Does anyone know about napsr and the training they offer. they claim to put you in a better spot to get hired with their training. is it legit?
Waste of money. It has been said here and Medzilla forums many times. It is a waste of money. They want to sell you and the tens of thousands of people that are desperate to break in the idea that they can help you get a job. They are useless.
I am torn with NAPSR. I took the certification and have spoke to the contact there. However, I am somewhat skeptical about them because I have left messages for the contact there a month ago and have not gotten a call back.
As a former national sales manager, I can definitely say that both I and many of my former management colleagues would not take such a certification very seriously. Just because one sat in on a course doesn't mean that person can actually sell. We look at other factors to determine whether or not someone has potential.
I took the NAPSR program which was great and very informative. I do not have any pharmacology training or medical eduation so it was very much needed. I found a positions with Pfizer through the NAPSR Career Center. The program worked for me!!
1. As the Managing Director of the NAPSR it is time to set the record straight. First of all any negative comments you may see on blogs like this are definitely coming from small organizations that write help books for pharmaceutical sales. It is unfortunate that ignorant people post such outrageous things. The most important facts are that the NAPSR does work with numerous pharmaceutical companies, our CNPR Program is offered at over 300 universities/colleges nationwide, the CNPR Program provides vocational training for those individuals who want to break into a pharmaceutical sales career and the program helps thousands every year. There is no way that major universities and pharmaceutical companies would deal with an association that was bogus. You make up your own mind but if you have questions please do not hesitate to call us. See below for more facts about the NAPSR. 1) The NAPSR has recruitment advertising contracts with numerous pharmaceutical companies. This is true as they seek our members to fill pharmaceutical sales opportunities. They best candidates for them are our members who are experience or trained. 2) The NAPSR CNPR Training program is offered at over 300 major colleges and universities. These colleges would not offer the NAPSR Training course unless it was worthwhile and helpful. 3) The NAPSR has thousands of members who are pharmaceutical sales reps, district managers, regional managers, pharmaceutical sales trainers and HR staffing managers. 4) The NAPSR staff members are involved closely with the industry and appear at many of the national pharmaceutical sales conferences such as: PHARMAFORCE, IQPC, MM & M, etc 5) The NAPSR advisory board members can be found writing articles in Pharmaceutical Representative magazine which circulates to over 70,000 pharmaceutical sales reps and managers. 6) The NAPSR has worked successfully with thousands of individuals over the years, maintains current copyrights on all materials, maintains all current trademarks, and updates its materials quarterly to keep up with the ever changing pharmaceutical industry. 7) The NAPSR educational mission is to provide up-to-date vocational training for aspiring pharmaceutical sales candidates. The training consists of providing pharmacology product knowledge, understanding medical terminology, pharmaceutical sales rules and regulations, selling techniques used by pharma reps from drug sampling to speaker programs. This education is written and approved by top pharmaceutical managers and executives. So if you see blogs like you see above they are always written by other so called insiders who offer self help books. But try and call them, you cannot. Unfortunately, there techniques to sell their books is to denigrate the NAPSR. If you have questions please do not hesitate to call. Steve Neece, NAPSR 800 913-0701 x 106
I personally bought the NAPSR certification this summer, including the study manual, membership, online quizzes, etc. It was the biggest waste of $350.00. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY! They completely ripped off other authors. There is not a single piece of information in that red manual book that you can't find in other books about pharma sales at Borders or Barnes and Noble. I have a book called An Insider's Guide to the World of Pharmaceutical Sales. NAPSR copied that book WORD FOR WORD--if I were the author of An Insider's Guide, I would slap them with a lawsuit. Also, if you call the NAPSR hotline, no one ever answers. I called several times, and you have to leave a message and someone will return your call if you are worth their time. You are much better off buying other books from the bookstore for much less of the cost, because NAPSR just ripped off the other books anyway. I want my money back!
Yikes, you are so right! I also went and got that certification because I thought it would show how determined I was to get into pharma sales. What an eye opener it turned out to be. During interviews, you know how many people thought getting that certification was a bonus for me? 0.00 that how many. I was finally set straight by a friend who informed me that I was applying for a sales position and that working in my current job and achieving top sales successes was more in line with what highering managers look for on a resume. As for as the money spent, I ending up using a career consultant for around the same price and got so much more for my investment. It is all about presentation during the interview and giving people what they want. Again, I am going to give a shout out to sdn consulting. She turned my entire resume and interview stories around for me. If you are serious about pharma sales and willing to invest in your future, that is the way to go!
I just interviewed with Tiber Labs and they require the NAPSR Certification so there seems to be conflicting information here on this blog. The NAPSR website says that their manual is copyrighted, I looked it up and is current through 2008. I went ahead and ordered it today. I will keep this blog updated with what I find.
