Excerpt from PharmRepSelect® - Your Complete Guide to getting a Job in Pharmaceutical Sales by Lisa Alexander
The optimal job experience to secure a pharmaceutical sales job is at least two years prior “outside sales” experience. The definition of outside sales means not retail sales. This means selling to a customer base outside the office. Selling [...]
Like any sales organization, pharmaceutical sales has a very defined sales force. Knowing where each role fits can assist you in targeting the next level of advancement as well as being aware of who the key players are when it comes to networking for your next pharma job. There has been a lot of discussion [...]
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 Hiring Manager [...]
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 [...]
Anyone who has tried to get a job as a pharmaceutical sales rep knows that is can be a bit overwhelming. You have to understand the strategies of effective networking , like finding pharmaceutical sales representative groups, the right questions to ask whenever you are in the company of those in the industry and other [...]
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, [...]
In the beginnings of the pharmaceutical sales job search, a common question potential candidates ask is, “I know that doctors don’t actually place orders for your medicines, so how do you get credit for your sales?” It’s a great question that could take hours to explain, but there are a few highlights that may help [...]
How many fishermen do you know who only have one lure in their tackle box or always use the same bait every time they go fishing? None, probably. That’s because a smart fisherman knows different situations require different lures and different baits. A smart job hunter knows this, too, and includes several types of lures [...]
You are treating your pharmaceutical job search like a full-time job itself, right? You are practicing a pattern of daily activities that include networking , cold calling, reading the employment section of the newspaper and surfing the Internet. You may even be maintaining your competitive edge by reading up on the latest pharmaceutical news. So, [...]
