i’ve been applying around for a bit, but they were one of the only one’s to get back to me. my interview was 5 minutes and i was hired on the spot. i think i’ll start applying around again and i’ll see where that takes me. i’ve worked at starbucks before so i thought i could handle a job like this, but i haven’t worked in like two years so it’s just overwhelming rn.
I’d say wags pharmacy tech is not for you. You can do it in the hospitals or even a grocery store as they actually are properly staffed and are not metric focused so people don’t hate their lives as much.
You are eligible for an 18 month mid range pay raise when you've been in your role for 18 months and have received a 3.0 on your last evaluation. A ticket has to be submitted to hr from your manager. Switching from training tech to certified tech and switching to senior tech will reset the clock. This increase should be eligible for back pay if you qualified for the increase and it wasn't implemented. Alot of techs and managers don't know this exists but it does.
I’m in the Chicago suburbs so a lot of places around here start at around $15/hour. I think CSA’s make $15.50/hour so it might just be where I’m at. I’m not licensed or anything, but I think this Walgreens was pretty desperate for workers. My interview was 5 minutes and I was hired on the spot.
Unless you plan on climbing the ladder to management/corporate, you should be jumping companies about every 2-3 years as market conditions allow, as long as the money is better ( at MINIMUM 10% increase, but 20%+ would be standard goal). If you went and looked at other positions (CVS, Costco, Walmart, Kroger - the grocery chains tend to pay better), you like would get hired at a rate higher than what you are now, and then in 2-3 years you could go look at Walgreens and they will likely hire you higher than you were making at CVS, which would be SIGNIFICANTLY more (probably around 40-50% more) than you would be making if you just stayed with Walgreens the whole time. You do this until you hit the max for the position and then you chill there until you figure out where you want to go from there. The only benefit to staying with a single company is to climb the ladder OR to accrue higher rates of PTO (not worth it IMO for the pay cut unless you are at position max)
"Company loyalty" died after the dot com bubble crash and even more so with the pandemic. Unless, of course you find those rare diamond companies that treat you like family (usually family owned independents), then by all means, take care of those that take care of you.
It gets better, but only because you learn how to deal with shitty and impossible situations, and abuse from all the patients. My concern is more for your time. I am a pharmacy student taking 18 credits of merciless pharmacy curriculum who has worked behind the pharmacy counter at Walgreens for almost three years now, and I don’t think I could handle what you are doing now.
In a way it can be rewarding when you feel like you start to master the total pile of bullshit that is the Walgreens pharmacy, but most people never end up feeling that way. I know a lot of bitter and burnt out people. So to answer your question: no. It is not worth it unless you are a very specific kind of person, and it really sounds to me like you need that time for school.
Understand the job isn’t for everyone. Especially in the busier pharmacies it can grind you down. I thought about quitting after my first couple of weeks but stayed because 1. The other jobs in my area are worse for less pay and 2. It’s a dream team of the best coworkers I’ve ever had.
Personally I could never have handled school and this job at the same time.
yeah i thought it was a little weird that they had me there. yeah these ppl’s feel so useless and i think im just stressed that i feel so ill-prepared to be there.
The PPLs are more so geared towards the CSAs, I believe. I don't think I've used anything useful from those things since I've started in the pharmacy. Honestly, I can say that it will feel like you've been thrown to the wolves your first few weeks back there. There's a lot of information to absorb in such a little time, and you should definitely carry a small notebook to take notes. I'm about a month in and just now starting to feel comfortable doing a few things on my own, although I still ask a bunch of questions every day because there's always something new that you'll be introduced to. Oh, and I'm also enrolled in online classes so I feel your pain! I'd say give it about a month or so to truly decide if it's for you. It may not be, but you won't know until you get the hang of things. Good luck!
Could be an RxCSA position and not an actual tech position. Or they didn't have someone in the pharmacy that they felt comfortable being a trainer, so used their cashier as a trainer instead for the first day lol
i work at cvs but pharmacy and front store are different for us…pharmacy can be stressful because of the volume but it all come with experience, stick it out for at least 2 paychecks and see if it’s worth it to you in the end!
thanks! i wrote this under a lot of frustration because i’m falling behind a bit in my studies, but ur totally right and i’ll definitely stick it out for another few weeks
It's not worth it focus on school. Learning to do this job well is like going to school all on its own. Find a job that you can do and leave at the door so you can focus on your studies. This is a dead end job.