As the Marketing Manager of the NAPSR it is time to set the record straight. First of all any negative comments you may see on blogs like this are definitely coming from small organizations that write help books for pharmaceutical sales. The above one is from a Clint Cora but that is not his real name. His real name is Clint Leung and he does not live in the United States. If you do not believe me than you can call me direct to get his profile, address, and other information on this person. Brad Sullivan – Marketing Manager (NAPSR) 800 913-0701 x 104 We have used Vertical Screen (used by almost all pharmaceutical companies to screen applicants) and Clint Leung has never worked in the United States as a pharmaceutical sales manager. We have written proof of this and would love to email it to you. It is unfortunate that ignorant people (like him) post such outrageous things. The most important facts are that the NAPSR does work with numerous pharmaceutical companies, our CNPR Program is offered at over 300 universities/colleges nationwide, the CNPR Program provides vocational training for those individuals who want to break into a pharmaceutical sales career and the program helps thousands every year. There is no way that major universities and pharmaceutical companies would deal with an association that was bogus. You make up your own mind but if you have questions please do not hesitate to call us. We work with most job fair companies, recruiters and other insiders. Who does Mr. Clint Leung work with in the industry—none that we can find and they would not work with someone using an assumed name as well as not live in the United States. If you have read this please… call so we can get you the facts.
Yes, let's set the record straight. As a hiring manager, I promise, if I see NAPSR or any other on your resume, you WILL NOT get a call from me and I venture to say many other managers. People. This industry is shrinking. There can be 1,000+ applicants for 1 opening. Most that try to get in pharma wil fail. Not because you're bad, but because there are not enough positions for all that want in. Don't let your desperation make you buy things you don't need. I am not trying to be mean, I am trying to help you. There are companies trying to sell you something because they know how "desperately" you are trying to get in. They are no better than the late night infomercials about getting rich in real estate. crosspost 2, sorry
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have been a headhunter for 12 years only in B2B sales and work with a lot of the large pharma companies and their sales managers (not the smaller Pharma clients so I am not sure about their requirements). However, the only feedback any Pharma manager has given about NAPSR certifications on resumes is the same as the manager who posted earlier on this thread-- not interested. The bottom line is, if you have to BUY something to put on your resume, it is not worth the money. It seems they typically market that certification to people without B2B sales experience and without a 4 year college degree and make it seem like they will get a job just by having the certifiacation. For people without a 4 year degree, there is no chance of them becoming a Pharm rep. It is a complete rip off in my opinion, as I have seen many candidates I feel bad for who have clearly been misled. Not one major Pharma manager in my entire career has mentioned NAPSR as a positive and if they do care that a candidates has it, it seems it comes across as a negative. The certification number candidates put on their resumes don't correspond to anything the Pharma Managers know about. It seems like a huge waste of money.
Re: NAPSR BUYER BEWARE The most inflated scam in the industry, read a book, we will print you out a certificate on our HP Printer. Degree, you don't need a degree, just spend $200 bucks with us. Sales Experience, don't need it. Real names, owners, real experience, nope, all first line reps or managers, not one HR person or director level executive backs this crap. Incorporated? VEGAS, NEVADA. Another profession, same state.
As a veteran in this industry with over 20 years of experience ranging from rep to VP of sales, I have to agree that this is a BS certification. Yes, I am sure that some companies require this certification. I would venture a guess that they do it to relinquish themselves of need to do quality sales training. Quite frankly, as a hiring manager, I would get a big laugh if someone actually had this on their resume.
I took the CNPR certification. Yea it didnt guarantee me a job but it did prepare me for the industry. That I can definately say, especially as someone who knew nothing prior. It took me about 6 weeks to get placed, but I cant complain about what I learned. The online/self study is better though ($248), because the colleges/university option is way more expensive ($1600)....gotta love those college fees lol
The CNPR Certification is listed as a pre-requisite with a lot of pharmaceutical companies. I think you should contact these companies and they will tell you that they do prefer to hire entry level candidates who have completed pharmaceutical sales training.
I took the CNPR Certification and it was great. It certainly was listed as a pre-requisite with the company I applied with and was a deciding factor in me getting the job offer. I did ask the trade group about these blogs and they did mention that unfortunately that Clint Cora posted those negative blogs to actually promote his services. Sounds like a low life politician to me. The association told me that the certification is certainly industry recognized and available at over 300 major universities. They also said that pharmaceutical sales training with certification will only help you as a candidates and would never be looked at in a negative manner. I doubt that those major colleges and especially pharmaceutical companies would not endorse or recognize such a program if it was not valid.
I just wanted to tell others that this program is a wise investment. I recently took the exam and scored a 99%. Since passing the exam I have been receiving calls from companies wanting interviews. Most importantly, the certification and training has given me the confidence that I was lacking before.
This blog is hysterical. There is clearly one person posting on behave of this bogus certification. I have been in pharma close to 10 years and interviewed with a ton of different companies throughout my tenure and this is something that has never come up. If you want to get into pharma, go into b2b for a few years blow it out and then apply.
