This industry has become totally class-less.

You all know what I mean. So, I am doing the sensible thing and moving onto to my new career as a high school gym teacher.

I knew that degree would come in handy someday.

 

you are right...the industry is a total joke and completely classless as you say...

I am going to say goodbye to a pretty nice paycheck and lifestyle (at the age of 50 with 27 years in) but I know it is the right thing to do...starting from scratch because I can't take another day of what this industry does to people, and has become...

goodbye and good riddance to Big Pharma...

 

I'm 42. 13 years in. And the "game" is just too corporate for me to handle.

Thankfully, I save like a nutcase, so I can make the move too!

And never looking back.

 

Pharma reps have become an on going joke. Here today - let go tomorrow after the merger.
Viewed as high paid caterers not as information resources. Corporate is only after the big bucks and reps will resort to anything to get a script. They're just playing the hand dealt to them. No credibility left. Glad I left. Actually look forward to going to work. Enjoy life much more now. You don't need the big paycheck to be happy.The high ego managers and corporate goons will get their due returns. What goes around comes around.

 

I have a little different opinion. First, you are to be congratulated for leaving a job that you perceive as classless. Good Luck in your new position. However, I firmly believe the industry is going through a natural adjustment after expanding far too much in the late 90's and early 2000 years. Class is determined on the value you place on the job as well as how you are perceived by your physicians. There are still those reps that have wonderful relationships with office personnel and physicians when the rest of the industry is shunned (or at least many are). I moved up the ranks with one company for over 30+ years. I would have hated being in the field today in comparison to the 70's and 80's. The job still be fulfilling but it takes a lot of working at it to arrive at that level. The business has changed so much and the company approaches have left a sterile, cold working environment that allows for very little creativity and initiative. While I still think there is class in the business, there is also many more people that are not interested in their physician customers and are not dedicated to being a source to the health providers. This may be a little Pollyanna, but I think the level of class is determined by each individual representative.

This is not in anyway a condemnation of you changing professions. I would encourage anyone that does not enjoy what they are doing to go do something else.

 

What have you done after Pharma? I have many years in (management) and was displaced.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Independent sales rep. the job pays a little less (right now, but my salary is increasing each year, so I should catch up in a few more years), and is much more work.

but, I have no boss and work when I want. My boss is my customer. What a concept, pharma!

I wouldn't go back to pharma or any corporate sales job, unless I had a 150k base, guaranteed money with little travel, and those jobs do not exist, do they?

 

Yep. It's a joke. I'm out of the industry and job-hunting, and get this...my spouse told me please not to consider going back into pharma b/c it's embarrassing (most everyone else he knows currently in pharma are a bunch of tools or sleeze-ballish chicks). I wasn't looking in pharma anyway, but hey, even outsiders think the industry is class-less.
The previous post said it right.