If You Think You Have to be a Cheerleader to Get a Pharmaceutical Sales Job, You Don’t Stand a Chance
I’ve had enough.
I’m tired of hearing everyone talk about how all drug companies do is hire beautiful women implying that their “powers of seduction” will result in a few more prescriptions. I’m not tired of the claims because they’re completely false, I’m tired of hearing about them because of the hyperbole that accompanies every-single-story. “Why now” you ask? I’m not really sure. All I know is that there was one post that put me over the edge. It wasn’t particularly demeaning or harmful to the industry (the industry tends to do that to itself), but the two posts it referred to were certainly filled with the afformentioned exaggeration that stories like these are overflowing with.
The article that sent me over the edge was titled and it starts like this…
The eDrugSearch blog has that Mia Heaston, the current Miss Illinois and one of the 2007 Miss USA hopefuls, is also a pharmaceutical industry representative.
If this link seems a bit too tenuous to be newsworthy, the blog also identifies two of last year’s Miss USA contestants who were drug reps and no less than 16 professional cheerleaders who also work as reps for the pharmaceutical industry.
Sixteen. Seriously. Sixteen. Okay, before I make this point, I’ll concede to the fact that they did say…
One caveat to our list: the All-Pharma Cheerleading Squad likely includes only a minority of those pro cheerleaders who also cheer for pharma, as many team Web sites do not include occupational info on their cheerleaders.
Let’s say that half of the 32 teams in the NFL posted the occupations of their cheerleaders. This simple doubling would also result in an additional 16 NFL cheerleaders who are also pharmaceutical sales reps. Thirty-two. Seriously. Thirty-two.
There are about 100,000 pharmaceutical sales representatives in the U.S. Stop the presses! Thirty-two of 100,000 pharma reps are also NFL cheerleaders (0.032%). Big freaking deal. From a different angle, each NFL team has a cheerleading squad of around 40 women (32 x 40 = 1,280).
Is it not reasonable to assume that some of what it takes to be a successful cheerleader is congruent with what it takes to be a successful salesperson? Things like self-confidence, hard work, energy, persistence, and the ability to get someone excited come to mind off hand.
It also annoys me to no end that the articles do nothing to combat the stereotypes that stick to cheerleaders by default. Maybe Allison was hired because the territory needed someone with a strong technical background. After all, she did graduate from N.C. State with degrees in Chemistry and Biology. And guess what else, Tara has two degrees (not just two majors) – one in Biology and another in Nursing. Is she qualified to be a drug rep. You bet. More qualified than you? Probably.
Want another example of exaggeration from the articles cited above? Natalie isn’t even a pharma rep. She just wants to be.
What’s my point? Everyone in the pharma industry is not a supermodel or a cheerleader. I would even go so far as to say that most are normal looking folks who do a damn good job of taking care of themselves and pay close attention to their image – because they understand that image plays a role in sales. It’s my opinion that 99.9% of sales managers don’t make hiring decisions based on beauty and even fewer encourage reps to use their attractiveness to increase sales.
The bottom line is, if you’re using the “I’m not good looking enough” excuse as a reason that you can’t get into pharma sales, you should either…
- Look for a position that requires lower self esteem because if you ever get hired as a pharmaceutical representative with that mindset (unlikely), your fragile ego will not be able to take the beating that will ensue in your first 12 months in the field.
- OR, change your thoughts. If you meet the minimum requirements and you want to be a drug rep, don’t let your poor self-esteem get in the way. Fix it. Even if you decide you don’t want to be a pharma rep in the process, you’ll move into whatever role you choose a better person.
If you want to read a bit more on the subject, take a look at these two articles – and feel free to post related links in the comments.
Gimme an Rx! Cheerleaders Pep Up Drug Sales from the New York Times
The secret life of salesgirls by Penelope Trunk
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Very interesting! I took a look at the two articles and it’s very…interesting.
Hi,
I worked as a pharmaceutical rep beginning at age 21 (young) and was the first female rep for NC for my company in 1982. I worked 20 plus years in Big Pharma and for 3 major companies.
I was an attractive enough young person (20s to mid 30s) and am well groomed and look nice, but I look my age now (47 yrs old) am not the same as when I was 25 or even 35 yrs old.
Realistically, it would be very hard now for me re-hire on at age 47(2007) as I am not young and cute anymore. YOu would think it would be easier due to a great resume and great sales figures over the decades.
I have a 20 plus year good record of pharma detailing experience. I also have a nursing and business undergrad and and Ms Ed.
The only reason I hired on at my last company was because I knew 3 people in that region–the pharma business used to be small and we knew each other more collegially across companies.
I knew 3 people who could recommend me for my last job and my potential DM was in his early 50s at the time. My last Big Pharma hire was in 1997 and I got in because I had 3 “ins” and one of those “ins” was crucial.
