I had the BALLS to leave pharma!

Sadly, I think you are correct. I got caught up in the lifestyle and struggle everyday to find my purpose after Pharma. I am in the middle of downsizing and go into panic mode often. I pray to Jesus (I am a believer) for his guidance and support.

 

You are doing the best thing possible by asking God for help, having him direct your life every day and keeping the faith - I know - I am a believer.

 

This is exactly what I am going through right now. First sales job after pharma was a flop. I am not sure if I want to do sales anymore. The downsizing has started but I don’t feel too bad. I have another property I am able to move to and not pay a mortgage. I am grateful that I have a good back up. That being said, I still need a job and the job search sucks. I have re invent myself again and I’m over 40 female.

 

I feel your pain. Much older than you but downsized from pharma. Think I have enough to retire alright but want to do something and earn some extra money, Looking at many things including contract pharma which I am realizing is pretty awful. You are young enough to possibly do training to do something you like- medical billing, etc. I wish you luck

 

There is certainly life after Pharma. At 50, I was given a severance package with 1800 others. Had won numerous awards, etc. My advice is to live beneath your means while making great Pharma money. Pay your house off, eliminate other debt, because the hatchet will fall one day. I found a great gig working in another industry. Company car, I pay nothing for my benefits, and I qualify for pension after 5 years. I will retire with my Pharma pension, current job pension, great 401k. You can do the same. Tell Pharma to kiss your arse. You can do that if you manage your money.

 

As a fella approaching 50 before long...this is a relevant and quality post. It would be easy to piss away the pharma “funny money” ( and I did early on )...but saving while the going is good is sage advice. Thank you for posting.

 

Again.....why does nobody say what they are doing and what industry they went into after pharma?

 

Just to piss you off. Again.

 

Hospice and the pressure is worst than Pharma. I am making great money, but I am looking into a government job. I don’t care about making less, I just don’t want sales anymore. I’m am over 50 so want to spend the next 10 plus years in a less stressful environment. Fuck it!

 

Glad to hear you are looking in another direction and I wish you the best but what type of job in the government would hire someone in their 50's? (And I'm in that age group too.)

 

DMV, clerical...you would make a terrific meter maid given your background and “can-do” attitude.

 

Good for you to leave. I left a few years back as well and I'm in my 50's too. I had 25 years in, 20 w/ one company. The Industry is insufferable anymore. The managers are children w/ bratty attitudes. The job, while incredible easy is made almost impossible w/ company matrix, access and just plain micro managing. Everyone has to lie daily on calls to make daily call matrix and lunches are nothing but an office cattle call and not even near a business meeting as it used to be.

I believe the Industry is only for the desperate anymore, treatment of Reps are below how any adult would want to be treated. Good for you moving on.

 

Very well said...The job and industry are a joke, and the reason it pays so well, is that the public is getting fleeced so the supply of money for the pharma companies is almost endless...The job is designed so you have to lie everyday about everything, and if they don't like you, they will use the lies against you to push you out of your job...

 

The government hires older people all the time. The position I am looking at requires no experience with an advance degree (which I have). I do have someone on the inside that is helping me. It’s a huge pay cut, but it is not sales and that’s all I care about at this point in my life. I can afford this because I am mortgage free and my husband works. Everything in life is a trade off.

 

This is very on point about government jobs. They do not care about age as long as you qualify and can do the job. They are very nondiscriminatory and helpful during training! Good luck to you - you will have a great experience.

 

41yo female. I entered this shitshow 5 years ago bc i wanted more time w my kids. First gig was w a company known for its price gouging, congressional hearings, accounting shenanigans & fraudulent pharmacy operation. I was caught in a perpetual tug of war between 2 female managers.. my manager & her manager, who were at each other’s throats & both wanted me to choose a side. I lived thru all of it til they laid us off.

Then I Took a contract job bc let’s face it, I really don’t give AF, I just need a paycheck & flexible schedule. Now this asshole running the show here likes to fuck around w the numbers & pick the winners & losers based on how DTF you are or how long you’ll stay out & party w him.

Thoroughly disgusted w this whole industry. the shitty drugs, the pointless catering charade, the meaningless & mindlessness of the job and especially the behavior of the industry execs, which seems to be bad across the board

Gonna bounce out for awhile, I’m scared about losing the autonomy but the thought of staying in scares me more. i question whether I’m losing my mind or not but I know without a doubt, I’m losing myself. I’m literally vanishing a little more w every passing week bc of how worthless & useless I feel in this job. When u drive to an office & just sit there in the parking lot for a bit.. only to give up & drive off bc you know what you do doesn’t matter.. it doesn’t make difference whether you go in or not. THATS the death of a salesman.

I’m a strong interviewer & I talked myself into an offer from a tech company, managed cloud outside sales. I dunno if it’s the right move but if it’s not, I’ll bridge elsewhere & prob give up on sales. I’ve done it too long & the thrill is gone. But if it is, I’ll deal w the 8-5 & smaller checks if I get some of myself back...

 

Thank you for your post. I am also a female in my 40's but am still in the industry, hating every minute of it. I took the job before I had kids over a decade ago, and even then, I knew that I should make a plan to get out. Fast forward years and kids later, and the benefits, free car, flexibility, and nice paycheck have kept me handcuffed to being a Pharma rep. In over 10 years, the stress of this job and the fact that you ultimately have zero value to the doctors, staff, your manager, you manager's manager, and the company leaves you empty inside. The reality is that you might think you have the best product, that you are changing lives of patients, that you are making a difference to a much needed problem in your disease state, BUT you are so disposable and dispensable that the job becomes automatic and you leave every day (that is, like you said, if you get out of your car) feeling worthless. A decade in and I cry almost on a daily basis over how this job makes me feel. I think over and over again about just walking away, even without something else to go to (because to be honest, this is what I am most qualified to do). Unless you have carried the bag, recently, and go through what we go through every day in this job, you just don't get it. Most reps I know that have been doing this for years are depressed, overweight, addicted to something, divorced, anxious all the time, or combinations of these things. For myself, I am trying to explore a side job that I can get going, that maybe someday will turn into a full-time job. When I think about my years in college and right after, and how confident I was in my abilities and passionate about certain areas of studies, and now I have no idea where that person is. It takes a certain person to do this job. I used to think it took a person like me, who is driven, smart, wanting to move up the career ladder, looking to make a difference. No, it takes a complacent person who is okay being a punching bag. It takes a "yes ma'am" kind of person who can put aside their logical independent thoughts when poor management and company decisions come down. It takes someone who is okay catering to doctors and their manager's ridiculous requests, often spur of the moment and demeaning. I know my ability to be that person is getting pushed to maximum capacity. I am struggling more than ever to fake smile and take the bullshit. I sometimes think that Pharma has taken away how strong I was when I first got into the industry, but, I hope that I do find some modicum of strength to be able to someday walk from this and never look back.

 

Suck it up fatso

 

a. not fat, actually just the opposite. b. your response shows your age and immaturity, which is exactly what this industry has turned into. Immature twenty-something year old spoiled brats who have no moral compass, no self awareness, and no idea what it takes to be an amazing sales person. Enjoy your great paycheck and car for a few more years, and I look forward to seeing you in the future when I need to either rent a car or buy electronics and you get to wait on my "not so fat ass."

 

I just retired after having been in the industry since 1984. Looking back, I have asked myself every day: Why did I stay so long and was miserable all the time?...Why did I waste my life like that...? I am much happier now, money is suddenly less important...