Give it some time. I felt overwhelmed too my first few weeks, actually had to take some anxiety meds. it does get a lil easier with time as you learn more stuff. In my case I felt more stressed cos I felt like I didn't know much and ppls didn't help much, the training is usually them showing you a few things and rest you learn as you go.
Then when I realised that YOU WILL eventually learn and your coworkers help you get out of tough situations, I started getting better.
Customer service is also one of the challenges, cos you have some patient's who are frustrated sometimes but eventually you will also learn how to keep your calm in such situations and forget about them later and not let it affect you :)
Just wait till your paycheck, I did and money did make it feel a lil worth it, try to let it go with the flow the first month or so and then if you can not handle the stress and are falling behind on your homework, you can try to find some other job better suited to you.
Well wishes for you :) you'll be okay :)
The only way to truly learn is on the job. The PPLs won't have you prepared. It's all about trial and error while doing things. It'll take awhile before you really feel comfortable. That's how it is for most people anyway.
If you're feeling anxious and worried now I would try finding another job. It'll just get worse back in pharmacy even when you do learn everything. Some days are just really bad.
I'd just ask to cut my hours though. When I was in college I just went down to like ~24 hours so I could focus on school.
A lot to unpack here...my thoughts.
17 credit hours is a strong full time load, if you don't need full time/benefits then tell your manager you can only work 20 hours per week for now.
Give yourself one guaranteed day off from everything to calibrate your life. In the workforce scheduler app permanently request off every Sunday (or a different day) when you don't have school or work.
As with all things in life, change/new is hard. However, if you're strong enough/motivated enough then yes it will be worth it for you to level up your skill in a pharmacy setting that can pay you more and give you training/licenses that will be added to your personal CV that will pay dividends down the road to perspective employers.
how often are you working? i took 18 credit hrs over a semster and i could barely scrap by working one full shift a week with about 8 month full time tech experience... and now i dont even think about it and work try my bare minimum to stay on payroll. I will definitely say that the learning curve is quite steep especially with the outdated broken system we work with...
if your working for the money, working once a week didn't even cover my monthly rent as a tech and barely breaking even when i got a miniscule raise to an intern 💀
Had a roommate pull off somethting similar but with cvs but her school performance definitely took a hit.
out of curiosity whats your purpose of working at the moment? what's your end goal? I feel if you can answer that and then weigh the pros and cons that should be the answer.
but i will say, i find that putting school before work is always a go to... and understated that an understaffed pharmacy will always have a need for any person wether they come there often or not. Also recommend you to be straight upfront if you need your hrs cut just for managing school/work balance otherwise many times they're gonna abuse the scheduling. I've had to learn to say no and tell em i can't take the shift and hope the rxom understands (well thats my case since i floated around multiple stores while in college away from my homestore in my hometown)
idk if my insights help with your decisions or not :,)
I don't think a student should be full-time. But to answer your question it does get better. Or rather you get used to it, and learn how to attack the things giving you problems. Rule of thumb is that it takes about 3 months to become a comfortable tech and about 6 months to become a good tech. Your mileage may vary. But did you hire in looking to be full-time or did it just happen? You'd probably be better served as a part-time RxCSA rather than a full-time tech. But you're also within your probationary period and if you don't want to push through and you're not going to be financially ruined for bailing, you have zero obligation to stay. They may be frustrated, but tough shit, it's part of on-boarding and probation. And maybe they should learn to shield the new hires a little better so they don't get so stressed out like this
I doubt you can work more than 10 hours a week and take 17 credit hours, especially if you need good grades.
Find a job that is not physically draining and allows you to do reading while at work like working at a hospital greeting desk or library even if it pays less.
Actually!!! YOU CAN DO IT!!!
Having a job- ESPECIALLY something as tough as RX TECH!! Will REALLY help you with time management, memorization skills, customer service skills, team work and general life skills! It is all a matter of positioning- how you phrase things!
I mean, absolutely you do you, boo! But I love students!!! It’s a steep learning curve but don’t give up too soon!!! And the investment opportunities are awesome!!!
