I posted a blog a while back mentioning a job offer made by my current employer. Right now, I am only considering working for three companies, one of which does not have pharmacies in KY, so I can only work for them once I move to Tennessee. So basically I am looking at only two pharmacies: my current employer, and another chain, probably the largest major pharmacy chain. After my district manager offered me a job, I contacted the other company to see if they could meet with me. I liked the offer that I had already received, but I wanted to see what other companies had to offer. Surprisingly, the other company was excited to meet with me…and meet with me quickly. So I arranged to meet the recruiter, who is based out of Indiana, for breakfast one morning. I wasn’t expecting an interview, per se, but that is what I walked into. Overall, it went pretty good. She discussed the benefits and pay, the location and hours, and all the other details…but she said she couldn’t technically offer me a job until I filled out an application online. So I completed the application that night and received an offer from her within 24 hours.
So lets break this down a little and see how my present employer, Pharmacy A, compares to the other company, Pharmacy B.
Pharmacy A has the higher salary (about 8k more per year)–if you want to know exactly, just ask–and most of their benefits seem to be better. Most of their benefits go into effect within 30 days, whereas Company B requires 30 days, 90 days, or 1 year before benefits kick in. Also, Company A would start me at 3 weeks paid vacation–Company B would only offer 2 weeks after 1 year of service, and wouldn’t increase to 3 weeks until 5 years.
Company B has two big advantages: 1. The company match on their profit sharing is around $3 to your $1 up to 2% of your salary…Company A matches dollar-for-dollar up to 3% of your salary and 50-cents on the dollar for the next two percent. So, to me, they almost equal out, since Company A will match a higher percentage of your salary. 2. Company B is offering a $30,000 sign-on bonus for the area in which I want to work. Yeah, you heard me right. This would require a 3 year commitment. I would receive this bonus soon after I sign on, and if I break my commitment, I would have to repay it, obviously. Company A had only offered a $5,000 incentive for a 1-year commitment.
Me, being the bargainer that I am, brought Company B’s offer back to Company A. They weren’t able to match it entirely, but I would receive the $5k I already mentioned, plus a $15k bonus for a 3-year commitment. They usually pay out these bonuses by giving 1/3 up front, 1/3 after 1 year, and 1/3 after 2 years. He is currently ironing out the details and trying to get me all, or most, of this bonus at the time of licensure, which would help me out tremendously tax-wise. The least I would get though, is $5k at signing, $10k at licensure, and $2.5k at 1 and 2 years. So even though the sign-on bonus isn’t quite as good, I would be able to make it up by the additional annual salary. Plus, I would have slightly better benefits and I feel much more comfortable committing to a company that I have worked for over the last 4 years, rather than walking into a company that I have never worked for.
Basically, I have already made up my decision, I am just waiting on the final details. I am very excited to already have a job landed when I still have a whole year left before I graduate. I will let you know when I finalize my decision. Please let me know what you think!
