Are you the best candidate for pharmaceutical sales careers? Do not short listed yourself until you read what I am about to share in the next few paragraphs. If you were just graduated or you were just looking for a new career or you just lose your job, then consider careers in pharmaceutical sales as an option. It might be the best option for you.
I was not trained to be a pharmaceutical sales rep. My years of study in University prepared me for laboratory and research job. You can imagine what kind of change I had to go through to bring myself up to the expectation of pharmaceutical sales industry.
It was not easy.
But I manage, and it has been my sincere believe that I can share what I did back then and finally answer the question: Who best suit to build careers in pharmaceutical sales?
The Answer: The prepared ones.
A wise guy once said, “Chances favor the prepared mind.” Nothing truer has ever been said ever since. In pharmaceutical sales, I can show proof that a person can come from a different background but if he or she is prepared, career success is already in sight.
How To Prepare For Pharmaceutical Sales Careers
It takes a plan. A simplified plan consists of:
1) Preparing to make contact.
2) Preparing to ace once the contact has been made.
3) Prepare for entry level.
4) Prepare for strategic exit.
I coined the whole terms myself and now let me explain in standard terms.
Prepare To Make Contact
Contact in our context means ‘getting into the pharmaceutical industry’. To get into this industry, the best way is to join a pharmaceutical company. Preparing to join a company means getting your CV and your resume updated, and getting into the circle of players i.e. those who already work in the industry or better known as ‘networking’.
Networking means surrounding yourself with people who understand what it takes to be part of the culture – pharmaceutical culture, and that includes your healthcare provider and the pharmaceutical company’s representative.
Preparing To Ace The Contact
I meant this specifically to ‘interview with pharmaceutical company.’ Getting yourself magnetized with industry knowledge is the surest way to winning in an interview. All the necessary knowledge and skills to achieve this are readily available if you know where to look for.
Prepare For The Entry Level
This is easily done once you are inside the pharmaceutical company. A good company which by the way you have chosen through thorough preparation should provide you with the resources and tools to be good sales performers. Good company does not leave performance result to chance. It knows what works and what not. You preparation is to know how to adapt.
Prepare For Strategic Exit
Once you have a good grasp on what this industry is all about, you can decide which way you want to move; up, down, sideways or to a different territory. Once you have acquired the necessary knowledge, skills and attitude, your path to build strong pharmaceutical sales careers is assured.
If you have reached this paragraph you already knew that the answer to who best suit for careers in pharmaceutical sales in not objective. It is subjective to the kind of preparation a person willing to make. Just remember this phrase, “Chances favor the prepared candidate.”