Why do so many people hate this job?

I could sell rain to someone drowning. I have and said it before, sold to several exclusive specialties. I know about disease, guidelines, competition and getting to know how each doctor makes clinical decisions. My degree is from an Ivy League school and is not biology.

 

You suck!

 

Oh, I do baby! Yes, indeed, I could suck the skin off of a banana. LOL

 

Sure...then why are you having such a tough time landing a good job? Advanced science degree, Ivy League education, assuming great sales track record, you should have no problems getting a great job...umm unless you personality sucks...

 

Depression and old age. It'll get you every time. Just wait and see. Men can do OK when they approach retirement but be an old woman and, fuck, it is like you are a leper. I am still the same person, even better than I was at 40 but damn if anyone will give me a second look - course every single IV is conducted by some 30 something man.

 

Wow depressed and old! Isn't that what every employer is searching for?

 

Ivy League education + advanced degree + primary care or "speciality"= loser x underachiever

 

Dude, I do not sell not primary care and never have. I used to sell to IR. You need to quit patting youself on the back every two seconds.

 

I completely agree with this I was in nursing and now I am a rep and a few of my former coworkers want me to help them do the same. From what I read on here a nursing degree is worth its weight in gold but it is a frustrating job full of paper pushing and abuse. Yes there are many job opportunities and job openings but I can honestly say about 70% of the people I worked with hated their job. You get yelled at by patients, families, physicians, higher ranking nurses, and administrators. I have been physically attacked by patients on more than one occasion and I did not have a company car, lunch budget, or bonuses for my trouble. I had to report to the nurse manager before I could take lunch break and even sometimes before I went to the bathroom, so if you are worried about micromanaging you may not want to be a nurse.

I worked very long hours and was constantly evaluated by management and the state. You guys complain about downsizing but many hospitals and nursing homes are closing down or letting go of older nurses. Also imagine having your job and license in jeopardy because a patient accused you of something and then being suspended for a week pending an investigation. This happens very often in the nursing homes and psych facilities to nurses and doctors alike. When I read this board it just makes me laugh. You can tell many of you do not know what a hard job is. I know of nurse techs that clean diapers, bathe 300 pound men, and take blood pressure all day barely making 35k after 20 years of service and are let go a year before their pension kicks in.

I feel like many of the older reps looked at this job like a factory worker where you could glide by working on "the line"(primary care) for 30 years until you get your gold watch at retirement. The pharma industry is no longer like that and becoming specialized in certain disease states is what is valuable. The thing about that is every industry is the same way these days you need to specialize to survive these days period. Ask your PC and GP doctors what their reimbursements look like in comparison to their specialty counterparts.

 

I have worked in nursing, marketing, and inside sales. I assure you, you don't know what you are talking about. In nursing you do pretty much the exact same thing daily especially if you work in a nursing home and you have the same residents. You also must attend useless meetings about things as mundane as the use of gloves, gauze, and bed linens. In marketing you work on projects for months that go through many phases that ultimately get scraped by the decision maker and you go back to the drawing board. Imagine sitting through hour long meetings about branding the company on Facebook when your customers are hospital CEOs who don't look for business on FB. What about inside sales where you are a glorified telemarketer and have to make 150 calls a day to "decision makers" trying to convince them to purchase overpriced packages to some crappy trade show or conference. With your manager listening in on your phone calls and scrutinizing the way your phone voice sounds. There are much worse jobs than pharma that don't come with any flexibility, a car perk, or even a decent salary.

 

Nursing?

Wow, that has to be one of the easiest jobs out there.

As for pharmaceuticals, it is generally easy, but there is too much micromanagement and dealing with effeminate doctors is terrible.

 

Just wait until your first major illness AND being over 55 - you will see how you become a leper overnight to your team and workplace mates. The U.S. is NOT a country to try and grow old in as long as we have such a negative attitude about old age and our fixation on youth and beauty. You make a lot of assumptions and sling a lot of mud for some guy playing armchair quarterback who has had a completely different experience.

 

Oh, let's face it, when the MBAs took over this country and we handed over all the money to corporate executives, we become nothing but box checkers. Middle management in every industry gut lean and the ones left are so scared that they kiss ass all day long and ask the guys below them to create spreadsheets after spreadsheet that make middle management look successful and important with the status quo. I am so sick of the B.S., I am sure it is time to start my own thing. Working for other people is like watching a floater go down when the flusher barely works.

