PDI Pfizer contract

So I got a call today for a position...is this worth it? Good drugs? Good company? Thanks for the HONEST feedback.

 

Pfizer has two contracts with PDI, so I'm not sure which one you have applied for. PDI is a pretty good company...others will say it's not. Overall, I am happy here for what it is, i.e., contract sales. Like other pharma jobs, a lot will depend on your manager. You will receive a company car, full benefits, 401-k, etc.. You also get the week between Christmas and New Years off and 19 days for sickness/vacation---they are called BODs. The Pfizer contracts are better than some of the other small contracts we have, so that's a plus. Additionally, you have no counterparts. It's just you out there. For some reps that's intimidating and for others it's great. Good luck.

 

Thank you for the feedback. I'm sorry I forgot to post the products. The two products are Relpax and Pristiq.

 

I worked on a different Pfizer contract and I hated it. I cannot figure out if it's PDI that was horrible or Pfizer. I think it was a combination of both. Pfizer not listening to the field and the PDI manager whose hands were tied and could do nothing for the reps. I have worked for other contracts and actually enjoyed it. PDI-not so much....just my 2 cents.

 

You should be fine with Relpax and Pristiq, depending on where you are in the country, i.e., managed care situation, district manager, east or west region, etc.. Relpax has always been the lead product, but Pristiq will soon be at the front. You would also have Estring to promote, but at minimal % of bonus. Relpax continues to lose market share in most states due to so many generic triptans now available, so it's a matter of maintaining MS and volume or at least trying to keep the decline in the minimal range. I think this contract has always been the strongest of the Pfizer contracts; it's been the longest running and always seems to have products added as needed. But please remember, it is contract sales, so here today, gone tomorrow. Plan accordingly.

 

Regarding your comment about contract sales: I think anymore that's how most companies view their sales forces anyway.

 

How many times can they screw up Pfizer 1 target list and make changes in the 1st Qtr? If the reps did this we would have been long gone.

 

This contract is the biggest mess ever. No one knows what is going on. A complete joke.

 

Please define what makes a Pfizer contract the "strongest"?

It is based on product life and sustainability of the EBP agreement with PDI. PDI reps are the best on either Pfizer contract. Or, we wouldn't employ contract sales.

 

I was on Pfizer contract part time a few years ago and it was pretty well run. We had PDI managers, formal training, bonuses, samples. It was a good run. I sort of miss it....sort of.

 

Where is Q-4 bonus?

Where is the Q-4 contest money?

Where is our UPSIDE MONEY?

 

What is UPSIDE money?

 

Q4 bonus and contest money (if you won) will come in 2nd pay of this month. Bonuses always paid out 2nd pay cycle of the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th months.

 

How long will Quillivant contract go on?

 

If you're on it you know. If you're applying ask the screener/interviewer. Otherwise this seems like a troll post.

 

If you are ON the PfiZer Q contract you would NOT necessarily know. No one knows until Pfizer decides. Even then there may be a waot period before it will flush down.

 

flush, key word. Bottom line, those qualified to know, always find out in due time. Those fishing on these boards about the meaning of terminology and contract length? most often are unqualified pharma CI troll dogs.

 

Which is exactly why it sounds like a troll post.

 

I can relate very much to this post! I consider the 14 months I spent working for PDI on a Pfizer contract (fall of 2011 to end of 2012) the low point of my pharma career. I had been laid off from a well-paid rep job with a manufacturer 6 months earlier, and felt I had to accept what they offered - had to get back to work. They gave me 16K less base than what I had been making just 6 months before in my last job, and the bonuses, though I performed well most quarters, was nothing compared to the bonuses I had been used to receiving in my last job. Anyway, my first manager (only had him for a couple months) was a "Yes" man whose only words of advice to me were "Don't do anything to get on the radar screen and you will be fine." There was nothing I could learn from this man - no value whatsoever. He could not even answer basic questions about IC, the iPad we were using, etc. I was shocked at this level of mediocrity! After a couple months I was transferred to a new contract and had a different manager. Overall, that position was better, but I got a really whacky manager who cared more about me sticking to script like a robot and being able to recite the product's core message in under 10 seconds. Unbelievable! I had always been encouraged to engage HCP's in dialogue, but not at PDI! They just seemed to want slides shown and boxes checked. After that contract ended at end of 2012, I soon went on to another company, then, a year later, after that company's buyout, I found myself working for a manufacturer again and in the best job of my career. Love my job now and make a base of nearly $40K more than what I had at PDI, and my average quarterly bonus also much more than I ever made at PDI. I am grateful for the opportunity to get back to work after having experienced a lengthy period of unemployment, and I thank PDI for that. However, IMO they are full of mediocrity and they don't pay. My advice is to look for something better and more stable and get out when you can!

 

Don't believe that you have to stay at a crappy CSO job! Work toward moving on to a decent position with a manufacturer where you will be paid what you are worth and may get a better manager, as well.