Does anyone have information on how to go about getting a pharmaceutical sales job? I have sales experience and I did some work in transcription. Are there any reps out there who can give me pointers?

Does anyone have information on how to go about getting a pharmaceutical sales job? I have sales experience and I did some work in transcription. Are there any reps out there who can give me pointers?



My husband was a Doctor of Pharmacy and my cousin is, in fact, a rep - what do you want to know? I know it from both sides.

Have you actually applied with any of the Pharm companies? How much specific knowledge do you have? I am not aware of any company that doesn't take some medical knowledge, some College courses, trains the person to handle that specific line.

I know it's rough out there because my cousin has a Masters.

I have sales experience in copiers/fax machine sales. I used to also be a medical transcriptionist for about 2 years. I took medical terminology courses, which I received A's in. I have always been intrigued in the medical sciences, but I could not be a nurse or anything like that. I hate the sight of blood, etc!!

No, I have not applied to any pharmaceutical companies as of yet. I would like to know what kinds of things that these companies are looking for. I am a quick learner and I have been told that I could sell anything.

I am currently an account executive at an advertising agency. I like what I do, but there is no room for growth because it is a such a small company.

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for responding!!

I'm not a rep myself, but I have a AAS in medical management and I deal with them routinely as I procure chemotherapy agents.

Check out the pharm. Company websites. They all post job openings and to my knowledge the minimal requirements are a bachelors' degree with a A&P or chemistry major. Some may consider business majors, depending on the company and complexity of the drug they'd want you to represent.

I was at my doctor's office today and ironically a pharmaceutical rep was there. She was from Sanofi Aventis and I asked her a couple of questions. She said that her company just laid off a lot of sales reps this month and she was one of them. She said that the best route to take is to go through a recruiter service who works with several companies. Submit a resume and see what comes up. She also said that they look for people with some medical background, but sometimes companies are willing to overlook that if you possess strong sales skills. I went online tonight and sure enough, there is a big write up on Sanofi Aventis laying off hundreds of rep jobs in the States, which happens to be their largest pharmaceutical market. I think this is most likely due to a new CEO, as well as the fact that the economy stinks. There was a posting online from a recruiting company looking for new reps for one of their clients (they did not disclose who that client is). So, I will be tweaking my resume to tailor to the medical side and state that I have medical terminology knowledge, as well as a strong sales background.

I do have a question about the reps role in things. If a rep's territory is to visit doctors, how can they achieve sales? I mean, the doctors write the prescriptions, but the patients don't get the drugs from the doctors, but rather from the pharmacies. How does a sales rep track their sales? I mean, sales reps leave samples, but I would not regard this as a sale. Where are the sales made and how are they tracked?

I was at my doctor's office today and ironically a pharmaceutical rep was there. She was from Sanofi Aventis and I asked her a couple of questions. She said that her company just laid off a lot of sales reps this month and she was one of them. She said that the best route to take is to go through a recruiter service who works with several companies. Submit a resume and see what comes up. She also said that they look for people with some medical background, but sometimes companies are willing to overlook that if you possess strong sales skills. I went online tonight and sure enough, there is a big write up on Sanofi Aventis laying off hundreds of rep jobs in the States, which happens to be their largest pharmaceutical market. I think this is most likely due to a new CEO, as well as the fact that the economy stinks. There was a posting online from a recruiting company looking for new reps for one of their clients (they did not disclose who that client is). So, I will be tweaking my resume to tailor to the medical side and state that I have medical terminology knowledge, as well as a strong sales background.

I do have a question about the reps role in things. If a rep's territory is to visit doctors, how can they achieve sales? I mean, the doctors write the prescriptions, but the patients don't get the drugs from the doctors, but rather from the pharmacies. How does a sales rep track their sales? I mean, sales reps leave samples, but I would not regard this as a sale. Where are the sales made and how are they tracked?



Good question and I don't really know - I do know that my husband was a Pharmacist and got all sorts of free coffee mugs, pens (I miss the pens!), pill cases, little pillows (for some reason), lunch, from the reps - and, of course, he didn't write the prescriptions, he only filled them. That always sort of puzzled me, too.

Many of the continuing education classes are sponsored by the drug companies - and they can be specialized (Physicians or Nurses or Pharmacists) or general (all medical professionals).

I bumped into a pharmaceutical rep about 2 weeks ago and she gave me the name of a pharmaceutical recruiting company, but I can't recall the name. Anyone out there happen to know the name(s) of pharmaceutical recruiting agencies?

I bumped into a pharmaceutical rep about 2 weeks ago and she gave me the name of a pharmaceutical recruiting company, but I can't recall the name. Anyone out there happen to know the name(s) of pharmaceutical recruiting agencies?


Staffpointe? Problem with them is they get hundreds and hundreds of applications and look only at the resumes, sort of don't see the individual people.

I think I'd write letters to the individual drug companies with the hope of a personal interview AND file my resume with Staffpointe.