If I had not had that ‘in” via being known by reps in their company a re-entry at my age into Big Pharma would have been extremely rare. It was difficult when I came back from grad school to get back into the business—and I was in my mid 30s only.
I initially got back into the business through contract sales. Something you would think a beginner would do but not a long term, successful career rep.
I was realistically resigned to spending the balance of my pharma career in contract sales until a friend helped me get on at my last Big Pharma company.
Contract sales staff are often the real pros out there in this day and age.–Contract forces are comprised largely of “aged out” employees who have decades of experience as have their contract DMs, RMs, etc.
Contract sales is where experienced, often senior reps go once they are perceived as older, more expensive to hire and pay. They (and their managers) get tossed out of Big Pharma and into the world of term-hire independent of good performance.
I have to point out that I have never seen an ugly female pharmaceutical rep in my career and I have worked in 3 geographic areas. If the female rep was older(and by older I mean in their mid 30s to mid 40s!) they still had to be very attractive and have a “young” look. You just don’t see them that often and it is much more rare now. A few older reps make it into specialty sales, but even there they seem to be in their low to mid 30s and definitely not plain in terms of attractiveness.
Also, since I worked for 4 different companies, I was trained four different times. Each time, the initial training was progressively easier material-wise and more and more marketing focused. Lots less real science with each passing year.
But many reps especially now do not have a biological, chem, or even a biomedical background so they know less about the underlying mechanisms of anatomy,physiology and pathophysiology and do not know much beyond a “survey” knowledge of the disease entity their products fit into.
If many “get off the page” in their detail spiels and have to answer a question that may be more involved they can’t go there. They just aren’t trained and/or do not have the training from university to help.So physicians see reps as less integral to their knowledge base than say 20 years ago.
I really think these younger reps are very sincere, but often do not realize that they are not as well trained as they think they are. Most do not understand that in most cases they are selling “Me-toos”—parity among products is the norm, and that what they are talking with the doctor about has much more to do with marketing than real science.
I often term them “bright but clueless” and doctors do not take reps seriously anymore. Some who get it are just cynical about the process—and things that used to be a reward or a special occasion to than an office have become a have to activity such as buying lunch for 20 staffers to see a doctor.
Couple that with the pounding repetiton from 5 reps who do the same detailing of a minimal message (then the doc signs for the samples)and you find that pharmaceutical sale profession is at a historic low point in terms of professionalism.
I wish it were not and I wish Big Pharma valued the people it trained and trained them well. Reps deserve that as they often work very hard.
A rep is just becoming truly valuable to a company when they enter their late 30s and 40s. Not the other way around. What the older rep has to offer just is not valued by the company any longer and that speaks tons about what the industry values and promotes as a whole.
Big Pharma sales used to be a very good job that allowed a person of good, but modest education a chance to use their mind to make a good living and a well trained rep could take his skill and use it in almost any pharma setting. (ask yourself about reps’ days—how many reps take “library time” anymore?—maybe not even reading about their disease or product, but more about medicine in general–not many these days as tehy have to do so much during the day that returns them little professional or personally.)
I thought that technology would elevate the profession. It has not. And the human problems. Ageism and racism and sexism are still very much there.
Kathryn’s comment/article is noteworthy, because hiring practices in pharma sales over the past few years is more like a glossy ad campaign (emphasis on campaign) than emphasizing on clinical experience and credibility.
The truth is that being good looking helps in any profession, and more prominently so in the pharma profession given how the candidates have been increasingly selected on appearance over the past few years. This goes for either gender.
That said, looks may get you in the door, but value lets you back. (at least from an uncynical view)
Jane Chin
The original piece here did some statistical work indicating that cheerleaders for NFL teams make up only 0.0032% of the reps.
That may be true but, where are the stats on the percentage of reps that were COLLEGE cheerleaders? That might be a more revealing figure.
Sounds like your not familiar with the pharm world or hiring managers. If you aren’t cute enough, don’t be angry with the good looking reps that brighten our days at the clinic!
I am a fifty year old female pharmaceutical rep. I am an odd exception to the rule. I became a rep at the age of 40 after being admin manager for a clinical trials facility.
I has been a rocky road for the past ten years. I have loved being a representative for so many reasons. I have had physician’s talk to me about the beautiful young reps. Most of my experiences with physician’s are mixed in their opinions. They say they love to look at the young beauties, but they have to be able to have intelligence to back up the beauty.
I still have top sales performance and have had my entire career. So my lack of youth has not hurt me. Where it does hurt me is when I am forced to look for another job due to constant reorganizations (3 major companies in 10 years). The sales track record is there, but many managers prefer the younger women. I currently have a 34 year old male manager and he is truly wonderful. He hired me because of my ability, intelligence and personality. AMAZING!
