I began seriously searching in November of 02. I was going to be finishing school during the holidays and figured I would gear up my search. I knew it was what I wanted to do for some time. My Father and Uncle are both 30+ year veterans of the industry. However, they are/were in the [...]
Excerpt from Drug Rep Success by Alex Anderson
Think of the pharmaceutical sales industry as a castle with a large solid steel door. In order to get into the castle you must have a key. There are no short cuts. There is only a front door and a back door to our castle.
In order [...]
I have a pharmaceutical sales ride along, what course of action should I take? Sit back, be conservative, observe, and take good notes or be assertive and show I want to be involved? What’s the standard or is there one?
It’s important to remember that, for all practical purposes, the ride along (a.k.a. field [...]
One of the most effective ways to build your sales network is the follow-up sales call. When utilized properly, this can influence the outcome of the sale. Unfortunately, many people don’t plan properly and lose the opportunity for a return visit. Here are some tips to ensure that you are maximizing your follow-up opportunities:
Take [...]
A critical part of the pharmaceutical sales job search is the informational interview that you will conduct with your networking contacts. Obviously, these information-gathering meetings will provide you with valuable insight into things like day to day activities, company culture, professionalism, and overall mood of the company (or at least the rep you’re interviewing). [...]
Copyright © 2000 by Kevin Donlin
Career changes are common today. And challenging.
If you’re like most people trying to switch careers, you’ve had a hard time writing an effective résumé and cover letter . Because to do so, you have to prove you have the skills and/or experience to do a job that’s very different from [...]
The following questions and answers are taken from “57 Most Frequently Asked Questions and Answers That Get You Hired ” by Pat Riley. Notice how we address the Hiring Managers’ thought process and provide you with a real life sample answer.
What is your perception of a typical day for a pharmaceutical representative?
THOUGHT PROCESS: The [...]
When you are looking for a position in the pharmaceutical field, remember that you will need to send out 10 resumes to secure one interview. Of course, this is simply an average and you may experience an increased percentage of interviews depending on your location, network contacts, and resume quality. Regardless of how you get [...]
Every successful pharmaceutical sales job search requires two basic elements: time and organization. All other components are secondary. If you are organized , you will find more time to conduct a full-scale job search. The rule of thumb in todays economy is that it takes 1 month of job searching for every $10,000 of target [...]
As a 6-year veteran of pharmaceutical sales recruiting, I hear this question at least 77 times a day.
Breaking into pharmaceutical sales is hard work. Throughout life, you learn “life rules” like “respect your elders” and “wear a shirt at the dinner table”. Likewise, there are pharmaceutical job-hunting rules…secrets. Only nobody has told you them. However, [...]
