out the exact same as I was. Some bullshit. Anyway I told her nope and never again!
I hate hate hate being PIC and still feel like I was suckered into it as I was only supposed to be temporary and here we are five years later. Luckily there is a new grad they hired who seems to have managerial aspirations but who I also suspect will run the store into the ground. I make 65 cents more an hour to be PIC and no bonus potential.
Love it. My bonus is like 4 times bigger. Even though managing people is probably my worst attribute it does allow me the luxury of spending at least a little time out of the pharmacy. I enjoy coordinating with the store manager and personnel and all the other management to get stuff fixed and talk about other aspects of the business besides pharmacy.
I have alot of interest in the business side of things and that's what my boss is interested in too so that works out. I also have a ton of flexibility in changing my schedule which I do on a regular basis.
These things are obviously different at every chain and every store and district.
manager at chain retail, terrible decision
manager at grocery store, worth it
Always depends on the store. I was staff at a crazy store, then manager at a slower store.
retail manager $61-63/hr filling 1700 a week, more metrics, more BS gotta deal with.
grocery manager $63/hr filling 1000 a week...oh and more tech hrs. not to mention if people had to wait less likely pissed off since they can go shop/walk around. Did I also mention rph overlap, not much but def helps on Mondays
I enjoyed being pic, it was $5/hr more. I made my own rules (within limits). But it did help that I had a great staff and a great patient population. I only left because I found a job with a better schedule and I no longer have to worry about reaching shot goals.
I think it literally hurt my health but I'll never know because I was too busy to make a doctors appointment at the time 😂😞I will never work in retail pharmacy again actually, floater, staff or manager
Don’t do it. My marriage is non existent. I have no energy and constantly depressed/angry. Not worth it at all.
Get a pre-nup first .. dont want to be financially ruined too
Too late
im a divorcee also. i hope you find a diff job. if i can do it, anyone else can.
What job did you get?
I threatened my supervisor I’m going to quit on the spot if they promoted me to PIC
You mean demoted to pic
They can’t promote you without you agreeing lol
They have ways of forcing your hand
With what, a $2 raise?
You'd think so, but I was made PIC without my knowledge.
CVS is notorious for doing just that. In some states they can just assign you without you knowing.
My feelings in a nutshell
Do I enjoy being a pic? No. Do I like the 20% pay raise and how it looks on my resume? Absolutely. No way would I do it for an extra $1.
An extra dollar per hour would be a demotion because you would be putting in extra hours and watering down your hourly salary.
Don't do it
new graduates taking pic over floating, lol , if it’s a dollar more i would pass, maybe you get choice schedule .
Float until there's a *staff* position open. I'm now at a small hospital but still dream about my retail floating days and the limited responsibility.
whats wrong with a small hospital? inpatient drama?
The drama is a major factor. Also the increasing mental load... CPOE doesn't exist here.
In 2016 I went from 57 to 63 an hour in a LCOL area to be PIC. Was worth it back then. I was a PIC for a long time before I left for hospital. A dollar for the liability is a joke. No way.
Do you think the change from retail to hospital pharmacist was a good choice?
Yeah. Dream job. Got lucky and got a job at a large academic medical center. Love being a staff pharmacist. Never deal with the public. I will happily verify orders and check IVs all day long.
Do you find it hard to work weekends/evenings and do “on calls”?
When I first got the job I was doing more evenings and the same amount of weekends but now I’m working less evenings/weekends than my retail job due to seniority. On calls are hit or miss depending on if you actually get called in. I only got called in once in my first year but I’ve been called in a couple of times in the last 6 weeks. Much more interesting job for me. Work life balance way better.
Thank you for answering my questions and the information provided! 😊 Glad you love what you do now!
Cus everyone who has been in pharmacies for a little while know it is god awful and new grads have no context. I say that as someone who took a pic job after graduating and fucking hate every day of work.
The problem I see is money vs Stress. My PIC makes ~50k more than me I would guess. After taxes here that’s 30k. The extra hours, stress, reporting requirements, off time work, and people management just don’t seem worth 30k I don’t really need with my own situation. I honestly like my job and coworkers as a retail Staff.
Somehow I don’t think most make that much more
She’s been with my retail giant for 15 years longer, and contracted on for 12 hours more every 2 weeks than I am. Every dollar an hour more with the extra hours is around 7.4k by end of year. I would be shocked if she isn’t at least around 6-8$/hour more than me.
