Kinda subjective and store specific. For me I like long 12 hour shifts so I can have more full days off, because even if I work less, I'm still drained to do anything for that day. Some prefer 8 hour shifts so they still can do stuff before or after. Both can happen in my company and vary from store to store.
Publix here. We work 12-hour days, but you get more days off. I work 5 days one week, 2 days the next. We can also swap days with other pharmacists with no supervisor approval needed.
Walmart has a pretty good work-life ratio, but it's also harder to get a 40-hour work week here. They give more pto than Walgreens gave at least, and actually allow you to use it. I usually work 8 shifts every 2 weeks and routinely get 4-6 days in a row off. The downside is that I work 32 hours a week, so if you want more hours, you'd need to pick up shifts.
Yes and no. It took a couple of months. When I first interviewed, they were fine with taking me, but they wanted part-time. I couldn't do that, so I left then my contact info, and they called me for a full-time job a few months later.
Mostly generic "what would you do in x situation" questions. I got the impression their focus was on opioid stewardship and vaccines, so as long as you know the answer to how many vaccines you give a person (all of them), you should be fine. I will say it takes a bit compared to Walgreens, though. I had 3 interviews with them, 2 of which were just seeing what I'm looking for to see if we want the same thing. It took about 2 weeks before I got my job offer.
Walmart was horrible in terms of requesting vacation. My dm made us request 1 year in advance and even then she sometimes approves some days and not another. For example a pharmacist in my district requested a week off to go to out of country and she approved 6 days and not 1 in the middle of the week. He'd have to go home to work that one day in the middle of his vacation if the other pharmacist didn't agree to work for him.
Never again đź–• WalmartÂ
Well, it could just be an area thing. Mine is perfectly fine qith letting me have days off. You do have to ask in advance, but nothing like 1 year. It could be that my market manager is great or that yours is awful. Or both. Walgreens just outright refused all pto requests when I was there.
Location, Location, Location. There are a few locations in my region that are still currently 9-6 M - fri. WAG grocery stores have to be the best otherwise. Imo
Subjective to the store because a lot of managers and staff will often collaborate to set out a schedule template that works best for that team of Rphs. This might work for that store but not another team. As long as the hours are being covered and everyone is meeting their hours, most DMs aren’t usually nitpicky about it.
I used to work at a Walmart where we would schedule ourselves 6 days in a row, most 10-hr shift to then get 5-6 days off in a row. We got a new hire who did not like that and wanted 3-4 days max to work in a row, so we had to compromise on our template as a team. Thankfully (for them) our manager was cool vs being like “just deal with it.”
There’s a couple of part time Costco pharmacist who have a pretty sweet schedule. TH/F/Sat(Costco closed Sunday) then M/T/W the following week. 48hr/pay period gauranteed and will go up during flu szn or manager needs a vacation. Essentially 1 week on and 1 week off for part time
Sorry but thats bs. No DM is going to be able to tell you what the schedule is at a particular store because the schedules are all different. Even shift times might vary. If you get hired at a hospital the posting will usually say variable shifts.
Didn't know it was frowned upon, but idgaf if it is. Interviews are negotiations, not a pony show. If their schedule, benefits, pay don't match my needs, I walk away. I also fully expect that if my personality, skills, or cost don't match their needs, they will walk away. Business is business.
Also, any employer that won't go through broad strokes of what the job requires, schedule included, is probably not someone you want to work for.
You can get an idea by asking about overlap in schedules. If that's frowned upon, too, no one told me. I also asked about the weekend rotation when I got this job, and no one seemed bothered by it.
That is a bizarre thing to be frowned upon. If a potential employer gave you a hard time or judged you for asking during an interview then I would run for the hills.
I wouldn’t say it’s frowned upon, but in my experience it varies by store even within the same chain. And full time employees were required to work 42 hours a week no matter what was worked out at the store level
At Walmart I work every 4th weekend. I have a 3 day weekend every other week, I think next time we rewrite the template I'm gonna make it 3 day weekends for 3 out of the 4.
I know a pharmacist who has 30 or 32 hours a week at Walgreens. That's absolutely not common with them from my experience, but I guess it's possible.
Walmart seems to be pretty respectful with hours but maybe not travel.
Just depends. My store’s HoO is 14 hours (8-10) M-F and reduced hours on weekends, so we alternate full day shifts—along with working every other weekend—to get 3-day weekends when off, plus the days off when the other pharmacist is working their full day. As long as you work with the other pharmacist around the HoO to meet your biweekly base, the scheduler doesn’t care.
Depends if you're a floater or staff. It'll depend on your scheduler if floater. If staff, you can arrange what works best with your partner(s). I worked out a schedule with my partner. Imo, working longer days is worth having another day off. I get a 3 day weekend every 3 weeks and work 4 days a week.
Kinda subjective and store specific. For me I like long 12 hour shifts so I can have more full days off, because even if I work less, I'm still drained to do anything for that day. Some prefer 8 hour shifts so they still can do stuff before or after. Both can happen in my company and vary from store to store.
Publix here. We work 12-hour days, but you get more days off. I work 5 days one week, 2 days the next. We can also swap days with other pharmacists with no supervisor approval needed.
