are you in the area of Sales/Pharmaceuticals? tell m about it.

elkpark · Feb 10, 2011

I had a friend several years ago who went into pharmceutical sales. He was definitely the "sales" type, thought this was going to be a great future for him, and everyone who knew him thought he'd be great at this. He ended up hating it -- the business is extremely cutthroat and competitive; he was constantly in fear of losing his job if his performance wasn't good enough (stats were tallied and people were let go on a quarterly basis), his coworkers were more competition than colleagues, and the money wasn't nearly as good as he was led to believe (he and his family were struggling to get by -- and the pay is mostly on a commission basis). He left, after working v. hard to make a go of it, when he started developing serious stress-related health problems.

That's just one person's experience, though -- I'm sure there are plenty of people who enjoy it and are doing well.

netglow, ASN, RN · Feb 10, 2011

Pharma has vastly changed. It isn't an "easy" high pay job as it once was.

In the 80s/90s, if you were a intelligent professional female, great at talking tech, a shmoozer, and a TOTAL HOTTIE, you would easily saunter in with your samples and once word was out that you had arrived, you'd have every available male MD coming over to listen to your sales pitch. Hey, dorky docs (are still) easy prey. This still happens, but now, your RN is not enough if you want in on the more specialized markets. These days, they want a MSN who is specialty certified, or a PA, etc. In OR sales, you had better have inside connections that one gets from years in the field to make the kind of money they want you to make. This is not to say that there are not some left overs who just are great in sales that have built a client base from the past, but, if you spend time looking at the major pharma sites, the job description is changing, as have regulations.

hansmanalo · Feb 12, 2011

elkpark thank you so much for sharing your friend's story it is such great help for a confused person like me at least i already have an idea of the both worlds, well i know that i still have a long way to go and long time to decide but i just wanna be prepared for my future, so can you just tell me your area and same questions from above?

hansmanalo · Feb 12, 2011

Pharma has vastly changed. It isn't an "easy" high pay job as it once was.
In the 80s/90s, if you were a intelligent professional female, great at talking tech, a shmoozer, and a TOTAL HOTTIE, you would easily saunter in with your samples and once word was out that you had arrived, you'd have every available male MD coming over to listen to your sales pitch. Hey, dorky docs (are still) easy prey. This still happens, but now, your RN is not enough if you want in on the more specialized markets. These days, they want a MSN who is specialty certified, or a PA, etc. In OR sales, you had better have inside connections that one gets from years in the field to make the kind of money they want you to make. This is not to say that there are not some left overs who just are great in sales that have built a client base from the past, but, if you spend time looking at the major pharma sites, the job description is changing, as have regulations.

onaclearday thank you so much for helping, you just don't know how much that means to me because i always ask my friends about it and they don't have any idea of what its like and same with my parents who's not a nurse haha, well i guess that answers my long question hanging in my head that "why is it all of the Sales/Pharma employees in our hospital were all damn HOTTIES"haha, well at least now i know what its like, that if ever i choose this area i really have to stood up among these competitive people, thank you so much for your advice,what field are you in now?

FreudianSlip · Feb 14, 2011

This may sound silly, but you know that this is not an entry level nursing position, right? You generally have to have a wealth of experience in some area of nursing practice already that the employer is seeking to utilize. Like, onaclearday said, even the desire for nursing is drifting to an MSN to be appealing. At this point, it would probably be wiser to decide on a focal area of "nursing" that you want to practice in and gain experience so that you can segway into those non-core nursing areas later in your career.

jdanruck · Feb 24, 2011

I used to work as a medical sales rep before I started nursing school and freudian is right. This is not an entry level position, and being in the medical field only marginally helps you get hired. They can teach you the medical side of their business, but what they cannot teach you is the sales experience. That is why so many business majors, girls, college athletes, and such are hired into this area.

NurseSpanky · Apr 29, 2011

I was in Ortho sales for a decade. I went into the OR and helped the OR staff install my implants. My formal training to that point was as a mortician of all things! It was alot of self learning. The training program was limited. You learn by doing. I literally have a medical library that some orthopods would be jealous of in my office at home.

I worked an average of 70+ hours a week. I was on call 24/7 for my trauma implants. I generated alot of sales and $$$$. The bad thing is expenses eat up alot of the $$$$. If I had looked at the hourly break down Im sure I would have gotten out long ago.

The positives for me was I was a big part of people walking again. My implants healed people crippled with OA or fractures. Being present in many difficult cases I was able to offer guidance in cases that went terribly wrong to acheive a positive outcome. It was very rewarding in that regard.

The reason I got out was I had a surgeon who was 85% of my business decide he didn't like my company anymore and chose another company. It pretty much killed my business. Big Boy rules apply in sales. If you get new business you are taking from some one else. I was always more interested in the patient and their outcomes than the thrill of the sale. I decided it was time to go back to school and gain a degree I could help people with that will allow me to use my experiance. I was a star on my Ortho clinical rotation.

I'm working on my ADN now and will definatly get my BSN in case I want to get back into sales. I doubt that I will do that but good to have options. I will probably end up an OR nurse but like the options that I will have when I finish school.

Hope That helps.

Catch22Personified · Apr 29, 2011

The sales rep for big pharma is heavily dominated by pretty females. I guess its to prey on "nerdy" doctors.

RN1980 · Apr 30, 2011

you got to be the perky cheerleader type with the short skirts and most important the "gift for gab".

justashooter · May 5, 2011

you got to be the perky cheerleader type with the short skirts and most important the "gift for gab".

more like the appearance of possibly being willing to give a *******.

bluemartian, BSN · May 27, 2011

I sell medical disposables.I graduated BSN-RN 2007, As one of the previous posters stated, yes it is dog eat dog, your nursing knowledge is expected to close sales as this is the bottom line. I have been trying to get back into nursing down here in South Fla since the employment market down here is terrible. When ever I apply for a position and the question comes up regarding experience ,I have to put less than 1 year. I pretty much get a denial letter if that.