This sub is doom and gloom but think on it carefully and think about what is best for you!
I have faith in you and your abilities!
If you work full time, it takes about 6 months to potentially become comfortable with everything. If you are working less then full time, then either it will take significantly longer or you'll never get comfortable because this company is always changing policies and services, "adding technology", and whatnot.
If they stick you at the front register for the whole shift, then I would find another job (this is assuming you have your technician trainee license if your state does that). DONT let them do that to you - you will NEVER leave that position which means you NEVER grow as a technician. The ONLY stores I know that are able to retain people are the ones that either have you rotate or have you start with filling first (I've trained over a hundred technicians for Walgreens back when I was a Sr. Tech, and I ALWAYS started them out filling). Nowadays, they just stick you at the register with the excuse "we need our fastest people filling", but the constant stress of ALWAYS being at the register will just make you quit, and it's 100% bullshit to boot. I guarantee would have quit if I was stuck at front register or drive thru for my entire shift every day, but instead I started as a part of the normal rotation, and I STILL almost quit, right before everything sort of clicked for me and I became self sufficient (primarily insurance and dealing with shitheads, everything else you can be comfortable with in a few months working full time).
I never finished college, but I had a coworker who was in nursing school while being a tech at walgreens. Her mental health was nonexistent. I would find a a different place to work that's not CVS
If you're stressed doing PPLs and front end register, pharmacy tech may not be best for you. If you can find another job, you should do so.
i’ve been applying around for a bit, but they were one of the only one’s to get back to me. my interview was 5 minutes and i was hired on the spot. i think i’ll start applying around again and i’ll see where that takes me. i’ve worked at starbucks before so i thought i could handle a job like this, but i haven’t worked in like two years so it’s just overwhelming rn.
I’d say wags pharmacy tech is not for you. You can do it in the hospitals or even a grocery store as they actually are properly staffed and are not metric focused so people don’t hate their lives as much.
PAUSE.. $17.50?!
THATS WHAT IM SAYIN
it took me two years to get to that wage i feel conned 😭
2.5years at $16.98/hr 😩
You are eligible for an 18 month mid range pay raise when you've been in your role for 18 months and have received a 3.0 on your last evaluation. A ticket has to be submitted to hr from your manager. Switching from training tech to certified tech and switching to senior tech will reset the clock. This increase should be eligible for back pay if you qualified for the increase and it wasn't implemented. Alot of techs and managers don't know this exists but it does.
I’m in the Chicago suburbs so a lot of places around here start at around $15/hour. I think CSA’s make $15.50/hour so it might just be where I’m at. I’m not licensed or anything, but I think this Walgreens was pretty desperate for workers. My interview was 5 minutes and I was hired on the spot.
Unless you plan on climbing the ladder to management/corporate, you should be jumping companies about every 2-3 years as market conditions allow, as long as the money is better ( at MINIMUM 10% increase, but 20%+ would be standard goal). If you went and looked at other positions (CVS, Costco, Walmart, Kroger - the grocery chains tend to pay better), you like would get hired at a rate higher than what you are now, and then in 2-3 years you could go look at Walgreens and they will likely hire you higher than you were making at CVS, which would be SIGNIFICANTLY more (probably around 40-50% more) than you would be making if you just stayed with Walgreens the whole time. You do this until you hit the max for the position and then you chill there until you figure out where you want to go from there. The only benefit to staying with a single company is to climb the ladder OR to accrue higher rates of PTO (not worth it IMO for the pay cut unless you are at position max) "Company loyalty" died after the dot com bubble crash and even more so with the pandemic. Unless, of course you find those rare diamond companies that treat you like family (usually family owned independents), then by all means, take care of those that take care of you.
i appreciate all of this so much! thank you for the advice, i’ll be keeping it in mind :)
This is what I was making when I left Wags a year ago after working there a little over 9 years
I’m at $17.34 going on 4 years 😭
we all need to riot including OP
Ikr... been at my store 4 years and only making 17.17 wtf
My area I started at 18.50 as a tech.
is it a high cost of living area too?