When I was in my early twenties, I was hired into the oil industry during the days of the TV show “DALLAS.” I was smart, talented and easy on the eyes. I moved up to the executive offices quickly. The older women in the company resented me and I didn’t understand. I was so incredibly nice to them they had to like me, plus I constantly ignored attention from the male executives. I didn’t understand it at the time, now I do. These young reps are where I was then. I felt sorry for the older women for not having the youth, the beauty, the perfect figure and trendy fashion sense. What I didn’t know was they had grown beyond the need to have the superficial appearance and had grown beautiful in their depth and experience.
I think that there is room for all of us in this industry. The pharma managers have to recognize that the customer’s sometimes like reps at lunch that remember the big hair 80′s. There are more female physicians than ever. They have commented they want a mix of ages in their reps. Having only young and beautiful reps is insulting to them as females.
I am the oldest in my sales force and get along great with all of my coworkers. At company meetings, rooming with someone is another issue. My manager has to find someone to agree to room with me. I used to be the rep that always agreed to room with the 50-60 year old reps. We snore, have hot flashes and don’t always sleep well. I know that sounds so unattractive. We all get there whether, no matter how young our attitude.
I love being a rep. My company is facing a reorg now. I am not certain that I can get a new position without a nip or a tuck here or there. If I decide to move back into an adm position, how much value will the institutions place on my past ten years. I was a senior specialty rep and had a huge geography. I sold to the brightest and the biggest egos. Doesn’t that mean something?
You have to be bright to be a rep whether you are young and beautiful or not. Passing the rigorous training and constant assessments is not for the bimbo’s of the world. There is so much to this job that people don’t see. The hard work, long hours and constantly being “ON.” The creativity it takes to have a busy physician justify spending time with you.
There is room for all of us. I just hope that the pharmaceutical companies will keep a proportionate number of sucessful older female reps out there.
Are you ashamed of your beauty? Those of us who were blessed should relish in it. . . we’re not only blessed with the gift of gab but, a love for people and a beautiful sight. Stephanie
So…I have a lead on a pharm rep. job. However, I am male and I look like Kevin Smith (silent bob). So should i just keep looking because a cheerleader will get the job anyway?? please reply!
I enjoyed reading this. I am a chemistry teacher and a single mom. I am 28 and am attractive and funny thing is, I was also a Professional Cheerleader for a local sports team in houston for 2 years. I did not realize that this industry preferred to hire attractive women until I really dug in to research it. I have to admit that it makes me feel more confident to hear that because not only am I attractive but I have a bachelors in composite science and understand the sciences, like chemistry. I think I would be a good fit. Being a cheerleader shows companies that you do work hard and are outgoing in personality. I find that it is fair to look at if this industry is necessarily justified to aim on the side of hiring for beauty. It is a sad truth that looks seem to play such a major role here and I can see why some are upset by it. Thanks for the insight! I enjoyed reading.
I am 39 years old and now have roughly 4 years in the pharma industry. I have been blessed to find 2 companies that took a chance on me…it proved to be the right choice, because I am a hard worker and a eager participant in all my endeavors. I have had the good fortune to be attractive AND look almost 10 years younger than I really am, but do face challenges of getting older in an industry that does place more “value” on looks than it should. I worry because it isn’t unusual to see aging male counterparts, but it IS a rarity to find many “older” female Reps in this industry. We are treated like “females” in the broadcasting/news arena, aging men get the higher more prominent positions, while the once younger pretty females that have aged, end up being replaced! It is scary as a woman as we are first hired because we were young, attractive, AND smart, but then we become less valued for our abilities, skills, and intellect when we lose our youthful looks! I love my job and I have a great desire and need to be appreciated for my knowledge and skills as a professional…but it concerns me that a profession that I have entered late and given my life to will eventually rule me as “not what they are looking for…” Though we are compensated very well for the jobs we do, make NO mistakes…we EARN every dime we are paid! I would caution females to get into another profession because pharma will never be stable and definitely not for the aging female! It makes me sad…but it is a fact!
I am 53 yrs old, tall, and reasonably attractive for my age. I have been a successful real estate sales person for the past 17 years, earning top producer awards every year. I have a 2002 bachelor’s in business admin. I recently moved to a new state with my husband’s work, and gave up my real estate business along with my many contacts and referrals. I would like to work another 15 years and think pharm sales sounds so very interesting! I am a breast cancer survivor and have a great interest in the latest drugs for devestating diseases. I read the above comments from the 50 yr old experienced pharm rep with great interest. It all seemd very credible. I am thinkiing now that I may not be able to start a new sales career. That’s unfortunate, but it seems to be a reality.