Very true. As a DM, I am getting tons of resumes from former hospital/specialty reps for a job in PC just to work because they have been downsized. Traditional (high 5 figure, salaried with decent incentives) white-collar business positions are evaporating in this country.
If they wanted to do sales, I would probably suggest they look at other industrial sales.Would you encourage a friend to go into pharmaceutical sales?
With the current state of the industry, instability, layoffs, etc.
What type of money do reps make ...on average?
I sell advertising for network tv and make 150-low 2's...just curious because so many people on these boards talk about how they are well off or making a lot more money that you could in any other sales position....
So if it is less than that go into advertising sales, you can come and go as you please...you do have an "office" but your out all the time. The other thing its 100% commis...but I've done well
Just curious on what pharm reps make.
Thanks and good luck!!!
Anyone with a brain or an ounce of ambition would be bored to death with pharma after 6-12 months. There is no real challenge. If it is about making the easiest money around, I'd say go for it. I wouldn't plan on it lasting for long though. I see really severe cutbacks in the numbers of reps within 5 years.
Ditto Dude. I was so bored as a pharm rep after a year but I also got hooked on only working 10-2, going to the gym and pocketing the easy paycheck and free gas. Pharm reps probably get more coin per hour than the docs they call on but it will poison your mind, dull your ambition and ruin you if you stay too long.
Here's a great job. Makes ours look like shit, not!
cbsalary.com
A free salary calculator by CareerBuilder.com
Attorney / Lawyer in new york city, NY
$75,000 = Average Salary
does he get free subway tokens?????
Nope. Maybe a few years ago but not anymore.Would you encourage a friend to go into pharmaceutical sales?
With the current state of the industry, instability, layoffs, etc.
This pole just shows what a bunch of idiots are on this board. Why would you not want to encourage someone to make 60k+ a year, free car, easy life. Respected job to people.
As most reps know, and discovered if they have half a brain, this "occupation" is comical. From the missives that come from the ivory towers to the success stories you have to leave on voicemail to make your manager look like he has actively conveyed expectations and messaging and you are implementing them. I used to look at that expectation and just laugh at the brown nosers who leave these ridiculous messages about the impact of that call and the doctor committed to ....blah,blah,blah. At that point in my short pharma career, short being relative, since I have been in it for all of 6-7 years, I was not prepared to demean my selling abilities by having to stoop to that crap to convey my abilities and successes. I can communicate and motivate with the best of them, and expected my numbers and my knowledge ( I actually do take a great interest in understanding, helps with sanity of the monotony and inanity of much of the job) to carry me without turning into the brown noser. Ultimately, my point is that i find my joy, and you better find it if you want to maintain sanity, and physical well being, in the things that make this a good job... for me it's: flexibility ( you gotta know how to work the system, and you can work the system), pay ( I am well into 6 figures after 6 years and was in a profession that is "selling" but not sales) relative to work, come on I spend most of my data driving around listening to what I want on XM or my Ipod, stopping for anything I want, exercising when I want, taking the small roads through my college campuses in May, etc...; independence, yes I know there are a boat load of things being implemented to micromanage the hell out of us, but if you hit numbers or stay within a whiskers edge, stay on top of knowledge, and know how to work the system and your manager, you are golden. So, now I play the game. I have given a bit of my virtuous reticence to disavow the brown nosing for the sake of appeasing those up the food chain. And they leave me alone. Other than the once a month ride along where I put all the effort on my DM by continually probing about them, and how they would do it, and product knowledge, pretty soon they learn not to bust your balls over anything. "Hey John, I just had this great call with Dr. So and so and I wanted to share it with you. The regional initiative surrounding ....was incredibly effective with...blah blah, Again John thanks to the region and 5 before 9 and 9 by 5...good selling, etc..." yes I succumbed to the occassional VM. It was easier than I thought. And the key is, my manager eats it up. Give up a bit of your pride to accomplish what you want. Making money with the least amount of effort to limit anyone paying any attention to you. If you dont put yourself on a pedestal, the light isnt as bright, and when things arent as good they mistakes arent as glaring.
Numbers, reach and frequency, detail aids changing colors every quarter to convey the idea of new info to the doctors, wearing your freaking blazer in 95 degree heat with 90% humidity, rehashed clinicals, entitlement office staffs "stuffed" by overfed examples of the gluttony and short term gratification that pervades ourt society of depressed people searching for solace in a loaf of pound cake. Formulary acceptance that puts one rep up at the top one year and the VP of sales is singing Hosannah about your abilities and the following year the rep loses formulary and falls to the bottom and the shit is rolling down hill and the rep is on plan. For that rep, if you knew the system you had humility the good year knowing that in many instances you would have a fall from grace. And you didnt do a damn thing different...good or bad. COMICAL!!! Dont get angry or frustrated you have to laugh at it. Patients staring you down in offices as you stroll in with your goodie bag. The doctor who asks what your bringing, what's new, etc...everytime you come in, but wants no real answer. So much to laugh at with this job. I rather enjoy the humor in it all. And I will keep laughing all the way to my 6 figures as I jump through the silly hoops that when you really look at it arent that difficult. Its all relative. I have a bunch of friends who are MD's. There lives are really no better. A windowless office 8:30 to 6?? No thanks!!! Fulfilling work as a teacher? You would think till you realize you spend most of your time teaching to tests, and No Child Left Behind, and SOL's, and minimum graduation rates the principal needs so you pad kids grades, and soon you have lost your soul in this job. I speak of the negatives because the grass always seems greener...I have been around, because I get bored easily or disillusioned, this "occupation" doesnt really have to be any worse than anything else, and if you ultimately cant find enough joy in it and it affects the rest of your life and well-being, you dont have to do it. F those golden handcuffs, sack up and move one. There is a song from Cake, the refrain is, " buck up or shut the fuck up."