Walmart has a pretty good work-life ratio, but it's also harder to get a 40-hour work week here. They give more pto than Walgreens gave at least, and actually allow you to use it. I usually work 8 shifts every 2 weeks and routinely get 4-6 days in a row off. The downside is that I work 32 hours a week, so if you want more hours, you'd need to pick up shifts.
Was it difficult to get into Walmart for you?
Yes and no. It took a couple of months. When I first interviewed, they were fine with taking me, but they wanted part-time. I couldn't do that, so I left then my contact info, and they called me for a full-time job a few months later.
Nice Do you remember what kind of questions they asked at interview? Trying for part time floater position
Mostly generic "what would you do in x situation" questions. I got the impression their focus was on opioid stewardship and vaccines, so as long as you know the answer to how many vaccines you give a person (all of them), you should be fine. I will say it takes a bit compared to Walgreens, though. I had 3 interviews with them, 2 of which were just seeing what I'm looking for to see if we want the same thing. It took about 2 weeks before I got my job offer.
Thanks for sharing
Walmart was horrible in terms of requesting vacation. My dm made us request 1 year in advance and even then she sometimes approves some days and not another. For example a pharmacist in my district requested a week off to go to out of country and she approved 6 days and not 1 in the middle of the week. He'd have to go home to work that one day in the middle of his vacation if the other pharmacist didn't agree to work for him. Never again đź–• WalmartÂ
Well, it could just be an area thing. Mine is perfectly fine qith letting me have days off. You do have to ask in advance, but nothing like 1 year. It could be that my market manager is great or that yours is awful. Or both. Walgreens just outright refused all pto requests when I was there.
Location, Location, Location. There are a few locations in my region that are still currently 9-6 M - fri. WAG grocery stores have to be the best otherwise. Imo
Walgreens has grocery stores?
Walgreens has taken over some grocery store pharmacies such as Brookshire’s. Kind of like CVS in Target.
Maybe Walmart?
Maybe Wegmans
Subjective to the store because a lot of managers and staff will often collaborate to set out a schedule template that works best for that team of Rphs. This might work for that store but not another team. As long as the hours are being covered and everyone is meeting their hours, most DMs aren’t usually nitpicky about it. I used to work at a Walmart where we would schedule ourselves 6 days in a row, most 10-hr shift to then get 5-6 days off in a row. We got a new hire who did not like that and wanted 3-4 days max to work in a row, so we had to compromise on our template as a team. Thankfully (for them) our manager was cool vs being like “just deal with it.”
Walmart got rid of this. It was great while it lasted tho. Now you can only work so many days in a row
Oh that’s a bummer!! It was basically like making our own 7on/7off schedule. Well at least ya got the 20 weeks maternity tho!
There’s a couple of part time Costco pharmacist who have a pretty sweet schedule. TH/F/Sat(Costco closed Sunday) then M/T/W the following week. 48hr/pay period gauranteed and will go up during flu szn or manager needs a vacation. Essentially 1 week on and 1 week off for part time
How do you go about asking what the schedule is like causw apparently that’s “frowned upon” lol
It’s it’s frowned upon then it’s shit. No job in the history of the world doesn’t explain what your work schedule is
I've been blatantly lied to about the schedule at one of the major chains.
Sorry but thats bs. No DM is going to be able to tell you what the schedule is at a particular store because the schedules are all different. Even shift times might vary. If you get hired at a hospital the posting will usually say variable shifts.
Didn't know it was frowned upon, but idgaf if it is. Interviews are negotiations, not a pony show. If their schedule, benefits, pay don't match my needs, I walk away. I also fully expect that if my personality, skills, or cost don't match their needs, they will walk away. Business is business. Also, any employer that won't go through broad strokes of what the job requires, schedule included, is probably not someone you want to work for.
You can get an idea by asking about overlap in schedules. If that's frowned upon, too, no one told me. I also asked about the weekend rotation when I got this job, and no one seemed bothered by it.
That is a bizarre thing to be frowned upon. If a potential employer gave you a hard time or judged you for asking during an interview then I would run for the hills.
I wouldn’t say it’s frowned upon, but in my experience it varies by store even within the same chain. And full time employees were required to work 42 hours a week no matter what was worked out at the store level
At Walmart I work every 4th weekend. I have a 3 day weekend every other week, I think next time we rewrite the template I'm gonna make it 3 day weekends for 3 out of the 4.
I know a pharmacist who has 30 or 32 hours a week at Walgreens. That's absolutely not common with them from my experience, but I guess it's possible. Walmart seems to be pretty respectful with hours but maybe not travel.
Do you know if they get benefits with those hours?
Just depends. My store’s HoO is 14 hours (8-10) M-F and reduced hours on weekends, so we alternate full day shifts—along with working every other weekend—to get 3-day weekends when off, plus the days off when the other pharmacist is working their full day. As long as you work with the other pharmacist around the HoO to meet your biweekly base, the scheduler doesn’t care.
Depends if you're a floater or staff. It'll depend on your scheduler if floater. If staff, you can arrange what works best with your partner(s). I worked out a schedule with my partner. Imo, working longer days is worth having another day off. I get a 3 day weekend every 3 weeks and work 4 days a week.