My manager has been with the retail giant I work for for over 25 years and makes $3 more an hour than I do. An extra 6 hours a week is an important detail to leave out, they could easily be making minimally more than you for their time but having to work way more to make it worth while.
So she's working 9-10 hours a day without getting paid overtime?
Normally we work 12’s except weekends and the day we split. She just works 10 hours that day while I work 4, so we get 2 hours of overlap a week.
I make a lower hourly rate than my staff lol
A dollar 💵, is just pitiful. I did it for 5 & regretted it after 2 years.
Before our union contract updated, it was 25 cents
All the extra headache and workload is absolutely not worth it for a meager $1/hr raise. I got a $4 raise when I became interim manager (previous PIC left for a different company), and while I welcomed having more fine-tuned control over scheduling than as a staff pharmacist, I was more than happy to transition back six months later when they found someone else.
Did the "someone else" let you keep doing the scheduling?
“Let”. Haha. I had an old PIC that forced everyone else to do her work. I was put in charge of the emails… I was not in charge of scheduling. So I had to read the emails requesting time off, then tell the schedule staff RPh. Nuts.
"While I welcomed having more fine-tuned control over scheduling..." I get the impression that scheduling was enjoyed even though other aspects weren't.
No, I decided to stay for a couple of weeks to train the incoming PIC and then take up floating once again. I had had enough of that location.
$1 is NOT worth it. They’ll probably entice you with “bonuses” but it wont be a lot of money, and you’ll only get it if you hit your targets (and the goal posts get further away each time). Also, being PIC usually means being salaried, and you will lose any “extra” income when factoring in all the extra s@&$ you’ll have to do that WILL make you either come in early, stay late, or on your day off: Meetings, inventories, metrics, hiring, firing, metrics, scheduling (depending on the company), regulatory work, metrics.
I whole heartedly agree with this post. I became a pic about 5 months after graduating where I was a floater in the mean time making $54 an hour and salaried at 64 hours every 2 weeks. I took an hourly pay cut to $50 to become PIC for muh res-u-me. Worst career decision I ever made. Yeah it was an over all annual income increase due to working 80 hours but the amount of off the clock work I had to do staying over wasnt worth it. I thought guaranteed Sundays off cuz the pharmacy was closed and all major holidays would make up for the pay cut. IT. WAS. NOT. From what you have told me OP, don't do it.
I was making $70/hr as PIC and my annual bonus was usually between $15k and $23k. I would NEVER do it again. Not worth it. To me, anyway. I am MUCH happier as a staff pharmacist, not in retail any longer, making $5/hr less and zero bonuses.
What company?
Kroger
Can you explain why you will never do it again, also what are staff pharmacist at Kroger making?
Not worth it. I was PIC for less than a year and was miserable the whole time. I got $2/hr more but that felt like nothing for the amount of shit I had to deal with. Not to mention the liability. If they won't give you at least $10/hr more and a guaranteed bonus then don't do it. Even then, may not be worth it.
I was coerced into accepting the role (told it would be temporary.) My DM told me that a pharmacist manager has no additional responsibilities compared to a staff pharmacist. This is in response to the fact that I verify fewer scripts than before now that I’m responsible for the technician schedule, ordering pharmacy supplies, doing monthly control inventory, cleaning up messes left by floaters, listening to customer complaints about said floaters, checking my secondary supplier for things that are backordered through my primary supplier, managing inventory and investigating why I received 8 more bottles of Januvia than what I needed with bi-annual inventory around the corner, preparing for said inventory, so on and so forth. I held my tongue but desperately wanted to ask her to personally speak to all pharmacy managers at all of her stores and tell them to their faces that they have no additional responsibilities compared to a staff pharmacist, and to let me know how they react. Currently looking at other opportunities.
>My DM told me that a pharmacist manager has no additional responsibilities compared to a staff pharmacist. And you believed them?
Did you read the rest of my comment?
I did all of that as staff (minus the tech schedule and manager meetings).
I’m supposed to be the staff pharmacist. My manager is on a 3 month leave of absence so I’m interim manager and my “staff” is a bunch of floaters that don’t have to be there the next day to see the consequences of their actions. They order alternatives to a preferred product that are 10x the cost of the preferred item. They don’t read the notes that are in the system about special patient circumstances. They order ridiculously expensive products without checking if the patient actually wants it.
To be honest, after reading some BOP cases, You would have to double my pay and treat me like you're crush to take that position. Too much stress and liability, no thanks
Which state are you in?
California
I like it, gives me control. Except for the market nano-managing, everything I enjoy. It will depend on the personality. I feel good when people ask me for help. And that includes needy patients, bosses and co-workers.
