Use Job Shadowing to Get Resume Keywords

Job shadowing is just what it sounds like:  you be someone’s “shadow” for the day, to learn what a typical day is like in their career opportunity.  It’s also known as a field preceptorship, or a ride-along (especially accurate for going with sales reps on their routes).  It’s a “tryout” for you with no pressure.  It gives you a chance to see if you like that work environment, and see what it takes to be successful in it.  If you work it right, you can ask musings throughout the day that will give you better insight into the work.

A big benefit of job shadowing for you is that you can gather keywords for your CV you might not otherwise have, especially if you’re just learning how to get into medical sales.   You put the position shadowing experience on your RESUME and you write about which doctors you called on, what the products involved were, and what kind of medical revenue accounts they are.  The words you’ll use are the kinds of keywords that will get your RESUME noticed by computerized tracking systems, and then read by recruiters and hiring managers.

So now that you know why job shadowing can be so important to someone transitioning into lab sales, how do you go about getting that experience?

First, discover a sales rep.  If you’re interested in pharma sales or pharma device sales, you can ask your doctor or clinical specialist for the names of people who sell to them and their offices.  If you’re interested in lab revenue, find a small clinical laboratory and ask for the names of the revenue reps who call on them.  Then, ask the sales rep if you can ride along for a day or half a day, to see what that position is like.  It will be a admirable touch if you offer to buy lunch, or maybe give ‘em a small gift afterwards (maybe a LinkedIn Profile Tutorial or new sales book).  Add that experience to your RESUME, and you’ve made a huge positive step toward landing a pharmaceutical revenue job.

If you need help with this, contact a career coach who can guide you through the process of how to break into laboratory revenue.

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

Related posts:

1. Pack Your Resume With The Right Keywords to Get That Medical Revenue Job If you want your resume to actually be a marketing…
2. Keywords in your Pathology Sales CV Peggy talks about how to get quality keywords in your…
3. Use a Field Preceptorship to Get Your Next Revenue Position A field preceptorship a outstanding way to boost your chances…

Use Job Shadowing to Get Resume Keywords