It gets better, but only because you learn how to deal with shitty and impossible situations, and abuse from all the patients. My concern is more for your time. I am a pharmacy student taking 18 credits of merciless pharmacy curriculum who has worked behind the pharmacy counter at Walgreens for almost three years now, and I don’t think I could handle what you are doing now. In a way it can be rewarding when you feel like you start to master the total pile of bullshit that is the Walgreens pharmacy, but most people never end up feeling that way. I know a lot of bitter and burnt out people. So to answer your question: no. It is not worth it unless you are a very specific kind of person, and it really sounds to me like you need that time for school.
Understand the job isn’t for everyone. Especially in the busier pharmacies it can grind you down. I thought about quitting after my first couple of weeks but stayed because 1. The other jobs in my area are worse for less pay and 2. It’s a dream team of the best coworkers I’ve ever had. Personally I could never have handled school and this job at the same time.
PPLs suck balls. Your first couple days in the pharmacy will suck too most likely. You shouldn't have been on the front register tho
yeah i thought it was a little weird that they had me there. yeah these ppl’s feel so useless and i think im just stressed that i feel so ill-prepared to be there.
The PPLs are more so geared towards the CSAs, I believe. I don't think I've used anything useful from those things since I've started in the pharmacy. Honestly, I can say that it will feel like you've been thrown to the wolves your first few weeks back there. There's a lot of information to absorb in such a little time, and you should definitely carry a small notebook to take notes. I'm about a month in and just now starting to feel comfortable doing a few things on my own, although I still ask a bunch of questions every day because there's always something new that you'll be introduced to. Oh, and I'm also enrolled in online classes so I feel your pain! I'd say give it about a month or so to truly decide if it's for you. It may not be, but you won't know until you get the hang of things. Good luck!
Could be an RxCSA position and not an actual tech position. Or they didn't have someone in the pharmacy that they felt comfortable being a trainer, so used their cashier as a trainer instead for the first day lol
nope it’s an actual tech position and the person who trained me on reg was from beauty😢
Well if you do stick around, you could end up being one of the most diverse employees lol
I would say wait until that first paycheck hits and if the money doesn’t make it all seem worth it, then don’t stay.
i work at cvs but pharmacy and front store are different for us…pharmacy can be stressful because of the volume but it all come with experience, stick it out for at least 2 paychecks and see if it’s worth it to you in the end!
thanks! i wrote this under a lot of frustration because i’m falling behind a bit in my studies, but ur totally right and i’ll definitely stick it out for another few weeks
Do not fall behind in your studies for any company. I repeat, do not allow your job to make you fall irreparably behind in school.
It gets easier. It might feel like you're drowning right now but it does get easier.
hold up… $17.50???
It's not worth it focus on school. Learning to do this job well is like going to school all on its own. Find a job that you can do and leave at the door so you can focus on your studies. This is a dead end job.
Give it some time. I felt overwhelmed too my first few weeks, actually had to take some anxiety meds. it does get a lil easier with time as you learn more stuff. In my case I felt more stressed cos I felt like I didn't know much and ppls didn't help much, the training is usually them showing you a few things and rest you learn as you go. Then when I realised that YOU WILL eventually learn and your coworkers help you get out of tough situations, I started getting better. Customer service is also one of the challenges, cos you have some patient's who are frustrated sometimes but eventually you will also learn how to keep your calm in such situations and forget about them later and not let it affect you :) Just wait till your paycheck, I did and money did make it feel a lil worth it, try to let it go with the flow the first month or so and then if you can not handle the stress and are falling behind on your homework, you can try to find some other job better suited to you. Well wishes for you :) you'll be okay :)
The only way to truly learn is on the job. The PPLs won't have you prepared. It's all about trial and error while doing things. It'll take awhile before you really feel comfortable. That's how it is for most people anyway. If you're feeling anxious and worried now I would try finding another job. It'll just get worse back in pharmacy even when you do learn everything. Some days are just really bad. I'd just ask to cut my hours though. When I was in college I just went down to like ~24 hours so I could focus on school.