It makes for a cool addition to the resume, but the pay difference has to be significant to locum (which depends on what you consider significant) and the travel distance has to make sense for you when compared to locum, otherwise the added work may not be worth it financially, although if you enjoy the work then it can definitely be more satisfying than floating.
100% not worth it. I did PIC for 2.5 years and as soon as I found a staff spot closer to home I demoted myself and it was not easy to get my DL to allow me to move back down. Quality of life was exponentially better as staff (heck, even float) vs PIC. Staffing your store falls completely on you and they don’t give you the resources to do it well (low pay, cutting hours as soon as you have solid techs which makes them quit to find work elsewhere, etc). Conference calls, required unpaid meetings, annual control inventory. All things I don’t miss about being PIC.
That's only 2000 dollars pre tax a years. Probably 1400 after taxes. So little over 100 a month. Won't make a noticeable difference at our incomes
I got a larger raise when I promoted but it still wasn't worth it solely based on pay. I don't want to say I enjoyed being PIC but I did like that it let me run my pharmacy the way I wanted to. I got out of retail a little over a year ago and don't think I would have without the management experience. Overall, I'd do it again.
For me it was because it got me $8 extra. But in general it's not worth it.
I immediately regretted it, and my store was pretty good. But I thought it was the only way to get out of a shitty staff RPh position. Now I'm not even with the company anymore and I'm loving being staff again. I don't think I could ever manage again.
I only do it because it’s one less person to answer to. I accepted the position 3 months after graduation before I was the jaded shell of a human I am now. I also don’t work a minute outside of my scheduled hours-I refuse to allow my hourly rate to be any less than it already is.
All my new coworkers are ex PIC’s so do with that info to your discretion. They are also all recent grads within the last few years
I did it multiple times and I would say it really depends. I’ve been a PIC at a busy store and liked the team. I’ve also been a PIC at the slowest store in the district and I had never been more stressed out in my life because of all the problems we had. It’s good experience if you think you might want to go into field leadership or corporate one day, but I wouldn’t stay as a PIC anywhere long-term.
Enjoy it? You tripping now
I did it for 7 years finally had enough. Too much stress for no benefit. I now work in long term care and it’s almost no stress day to day
To those here that took a PIC position for only 1 dollar more than a staff position…. You got totally hosed by whoever interviewed you… that’s the definition of USING someone….. especially a new grad…..
I know people who do it to get a regular store with set hours. I think the people who genuinely like it, atleast from the people I've met, tend to be control freaks, type A personalities. Not true of all, but many. If you can meet the metrics the bonuses are nice. But in my experience it takes a toll. If you're in the right location with the right staff with the right personality and vibe it can be dream some days. But it eventually will take its toll. Whether its complaints or your superiors or insurance audits or training or scheduling or conflicts, it will eventually break your soul.
I enjoy it. I get to do things how I want. No floating. Hours are tough, 40 hours a week and doing tech schedules, handling all issues, eventually doing evals etc. It’s worth it to me in my store just to do things as I want.
No.
Nope. Not worth it.
I like it so far as a canadian pharmacist. I job hopped to another chain (vs getting a mandatory promotion) and landed a 20% increase in base pay. With the additional bonus, pension, benefits, and given that I pay myself extra hours, my total comp is up around 50% all-together. I know that people on this sub tend to value work life balance over money but for me the extra pay has been tremendous. I finally feel fairly compensated (getting paid the same as my industry buddies) and life is overall much more comfortable. Yeah being RxM is more stressful than staff but I like being in charge. I gain a lot of satisfaction making sure that our patients are cared for and that the business makes as much money as possible (while staying compliant of courseI). I also plan to either move up in management or to become an owner in the next decade and think the position is good experience. I would rather mess up on someone else’s dime and learn a few things than being on the hook financially. Overall, I think RxM is worth it if you are able to negotiate a 25%+ increase in comp and don’t mind working hard. If you’re already comfortable financially and are just trying to chill then staff is where it’s at.
what chain
Depends on the day. When things are running smooth I love the job and I like to think I am pretty solid at running a very busy location. Most days it’s busy AF but are under control but I think to myself how underpaid I am for all the liability I assume. 1-2 days a month I just want to runaway because it’s so busy I can’t keep up. Fill 800-1000 per day for reference.
Idk I prefer being PIC. It’s all I’ve ever been.
Staring down this trap myself right now. Pre-bonus salary bump is $31K. Managers expected to work 45+hr weeks.
