I applied online for the pharmacy technician position through the Walgreen's website for two of their stores in my local area. Within 48 hours I got a phone call from one of the stores letting me know I would need to come in to take a skills test to move forward with the interview process. I arrived at the store and a shift manager took me to the back to take the test. The questions were all easy. Basic math in the form of being able to make the correct change and several questions that show you're capable of reading dosages and other information off a prescription bottle. Within 24 hours of taking the skills test I was called by the store manager wanting to set up an interview. I was called on Friday and the interview was scheduled for Tuesday morning. I was brought into the manager's office where a pleasant lady was having trouble getting the printer to print out the interview questions. She asked me to click print again while she was working on the printer. This gave me a view of all the interview questions to be asked and how she was expected to rate them. Pro advice, for each story or account you tell the manager you're basically graded on a 1-4 or 5 point system with 1 being a weak or almost irrelevant response and 5 being a "Response directly related to the question while including many specific details" So she asked all the behavioral and customer service questions and seemed to like me considering I have years of retail and sales experience. She then proceeded to tell me all the responsibilities of working at Walgreen's. Pure customer service, trying to sell the loyalty card, stocking shelves, cleaning floors, keeping a flexible schedule. It was this particular manager's policy that everyone works on holidays in order to "Keep everyone happy so there are no arguments about who gets what holiday off." Basically she schedules everyone and people work 2-3 hour shifts on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years Eve and New Years day. Then comes the long "soooooooo," and she drops the bomb. "We don't actually have a pharmacy technician position available. I'm looking for a cashier and it pays $7.75 an hour for 10-15 hours a week." I told her that would not work for me as I wouldn't be able to keep my current part time job and this position wouldn't pay enough to give it up. She then explains that "someone" is supposed to be making a transfer and she may have full time. I told her I might be interested in full time but that would be the only way to make the position work with that level of pay. She called me back the next day leaving me a message to call the store about taking the position. I called the number she left me and got no answer and no voice mail. I looked up the store number online and called it again with no answer or voice mail. I tried this again the following day. The third day I get a message from the store manager telling me that if she doesn't hear from me by the end of the day she will assume I'm not interested in the job. I tried to call the store back for what is the fourth time, again no answer, no voice mail. In the end I couldn't even get a hold of a store manager at Walgreen's in order to turn down a position.

I applied online and was contacted to schedule an interview. The interview was straightforward and mostly focused on my availability, customer service experience, teamwork, and why I wanted to work in a pharmacy setting. They asked behavioral questions about handling difficult customers, working with coworkers, and staying organized in a busy environment. The pharmacist interviewed me and was professional, explained the role, expectations, and next steps clearly. The store manager was also present and took notes. I am still waiting to hear back about an offer.