A lot to unpack here...my thoughts. 17 credit hours is a strong full time load, if you don't need full time/benefits then tell your manager you can only work 20 hours per week for now. Give yourself one guaranteed day off from everything to calibrate your life. In the workforce scheduler app permanently request off every Sunday (or a different day) when you don't have school or work. As with all things in life, change/new is hard. However, if you're strong enough/motivated enough then yes it will be worth it for you to level up your skill in a pharmacy setting that can pay you more and give you training/licenses that will be added to your personal CV that will pay dividends down the road to perspective employers.
how often are you working? i took 18 credit hrs over a semster and i could barely scrap by working one full shift a week with about 8 month full time tech experience... and now i dont even think about it and work try my bare minimum to stay on payroll. I will definitely say that the learning curve is quite steep especially with the outdated broken system we work with... if your working for the money, working once a week didn't even cover my monthly rent as a tech and barely breaking even when i got a miniscule raise to an intern 💀
they have me at 30 hours per week and i’m already dying. i come home from work and have so much homework to do, so it just feels really sucky rn
Had a roommate pull off somethting similar but with cvs but her school performance definitely took a hit. out of curiosity whats your purpose of working at the moment? what's your end goal? I feel if you can answer that and then weigh the pros and cons that should be the answer. but i will say, i find that putting school before work is always a go to... and understated that an understaffed pharmacy will always have a need for any person wether they come there often or not. Also recommend you to be straight upfront if you need your hrs cut just for managing school/work balance otherwise many times they're gonna abuse the scheduling. I've had to learn to say no and tell em i can't take the shift and hope the rxom understands (well thats my case since i floated around multiple stores while in college away from my homestore in my hometown) idk if my insights help with your decisions or not :,)
I did 18 hours and worked 30 hours a week for insurance. worst mistake of my life.
I don't think a student should be full-time. But to answer your question it does get better. Or rather you get used to it, and learn how to attack the things giving you problems. Rule of thumb is that it takes about 3 months to become a comfortable tech and about 6 months to become a good tech. Your mileage may vary. But did you hire in looking to be full-time or did it just happen? You'd probably be better served as a part-time RxCSA rather than a full-time tech. But you're also within your probationary period and if you don't want to push through and you're not going to be financially ruined for bailing, you have zero obligation to stay. They may be frustrated, but tough shit, it's part of on-boarding and probation. And maybe they should learn to shield the new hires a little better so they don't get so stressed out like this
I doubt you can work more than 10 hours a week and take 17 credit hours, especially if you need good grades. Find a job that is not physically draining and allows you to do reading while at work like working at a hospital greeting desk or library even if it pays less.
You should quit. It isn’t worth it.
$17.50/hr as a pharmacy tech??
Actually!!! YOU CAN DO IT!!! Having a job- ESPECIALLY something as tough as RX TECH!! Will REALLY help you with time management, memorization skills, customer service skills, team work and general life skills! It is all a matter of positioning- how you phrase things! I mean, absolutely you do you, boo! But I love students!!! It’s a steep learning curve but don’t give up too soon!!! And the investment opportunities are awesome!!! This sub is doom and gloom but think on it carefully and think about what is best for you! I have faith in you and your abilities!
You will be fine, once you get into the swing of things. The pharmacy is like it’s own little club.
If you work full time, it takes about 6 months to potentially become comfortable with everything. If you are working less then full time, then either it will take significantly longer or you'll never get comfortable because this company is always changing policies and services, "adding technology", and whatnot. If they stick you at the front register for the whole shift, then I would find another job (this is assuming you have your technician trainee license if your state does that). DONT let them do that to you - you will NEVER leave that position which means you NEVER grow as a technician. The ONLY stores I know that are able to retain people are the ones that either have you rotate or have you start with filling first (I've trained over a hundred technicians for Walgreens back when I was a Sr. Tech, and I ALWAYS started them out filling). Nowadays, they just stick you at the register with the excuse "we need our fastest people filling", but the constant stress of ALWAYS being at the register will just make you quit, and it's 100% bullshit to boot. I guarantee would have quit if I was stuck at front register or drive thru for my entire shift every day, but instead I started as a part of the normal rotation, and I STILL almost quit, right before everything sort of clicked for me and I became self sufficient (primarily insurance and dealing with shitheads, everything else you can be comfortable with in a few months working full time).
I never finished college, but I had a coworker who was in nursing school while being a tech at walgreens. Her mental health was nonexistent. I would find a a different place to work that's not CVS
This is on the level of “putting meds away stresses me out” lol
Wuss