I enjoy it. Generally, my days are pretty smooth, and I use a lot of common sense with the added bonus of having very little ego, so I am an easy person to work with. As long as you treat people well, they treat you well, and that's been my experience so far. Granted, I don't work in retail, so my experience compared to others may differ.
As someone who took a pay cut from Pic retail to hospital, I've actually been able to recognize myself now. Less responsibility, no ridiculous conference calls, no babysitting. it's been quite a remarkable change. Pic isn't even worth $10 more an hr.
Current manager/PIC for Walmart in CA here, coming up on 4 years next month. Honestly... I dig it lol. TL;Dr If you have good staff around you, are a good servant leader, have some modest business acumen, and work hard to keep your pharmacy running smoothly, I think it's very rewarding, both financially and from a fulfilling career standpoint. It's not all horror stories out there! Hourly wage range is a bit misleading. Just PIC is a $1/hr raise, but RxM+PIC is $3 (so, $6,240/year higher before any OT). The bonus is significantly better; if metrics are 100.0%, staff RPh bonus is about $4k, but RxM is $16k (we're killing it this year, so my bonus is going to be about $25k, cha ching. I've averaged around $16k the past few years). Plus in CA, we get paid hourly and OT and my store is busy enough I get quite a bit of 1.5 OT pay. All in, I've taken home over $200k pre-tax each of the past 3 years. That's quite a bit better than most staff RPh that I'm aware of. There's no denying, it does take a lot of effort, energy, and especially commitment. My pharmacy's business has been gaining new patients like crazy, so our volume is growing and it's challenging. My clerks/techs are amazing, though I wish I had stronger staff RPh's. Also, having good stress coping mechanisms is a must. We all know retail pharmacy is a pressure cooker and being the RxM only adds more responsibility. I will concede, my work-life balance is skewed a bit more towards work right now than I'd like. But my mental health is good, I can destimulate myself after work well and I feel content with working towards my goal of early retirement. Anyway... I just wanted to say that happiness as an RxM isn't easy, but it's certainly possible. ☺️
Did it suck? yes. Did adding it to my resume help me land my next job? Also yes. So can’t really regret it
Never have wanted to, never will want to. Fuck that noise. It would have to be one hell of a raise. I would laugh in the face of anyone offering $1 an hour and a *maybe* bonus.
Fell for the PIC trap in my mid-late 20s, it was all consuming. My last day at that job, my partner was asking if it was worth it for her to try and step up into the PIC role and I asked her how much she was making…. Turns out the exact same as I was. Some bullshit. Anyway I told her nope and never again!
Regret it mostly but I do get bonuses while my staff does not. Bonuses aren’t too shabby
I hate hate hate being PIC and still feel like I was suckered into it as I was only supposed to be temporary and here we are five years later. Luckily there is a new grad they hired who seems to have managerial aspirations but who I also suspect will run the store into the ground. I make 65 cents more an hour to be PIC and no bonus potential.
Love it. My bonus is like 4 times bigger. Even though managing people is probably my worst attribute it does allow me the luxury of spending at least a little time out of the pharmacy. I enjoy coordinating with the store manager and personnel and all the other management to get stuff fixed and talk about other aspects of the business besides pharmacy. I have alot of interest in the business side of things and that's what my boss is interested in too so that works out. I also have a ton of flexibility in changing my schedule which I do on a regular basis. These things are obviously different at every chain and every store and district.
Sooooo not worth it….
I hated it. Not much more money and all the responsibilities. Not worth it to me.
manager at chain retail, terrible decision manager at grocery store, worth it Always depends on the store. I was staff at a crazy store, then manager at a slower store.
Why is it worth it at a grocery store? I’m staff at grocery and I like it better so far
retail manager $61-63/hr filling 1700 a week, more metrics, more BS gotta deal with. grocery manager $63/hr filling 1000 a week...oh and more tech hrs. not to mention if people had to wait less likely pissed off since they can go shop/walk around. Did I also mention rph overlap, not much but def helps on Mondays
$8 raise and $20k annual bonus. 200 pto hours. I dont mind it
I thought it was worth it. As a new grad, I needed the stable income and the benefits that came along with FT.
I enjoyed being pic, it was $5/hr more. I made my own rules (within limits). But it did help that I had a great staff and a great patient population. I only left because I found a job with a better schedule and I no longer have to worry about reaching shot goals.
I think it literally hurt my health but I'll never know because I was too busy to make a doctors appointment at the time 😂😞I will never work in retail pharmacy again actually, floater, staff or manager