 

I'll be well into retirement by then!

 

Good for you. I was homeless at age 49 thanks to corruption and dirtbags, nearly dead at 52 with over 200k in medical bills, no insurance and told to go fuck myself by my company. Frankly, I could write a book about how poorly some companies treat their employees and how corrupt our legal system. Ok, never mind. You are one lucky prick then.

Here's the thing: At 45, I had 400k in savings, a house that was worth 300k with only a 90k mort as my only debt. I had college funds for both kids to the tune of 12 or 15k and a slush fund of about 30k. I was on top of the world, especially since at age 39, I was divorced, had 20k in my bank, 160k in my 401, the kids and no job. Things looked pretty good when I got the pharma gig, and I knew I was going to be able to retire early. Fast forward a few years and in less than a five year period, all that changed and I was broke and basically homeless living with my mom. YIKES! Yeah, I know the jokes. All it takes is a few evil people, being in the wrong place at the wrong time and getting one really bad illness and ALL of what you think you have, ALL of your security can go. So, my point, YOU have a really big ego. I am not saying you have not offered some good advice somehere in between being an ass but IT could happen to you. Money is not everything and working for pharma is truly a short lived opportunity at best anymore. I just wish I'd known how unstable the jobs and how poor access was going to become when I started. I wish I had gotten an advanced degree in something else - something technical and just moved on.

Who knows. There is always tomorrow.

 

SELL EVERYTHING.
GET OUT OF DEBT.
LIVE A SIMPLE LIFE.

There are plenty of great sales jobs, in the right markets. There are plenty of average sales jobs, in the right markets. There are plenty of bad sales jobs, in the right market.

My point is there are opportunities everywhere, in sales. You might have to move to find the best fit for you.

That is why buying a home is usually a terrible move, unless you pay cash for it, and have lots of liquid to overcome a job loss.

Cliff note: Time for people to smarten up to the schemes of this world.

 

Agree. House went on the market a few months ago - maybe it'll go in a year and we are outta here and I am done with this B.S. Going to go 1099 with four products and also a web biz.

 

Nursing is easy, who told you that? You must be thinking of the school nurse or general practice office nurse. Majority of nurses work in hospitals and nursing homes where you deal with the same effeminate doctors you despise. The difference is unlike in pharma those doctors are your boss, and you see them everyday not twice a month. You talk about micromanaging but try having to call your nurse manager to relieve you from your floor before you can go to the bathroom or take a coffee break. What about having all of your records combed through by the nurse manager every Friday and then having the same records combed though by state officials every quarter. How about having the administrator and CEO watching a surveillance system they have set up at home where she will call the nursing desk if she feels you are fraternizing too much. Have you ever been physically attacked in pharma which happens in hospitals, psych facilities, and nursing homes. Has a family member of a resident ever threatened you with violence because they where unhappy with an order the doctor made? Have you ever had to clean up the feces of a person with c. diff? Have you ever had to work a 16 hour shift because the facility was understaffed? What about having coworker who will set you up to get fired by taking pictures and making photo copies if you make any mistakes? Do you have to work mandatory weekends? The BS in pharma is no worse than any other field just different.

 

I don't agree with your comment that you should only buy a home with cash. I lost my job in January and have been in my home 10 years. I have never been late on a single payment because I have always set aside money for an emergency such as job loss or illness. I'm so thankful I have my home and enjoy the tax benefits it gives me. You have to be smart with your money. If you manage your finances right you should be ok. The type of money most of us make you should be able to save at least a years worth of bills and entertainment expenses with a built in cushion for a tragedy.

 

Depends what you owe, how much you owe, how high your taxes and your equity verses what it WILL sell for. I have to say that between the high cost of our taxes and the high up keep of the yard, I cannot wait to sell. I cost me 10k annually for taxes and about 4k annually (at least) for the yard and upkeep. While my utilities our low and the mortgage is only 100k, the market value is questionable. Once upon a time we thought we'd be able to sell for about 500k. It is currently on the market for 380k. Sad. Would never do it again. I am hopeful to get our money out and just buy something really small with taxes that are no more than 3k and quit this pharma BS.