Seriously, you can refine your selling skills in this job. Nothing like making a condascending physician squirm with questions that dont come off as that being their intent, but it is. Oh I so love playing games with all the assholes. At the same time there are plenty of good people. Thank them and enjoy them. That is it for now...
Nearly 3 to 1 say Probably no or Hell no, you would have to be crazy.Would you encourage a friend to go into pharmaceutical sales?
With the current state of the industry, instability, layoffs, etc.
yes and no...i have friends like myself that really care about people living longer and happier lives. i have family members and friends that i have seen and see suffer from different diseases, disorders, etc. i really want to make people feel better. i also have friends that could careless about others but want to work in the industry bc of the paycheck and bc its a hard industry to get into. its a challenge getting in, but some feel useless after they get a job. dont recommend this job to a friend that truely dont give a rip. we need people that care to help this industry stay alive...
As most reps know, and discovered if they have half a brain, this "occupation" is comical. From the missives that come from the ivory towers to the success stories you have to leave on voicemail to make your manager look like he has actively conveyed expectations and messaging and you are implementing them. I used to look at that expectation and just laugh at the brown nosers who leave these ridiculous messages about the impact of that call and the doctor committed to ....blah,blah,blah. At that point in my short pharma career, short being relative, since I have been in it for all of 6-7 years, I was not prepared to demean my selling abilities by having to stoop to that crap to convey my abilities and successes. I can communicate and motivate with the best of them, and expected my numbers and my knowledge ( I actually do take a great interest in understanding, helps with sanity of the monotony and inanity of much of the job) to carry me without turning into the brown noser. Ultimately, my point is that i find my joy, and you better find it if you want to maintain sanity, and physical well being, in the things that make this a good job... for me it's: flexibility ( you gotta know how to work the system, and you can work the system), pay ( I am well into 6 figures after 6 years and was in a profession that is "selling" but not sales) relative to work, come on I spend most of my data driving around listening to what I want on XM or my Ipod, stopping for anything I want, exercising when I want, taking the small roads through my college campuses in May, etc...; independence, yes I know there are a boat load of things being implemented to micromanage the hell out of us, but if you hit numbers or stay within a whiskers edge, stay on top of knowledge, and know how to work the system and your manager, you are golden. So, now I play the game. I have given a bit of my virtuous reticence to disavow the brown nosing for the sake of appeasing those up the food chain. And they leave me alone. Other than the once a month ride along where I put all the effort on my DM by continually probing about them, and how they would do it, and product knowledge, pretty soon they learn not to bust your balls over anything. "Hey John, I just had this great call with Dr. So and so and I wanted to share it with you. The regional initiative surrounding ....was incredibly effective with...blah blah, Again John thanks to the region and 5 before 9 and 9 by 5...good selling, etc..." yes I succumbed to the occassional VM. It was easier than I thought. And the key is, my manager eats it up. Give up a bit of your pride to accomplish what you want. Making money with the least amount of effort to limit anyone paying any attention to you. If you dont put yourself on a pedestal, the light isnt as bright, and when things arent as good they mistakes arent as glaring.
Numbers, reach and frequency, detail aids changing colors every quarter to convey the idea of new info to the doctors, wearing your freaking blazer in 95 degree heat with 90% humidity, rehashed clinicals, entitlement office staffs "stuffed" by overfed examples of the gluttony and short term gratification that pervades ourt society of depressed people searching for solace in a loaf of pound cake. Formulary acceptance that puts one rep up at the top one year and the VP of sales is singing Hosannah about your abilities and the following year the rep loses formulary and falls to the bottom and the shit is rolling down hill and the rep is on plan. For that rep, if you knew the system you had humility the good year knowing that in many instances you would have a fall from grace. And you didnt do a damn thing different...good or bad. COMICAL!!! Dont get angry or frustrated you have to laugh at it. Patients staring you down in offices as you stroll in with your goodie bag. The doctor who asks what your bringing, what's new, etc...everytime you come in, but wants no real answer. So much to laugh at with this job. I rather enjoy the humor in it all. And I will keep laughing all the way to my 6 figures as I jump through the silly hoops that when you really look at it arent that difficult. Its all relative. I have a bunch of friends who are MD's. There lives are really no better. A windowless office 8:30 to 6?? No thanks!!! Fulfilling work as a teacher? You would think till you realize you spend most of your time teaching to tests, and No Child Left Behind, and SOL's, and minimum graduation rates the principal needs so you pad kids grades, and soon you have lost your soul in this job. I speak of the negatives because the grass always seems greener...I have been around, because I get bored easily or disillusioned, this "occupation" doesnt really have to be any worse than anything else, and if you ultimately cant find enough joy in it and it affects the rest of your life and well-being, you dont have to do it. F those golden handcuffs, sack up and move one. There is a song from Cake, the refrain is, " buck up or shut the fuck up."
Seriously, you can refine your selling skills in this job. Nothing like making a condascending physician squirm with questions that dont come off as that being their intent, but it is. Oh I so love playing games with all the assholes. At the same time there are plenty of good people. Thank them and enjoy them. That is it for now...
