I know that CP is not the place to go for accurate info but I thought I'd give it a try anyway. Been in pharma/device/diagnostic sales for the past 15 years but it's been 7 years since pharma. I have heard rumors/stories about working at Pfizer. Can anyone tell me what it's really like? I know the rep I would be partnered with but I really don't want anyone knowing I am considering a position with them so I don't want to ask her. Pfizer has the rep of creating selling robots...anybody care to comment on that? I'm really just looking for the overall culture/attitude of the reps. Anybody care to help me out?
Bring your own cell phone so you will know what to do with it when you leave. That is a huuuuuuuuuge issue here.
It hasn't changed that much in 7 years. Managed care and medical group rules make it a bit more challenging and generics continue to be the biggest competitor in most categories. Pfizer is as good or better than any other pharma company you could choose. Despite the noise on this site, they pay well and treat you well if you work hard. The robot stuff is nonsense. The culture does respect people as well as you could expect, but layoffs will likely always be a factor. Be flexible and always have a plan B, and save your money!
Overly regulated, overly regimented like every other large pharma company. All of the management with former military experience does not help.
My take: Your manager is 99% of the job. If he/ she is good, you'll be relatively happy. Compensation is one of the best. The worst part of Pfizer culture is that you're treated like a kid. Again, manager is key, but most will folllow company's holy grail of not allowing anyone to think for themselves. Say and do what you're told. Because of what the job has become, you don't need a lot of brains, and be prepared for a day to day mind- numbing experience that will get very old in a very short time. So, in reality, Pfizer is no better and no worse than any other Pharma company.
I've worked at two other pharma companies and pfizer is by far superior in all categories. It's a great place to work The only downside are the constant layoffs industry wide. It's great while you're here!
At Pfizer: - it is all about activities, not sales. - its about a culture of favoritism that will never change. - its about protecting the layers of excessive mgmt. who only look out for ways to justify maintaining over-salaried positions. - its about increasing headcount in divisions one year, only to eliminate them a year or two later. - its about too many overlapping positions walking all over each other. - its about people trying to take credit for anything, even other peoples work as they believe that will preserve their positions. - its about keeping your mouth shut. Anyone with any good ideas does not mesh well and will be the first to go on any given layoff. - its a mess, pure and simple. But if you can put up with all this, the pay is not so bad.
This is the most accurate description of Pfizer I have ever seen!!! The first line says it all….'it's about activities, not sales' The managers coach on your activities, not sales. You can be the #2 rep in your region but if you didn't do as many milkshake deliveries, excel sheets, district emails, lead a teleconference then you're still not going to get the highest rating.
Absolutely!!!! Exactly why Pfizer sucks and has for a very long time. The bullshit is piled so high the bull can't see over it. Yep, my colleague did 20 lunches this week, 5 dinner programs, led three conference calls, and made up 10 useless excel sheets re:????. Didn't sell a thing, and ranks in the bottom of the rankings. I did nothing, but rank #2 in the region. Guess who gets the pat on the back??? We've become a joke. Pfizer is little more than one big fraternity/sorority party. I'm leaving this circle jerk of a company in three weeks. New job OUT of pharma!!!
While you can argue that the entire industry has such flaws, it is true (in spades) at Pfizer. Worked for Big Blue almost 20 years. The bean counting/mindless activities are called "metrics". That sounds so much better than bull. The culture is broken because it will not recognize the value of relationships. The activities you describe were previously used as a buffer should a good rep find him/herself in the bottom third for two consecutive years. As long as "Goober" has a job, you can be assured that this will not change.
In Pfizer it's far more important to conform, not to perform. Play the game, suck up and act like all the window dressing that pours out of NYC has meaning. Enthusiastically do all those meaningless activities. Then you'll do very well. If your goal is to perform look elsewhere.
Definitely!!!!! Act up or out and you are labeled "negative". Grinning idiots survive failure. It's likely no different elsewhere since the "Leaders" (cough cough) continuously pollinate various companies as they escape their own bullshit on an upward trajectory. One of the biggest problems in the industry and far more impactfull than the expected glitches in development.
I worked at Pfizer in 2000-2003, and those were good times because the company valued the sales force big time. The company was well run then, and very conservative. We had the best products and most of us knew it. Also, the training was considered the best in not only the industry, but all of corporate America. I left in 2003 for medial device and it was the right move. In the mid 2000s, the company forgot about their sales force and just feel apart. Today, it is still a world class organization, but they will never recapture the glory of the 1990s and early 2000s, because they gave in to the shareholders and forgot about their most valuable asset: their sales force and commitment to their sales force. My take is that Pfizer is a good company to get with, and spend a few years, and then leverage the name to move on to a big pay day with another company.
Believe everything written here so far. The exact same thing just happened to me. I won Premier but was treated like dogshit at my review and my TBO. It's insane and you have no idea exactly what "activities" are required or expected to be treated as a favored one. Obviously performance meant extremely very little. So, where's my motivation to keep performing? Nowhere!
Pfizer is a dying backward Ice Age Lizardsorus of a company with a lot of loose money. Leadership and the board has become complacent and bide their time raking in the big salaries/bonuses, hiring their cronies and like-minded thieves while financially raping the company. Any real talent goes to younger more vibrant companies that want to make a change. Talent attracts talent. PFE's best days are behind them. "Those ahead today will later be last, for the times, they are a-changin'..." (Is there is a pill for corporate erectile dysfunction? PFE hasn't had a hard-on since the 1980s.)
Don't believe the hype. Pfizer is an outstanding company with great benefits. I was displaced last year but spent 15 years with Big Blue. I don't have anything but praise. Keep in mind however that the industry as a whole is one with uncertainties. There is no such thing as "job security" anywhere, but especially in pharma.
The same deal at all of the large pharma companies: teleconferences, programs up the gazoo, speaker programs, speaker directs via ipad, computer, whatever, show them this and show them that. All nonsense to justify the rep job. Benefits are great in utility companies, pharmaceutical and oil companies. They have the $ so the benefits should excel. Same management crap. Spent a good deal of time (longer than 15 yrs.) do not know how I did it for so long. You must be out to understand. Money was the best part along with a company car for many years. Amen.
Pfizer used to be outstanding, 10 years ago. You can't say that today about any pharmaceutical company. NO WAY. There is a track record of instability, and getting rid of high performers that you can't ignore.
