It is such a silly argument. I know this may be hard for you to understand or perhaps even believe, but some people actually like work. They enjoy working, and gain a high level of fulfillment from it. What you see as a Rat Race others see as engaging, intriguing and meaningful. I have lived in both worlds and understand both sides of it. Pharma sales is a lifestyle job for sure. I get that. Rarely do you make big money or there is limited chances to make big money(a launch here or there) or career growth by staying in sales, but yes you can enjoy a nice lifestyle financially if that is what motivates you. Nothing wrong with that, just like there is nothing wrong with wanting more than a lifestyle job and/career while settling on just OK money. Some people are motived to achieve more financially and in responsibility.
Please do not take this the wrong way, but I absolutely despised the 'breakfast, lunch, snack' inservice which was the primary mode of interaction with the customer in the OBU. Sure there are appointments but the vast majority of interactions are attached to the rep brining in a meal. The mindlessness of having to call the office to confirm, finding out what type of food they wanted, calling or going online to order the food, to then stand in some cramped break room feeding 20+ staff to get a few minuets of time to talk to the doctor about a product that has been on the market for a few years with no new data. Often times hearing the complaints from an overweight HS dropout office admin that the food wasn't good. That experience was soul crushing for me and many others. The driving around, dropping marketing materials and care kits to feel like you are doing something on the days you didn't have lunch or appointment seemed mindless and pointless. The needless admin, call entry, top down micromanagement, and ride-a-longs were so frustrating and pointless that no matter how flexible my days were they were so unfulfilling and family, friends and extracurriculars can only fill so much of that gap for some people...me included. I enjoy being in TO, I enjoy having at least a shot at achieve some of my career goals from a responsibility and financial perspective. I am certainly not an all work and no fun person, however if we are to spend 40 hours a week or more on something I need it to be more than catering food, schmoozing, and talking about things the doctor already knows. Please save your, "there's more to the job than that" narrative I have held sales roles and sales leadership positions here and elsewhere so I know the drill and the nuances of the job. Sure you may think that many/all home office jobs are meaningless, however they are no more meaningless than what you do...
