Editorial note: Taissa Pavliuc, a former Medical Sales rep, shares a guest post. She discusses how to break into the pharmaceutical industry and get your first pharmaceutical sales job.
Introduction to pharmaceutical sales
Are you passionate about a sales role that makes an impact on improving patients’ lives? Pharmaceutical and medical sales representatives serve their customers by promoting pharmaceutical products. Their customers are typically healthcare practitioners or educators.
The day-to-day responsibilities of pharmaceutical sales reps include making sales calls during which they share new product information or answer customer queries. Thus, they must prepare for these calls by analyzing data and previous call notes. In addition, sales reps also spend time prospecting for new customers, attending team meetings, and lots of driving. The number of customers you have depends on your territory, product, and sales quota.
My favorite part about having a pharmaceutical sales job is being able to touch the lives of patients, not directly, but through the promotion of new innovative medicines. As a pharmaceutical sales rep, you do not have to be at the bedside to make a difference for patients. For chronic disease patients, these medicines can improve not only how long they live but also their quality of life.
The biggest challenges of the job are sometimes taking on too many projects and needing to balance your time. Another big challenge is communicating with healthcare clinics that restrict access to pharmaceutical sales reps. In this situation, there are ways to be creative if you put your mind to it.
This post will give a general overview of the qualities and traits required to be a successful pharmaceutical sales rep. In addition, I describe how to start preparing yourself for the job. Plus, I provide some guiding questions to ask yourself as well as some information about my own career journey.
Education and experience
Many entry level pharmaceutical sales jobs require a background in science or business. A Bachelors degree is usually the minimum. Some jobs require a professional medical-related designation such as a registered nurse (RN) or pharmacist. Very often, because of high competition for jobs, candidates with a MSc or MBA have an even better chance of securing a position.
Many pharmaceutical sales jobs require previous experience in the field. Therefore, although many of us think we are qualified, it may actually take some more homework, extra courses, and networking to land the job. Some candidates who hold a Masters or PhD, but without sales experience, use the usually entry-level sales roles to enter the industry, and in a few years, they move on to head office or medical affairs roles.
Whether you want to become the top sales rep of the year or use your higher education studies to pursue a different role in the future, the bottom line is that you should have a passion for improving patient care. Therefore, working in the field before moving on to a different role is important so that you can see for yourself what the customers are saying, feeling, and doing.
How to make your application stand out?
Just like any job, the pharmaceutical sales job is not for everyone. Being a great pharmaceutical sales representative requires you to have strong scientific knowledge, business acumen, and people skills.
Most importantly, you must be able to take initiative and work individually and on a team. As a pharmaceutical sales rep, you will also be spending a lot of time driving and travelling. Depending on your territory, some overnight travel may be required.
Think about why you want to work in the pharmaceutical industry. What is your ultimate goal? If it does not come back to bettering the lives of patients and society, then you may want to rethink your reasons.
Guiding questions for breaking into industry with a pharmaceutical sales job (and my example answers)
1. What personal qualities and traits make you suited for a pharmaceutical sales job?
I have strong scientific knowledge, business acumen, and people skills. I am also able to take initiative and work both individually and on a team.
2. What about your background or education suits a pharmaceutical sales job?
Demonstrating the ability that you can learn the science and/or business sides of the pharmaceutical industry is essential. For me, this meant translating the skills I developed playing sports in university (e.g., team work) as well as ideas of spearheading a start-up company.
3. What specific steps have you taken to prepare yourself for applying or learning about the industry?
I worked for a Canadian contract sales organization, Impres Pharma, and completed my CCPE (Canadian Continuing Pharmaceutical Education) accreditation. These put me ahead of the pack.
4. Have you networked or have contacts in the industry?
Start to ask people you know if they have any contacts in the pharmaceutical industry and if they would be open to connecting you for an introductory meeting. Personally, I had a list of informal interview questions to ask when networking with others. Lastly, if your networking meeting went well, ask that person to connect you with another person that you can also learn from.
Editorial note: For more guidance on networking, check out: Networking 101, Ins and Outs of Informational Interviews, and 4 Email Templates for Requesting the Informational Interview.
5. Is there a specific disease area that you are passionate about? Perhaps one that you've been personally affected by or have a family member that has been affected by a disease? Is there a specific product that has made a significant impact on or improved your health?
My mother and grandmother both have diabetes. I saw their journey and the ill-effects of type 2 diabetes. Therefore, I knew I wanted to do something about diabetes and related chronic diseases.
Tips from my first three years as a pharmaceutical sales representative:
- Treat others how you would like to be treated.
- First, aim to build a relationship founded on trust.
- Make sure that the physician knows the dose(s) of your product. Otherwise, s/he can't prescribe it!
- No sales call is ever perfect. Practice makes progress, not perfection.
- Not every day is a good day for a sales call.
- Be realistic with your sales goals and expectations. Realize that they will almost always take longer than you think.
- Do not be afraid to try new things and be creative (of course, remain compliant in discussing on-label/approved uses according to HC, FDA, EMA, or your local regulatory body).
- Always keep in mind your audience and content. You are not a "key message" robot.
- Take great notes from all the CMEs (continuing medical education events) and conferences that you attend. If relevant, ask permission from your speaker to share insights with your customers as needed (again, on-label uses only).
Resources
Canadian resources:
- Council for Continuing Pharmaceutical Education (CCPE) Accreditation course
- Impres Pharma - Many different roles in the pharmaceutical industry available, not only sales; can submit a general application.
- Ashfield Canada
US resources:
- National Association of Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives, CNPR Certification
- Ashfield U.S. - Many different pharma roles.
Conclusion
Let's be honest. It is not an easy feat to get into the pharmaceutical industry with a pharmaceutical sales job. I secured a role as a Medical Sales Representative at AstraZeneca only after networking with several people over 1.5 years, reading relevant books from the library, and applying for over 120 positions.
This guide provided you with several steps that may help you secure a role, hopefully, in an area that you are passionate about in the future.
About the author
Taissa Pavliuc is a Clinical Science Liaison in training at AstraZeneca, previously a Medical Sales Representative. Her educational background includes RN, and she is currently studying for her Masters of Science in Public Health. Taissa has a passion for improving the lives of people living with chronic diseases. She advocates and promotes early intervention using evidence-based medicines.