Dear Entry-Level Pharmaceutical Revenue Candidate,

I just finished up searching for 4 specific positions where the company wanted to discover someone with an undergrad science degree (biology, chemistry, etc.). But really, they could live without the science degree if they discovered the right person with the kind of personality, drive, desire and presence they needed. So, the upshot is that for some areas of clinical sales, a science background is a plus, but not always required. Go to www.phcconsulting.com/ to see if there are any that interest you.

But, even with flexibility from employers on background, there’s still a lot of different ways people can shoot themselves in the foot in the interview process—and I ran into a few this week. (These aren’t unusual, either…I get responses like this with disappointing frequency.) For example, after one person had described her background and experience, she summed up her desire to be in pharma revenue as “medical terminology makes me happy.” As a recruiter, that kind of statement makes me wanna run in the other direction (laughing, but still running). You could say that that’s not such a major deal, but it sounds a little goofy, it doesn’t show a lot of maturity, it doesn’t show a lot of thought, and it’s an additional thing she just said to fill space. So, if you’re trying to get a clinical sales position, DON’T FILL SPACE. Usually, you’re going to fill it with something that’s going to hurt you.

Another guy with a very strong pathology background wanted to get into pharma sales but complained that “they just want so much sales experience.” If you’ve read my blog for very long, you know that I don’t think that clinical revenue requires reps to be all that skilled in revenue: they don’t ask for a close, they don’t place orders, they have no power over pricing, and they have no power in the relationship…so, when he told that to me, it made me think he hadn’t done his research about the different types of sales career opportunities, or really put that much thought into it at all. When I told him that with his background, he should think about clinical sales, or field applications, he said to me, “All I want to do is get off the bench.” Well, a lot of scientists will say that, and I can appreciate that… but as a recruiter, I don’t want to hear it. When you’re interviewing for a clinical career opportunity selling, I wanna know that you’re running to something, not running from something. I’ve had managers comment to me about that to me, too: “I’m not sure they wanted THIS job…I think they just didn’t want the career opportunity they have.” So, when you’re in the interview process, be running TO something. It may not sound like a major deal, but it is to hiring managers. (Really, all hiring managers want to know that you’ll be enthusiastic about the job they need you to do.) They’re going to spend somewhere between $25,000-$50,000 training you in the first 6 months, and they don’t want any questions about whether you’ll be successful.

Which leads me to the next point: Don’t ask your recruiter if she thinks you’ll be successful in pharma sales. If you’re not confident, I won’t be confident, and my hiring manager won’t be confident… and I won’t present you for the career opportunity.

Those are just some things that you wanna think about as an entry-level person in the clinical sales field and what you have to do. The big things you can do: be supple, be available, be honest, and DO YOUR HOMEWORK. So when I ask you, “What have you done to prepare for a sales position?” don’t say what one person told to me this week: “Why, nothing. I don’t have a revenue career opportunity yet, so how would I prepare?” That’s not what I wanna hear. I want to hear someone who’s creative in their thought process, has looked on You Tube for instructional episodes, has read some books, and has done a ride-along or a position shadowing. I want to see someone who knows why he wants a job in pathology sales, clinical sales, biotech sales, medical device sales, or pharma sales. I want to see someone with energy, drive, passion, and a desire to do something more, and different, and to make themselves better, more and different.

Priceless luck,

Peggy McKee

The Medical Revenue Recruiter

Article courtesy of  Peggy McKee - Owner / Senior Headhunter at the nationally
recognized medical and pharma sales recruiting team of PHC Consulting.
© Copyright 2008 PHC Consulting | All rights reserved

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