There is life after pharma

Discussion in 'AbbVie' started by Anonymous, Apr 14, 2014 at 8:40 PM.

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  1. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Haven't looked at this site in almost a year. Didn't purposely avoid it, but after the layoff last June, I just had no use for it. After reading a few threads today, I see very little has changed, and it has reinforced to me how fortunate I was to have been laid off.

    I came into Abbott quite a few years ago after spending several years in a completely different career. I met some good people, and I met my share of people I'd be just as happy to never see again. Working in pharma wasn't a bad job, but I just never could truly embrace it. The good earning potential and the reasonable hours kept me around much longer than job satisfaction ever would have.

    I had enough time with Abbott before the big layoff in 2007 to see that our work culture was clearly headed south. Over those next 5-6 years, I seriously considered a few other job offers, but never decided to pull the trigger. I would frequently convince myself to just suffer through the current DM, as the next (and hopefully better) one was never more than a few months away.

    Finally, the layoff made the decision for me. By that time, I was so ready for it to end, I didn't even try to network into a different Abbvie position. And it was the best thing that's ever happened in my career.

    After taking some time to just do what I wanted for a few months, I took a sales position in a completely different industry. The difference is night and day. Honestly, I won't catch up to my previous income for a while, but the road map is clear and the reasonable potential is just as good, and quite probably better. I have people working above me and beside me who are clearly more interested in helping me succeed. A stark contrast to working for (some)people who were more interested in whether I created some worthless spreadsheet/tracker, what time my calls were made, whether I left enough phony "success story" voicemails or if I completed some module 2 weeks before it was actually due.

    Now, my customers are now mostly just ordinary people. I don't have to play some coy game to talk to them (and I don't have to wait for an hour in hopes of getting 2 minutes). Gone is the world of being told to sheepishly phrase questions like "if you knew or had to guess". I control where I go, when I go and what approach I take. No more 9-12 call "Groundhog Days" with the same faces every two weeks. Life is good.

    So, for those of you still "stuck" in that pointless rut, there is opportunity out there if you're willing to put in the time and effort to look. Hopefully, you'll get the opportunity to work on that transition during a severance, but if not, the change is still worth it!
     

  2. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    As it should be! Congratulations. Your good attitude paid off
     
  3. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Interesting narrative but afraid that you miss the main point. Oh yeah these pharma jobs are a complete joke and are truly pointless and meaningless. Anyone with half a brain figures that out in a day. The key is that if you are just barely savvy, you can game it into a job where you are pretty much making about $1000 per hour "worked". This leaves time to what is really important like pursue leisure activities and spend more time with your family.
    If you are unfortunate enough to have a nazi DM, then yes, you should probably just blatantly F off and let them terminate you or possibly quit. If not, it makes no sense to get off this insane merrygoround.
    Sadly, between Ocare and other downward pressures, these jobs are drying up and more are getting shitcanned anyway. In the meantime, you would have to pry my cold, dead fingers off my lern module to get me to leave voluntarily.
    If it's meaningfulness and making a difference you must seek, then go do some volunteer work and spend more time with your family.
    Luckily I am less then a year away from pension eligibility so I at least have a chance of getting there. If you are under 50, don't count on this to last. Your chances are slim of getting anything that remotely offers these hours and pay. Cheers.
     
  4. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I work about 5-10 hours a week in the field on the hcv side. Another 5-10 hours is spend doing meaningless paperwork. This job and company are are joke. I work 30-40 hours a week on my other business.
     
  5. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Really S. P ?
     
  6. That is exactly why I want to get into Pharma sales. I need more free time to get my side business booming. I hate sitting here 8 hours a day and pretending to work. I would rather bust my butt for 5 hours and then do my own business another 5 hours before calling it quits for the day.

    This Pharma sales gig seems like the best way for me to make decent money and have more free time. All I need is 75k and benefits. I can get my side business to grow to the point where I can only work for myself in five years if I have more free time.
     
  7. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Actually, I think you missed the main point. The nature of what I said is clearly geared more to the crowd who still has most of a career ahead of them. It's pretty obvious I wasn't addressing those who are just hoping to hold on long enough for a pension, so they can then just quietly go watch their dicks turn into dust.

    The truth, as you pointed out, is only those on the verge of retirement will get there. Those who are just droning along waiting for the axe to fall are killing their own time. I don't blame them, as I've already said I did that myself, and the severance time, honestly, was helpful. But the trade off is the time building in a new career. In hindsight, if I had moved into this new job 5 years ago, I'd be transitioning from selling accounts to maintaining them by now.
     
  8. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Hope your career continues to excel. Remember to say those engaging words "want fries with that". While the rest of us work 12 hrs per week for over 6 figures. Who needs the career advancement? That would be you.l
     
  9. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Pound your chest all you want on those 6 figures. You know as well as I do, your days are numbered...and there's probably a bucket of cold water waiting for you. Then it's on to the Abbvie sponsored virtual career fairs, where you get to watch the same 50 people post the same shameless message to every potential employer, hoping somebody will notice and keep their dream alive.

    I'll leave the fries to you, as I'm busy asking people for real, tangible business that shows up on a commission report...not a "this is how many scripts we think they wrote" report.

    But hey, since you were kind enough to say you hope my career goes well, I suppose I should return the favor. I sincerely hope your remaining 6-12 months goes well, too.
     
  10. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    No I want Onion Rings.
     
  11. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Earnings announcement = layoffs. Get ready.
     
  12. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Well written. What industry did you go into?
     
  13. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Sporting Goods. We make footballs and basketballs.
     
  14. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    six figures = $8,333 per month x .65 after 401k and taxes equals......


    $5400ish per month take home.


    woop dee fning do!

    You are willing to become a complete worthless person professionally and are afraid to do better for $5400?
     
  15. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    We do better than that and do not have ride alongs every week.
     
  16. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Awesome post! You nailed it perfectly.