I'm an old overpaid hideous salesman

all excellent advice for sure but no sex? Really?

what good is all your money if you don't get laid?

 

Love this forum: 49 yo, 20 years in the field. Worth a couple mil. It's a good gig if you can communicate with people. I now rep a very specialized orphan that has other therapeutic competition. A sales call is a discussion of the patient cases not selling. I love the MD interaction. The grinding travel: not so much, catering: not so much, sign in sheets: not so much. My young son asked if he should go into bio-sales. I told him no. Work hard in college and do something that isn't so boringly mind numbing. As I said the MD interaction is great, the travel time: not so much.

 

I relate to this post 1000%.

Been in the industry for 15 years, both rep and mgmt. Used to be specialty, now I'm primary care for a Euro company making specialty $$. As a 52 year old, taking this non-Specialty position was the absolute worst thing for me. Job satisfaction is around 20%- only good when I can have sold dialogues with HCPs that WANT to be better at treatment in my therapeutic area. The challenge for me is that Benefits are amazing at this company, $$ are good...so the handcuffs are on.

I find myself constantly thinking about the endgame - 401k, pension, etc. etc.. which is why I am not looking right now. Tenure increases your benefits, so you stay. Thank god for Wellbutrin.

 

Bingo. The challenges you describe have been present in certain parts of the country for over 10 years, with most of the rest of the nation turning in the same direction since then. As a result, in my case, thinking about the endgame began occurring on a near daily basis about 5 years ago. I retired a few months ago at age 54 after 21 years because the timing came together and the opportunity was there to be maximized. Benefits were solid but job satisfaction struggled to be the 20% you described, more like 10% because of: a deeply flawed rep evaluation process, long travel distances, a counterpart who consistently irritated offices and kissed managements’ butt, monthly ride-alongs, offices closing to reps as the senior MD’s retire, repetitive “messaging” that everyone has heard many times, no new information to convey, BS spreadsheets and other useless busywork, frequency metrics (HA!), forced lying, etc. etc.

So plan to have the ability to leave when that opportunity presents itself. It might take the form of a re-org and a severance package, hitting your medical benefit numbers, both, or something else. Right now it’s great to a have a new year and no need to send in an updated routing plan. As we all know - perpetual tweaking of your routing plan and messaging will yield success...

 

Very well done! Congrats on formulating a plan and executing it. There are very few “success stories” ( and not the one’s your brown-nosing partner used to leave ) of seamless, smooth transitions outta pharma. Happy New Year...

 

Financially - it’s been a great career. Most of us get Company cars which means we pay no gas no insurance no registration fees taxes etc.
I get a cell phone stipend per month that sometimes exceeds the cost of my plan, and the company pays for Internet. Those cars over the years truly equal a lot of money saved.
Throw in our much higher than average salaries, and in some cases pensions, and we truly are lucky financially.

That all being said the industry has changed dramatically and I don’t know how much longer this will be an amazing gig financially. I would never recommend this to anyone who is starting a career but for those of us lucky enough to have been in it for a while it’s been a great vehicle for long-term financial success.

 

Well said last poster. I am one of the few, rare, specialty reps still working in my late 50's. This is one of the last industries remaining where a college-educated person can make a better than average living, generous benefits & save into a matched, 401K, that if done right, will grow into something substantial. It has given me & my family a good life. I have no gripes, only gratefulness. I have worked hard & honestly - it has paid off - but it is coming to an end.
To the younger workers in the industry - it is not the same industry it was 20 years ago, there is no longevity here. In the past 10 years the industry has lost over 100,000 reps and it is only going to continue its rapid contraction due to mergers, downsizing's, complete non-access territories, etc. Don't waste time here - reinvent yourselves, start a business, take additional classes, transition into another field. Research other industries, make a plan - do it now before it's too late.
Wishing all a good 2019 & beyond.

 

this is really good advice people...Don't stay at the party too long...It's been over for awhile now...You will
regret not learning new (valuable) skills to help transition out of pharma...Let my life be a cautionary tale:
I spent 25 years making easy 6 figure pharma money, and got lazy and complacent...Got pushed out at
50 and have essentially been unemployed or underemployed for 9 years now...Can't get hired anywhere...
Make a few shekels here and there on Ebay, sold the house, and everything that was not nailed down...
Life gets very challenging post-pharma with little to no income other than savings...Please listen to the
above poster!

 

this is a great forum. This industry is truly changing and in a lot of ways not for the best. However I think we all saw this coming. These jobs are easy. Not all of them but my most. The sign in sheets do suck and the food gets a little tiring but what other jobs can you do that allow for freedom and a fairly good salary.

What has changed really is the company culture. It is simple maximize profits by reducing cost. These new kids will work for peanuts and the ceos know they will be leaving in three years so they can make more somewhere else. They will hire some more kids. They don’t develop talent because the talent pool is diminished. All these kids do is text and email anyway.

Us old timers got caught by the “golden handcuffs” - easy job, big money. Hardest thing a pair being in pharma is trying to leave.

 

I want to fire you!

 

That’s harsh. Why?