Calling All Pharmaceutical Sales Reps

[writermama]

I'm not one, but I used to know one. What I remember most about her was that she traveled CONSTANTLY. I don't know if that's just the way the career works or just her company, though.

[brittone2]

Several years ago I made it to a second round interview, but it definitely wasn't something I think I would have enjoyed.

As the PP said, there is lots of travel and lots of ongoing trainings (travel) with many companies. It is definitely high pressure. It is very hard to get in unless you know someone or have fabulous sales experience or apparently were a cheerleader (see archives).

Merck's pharm rep program requires a 6 week stay in a hotel during training. There are other companies that have similar requirements (fewer weeks though) and some are not quite as demanding for training.

[jd11365]

I had a friend who does it...and funny, she was a cheerleader in HS! She makes a LOT of money, but I know she's single, so the travel and high pressure is ok for her. I don't know how easy it would be with kids.

[kellyotn]

I know a couple. They are pharmacists who got lured over for the money. They travel a TON, and have little choice in time off. The conferences and training is when it is, so they have to plan any time off around many, many things that are immoveable.

Its very competitive and high energy, sell sell sell.

The traveling perks are pretty nice, they get to see some fun places and stay in some schwanky hotels. I personally think if I were single and childless (and could sell!) it'd be fun for about a year. Then I'd be burned out.

[dr mom]

I can comment on the other side of things - we have a dozen or more pharmaceutical reps come through our medical office every day. Most are young, single, attractive and very "polished" although there are a (very) few who have families. Lots of travel involved, lots of time spent schmoozing at evening "educational" programs. Not uncommon for medical professionals to be anything from dismissive to outright rude (completely ignoring the reps in the office for example) which I imagine would be tiresome after a while. I always try to stop and acknowledge the reps, at least for a moment, but not everyone does. Most reps are good at what they do, and understand that they have at most two minutes to make their entire sales presentation.

On the other hand, I've dealt with reps who were pushy and overbearing, utterly ignorant about their product and unable to discuss it intelligently...if you aren't at least aware of the recent medical literature concerning your product, the disease state it treats, and what the competition is doing, you're not worth wasting my time on. I remember one rep who came through our office had decided on a career as a drug rep after she got tired of selling shoes. I know drug sales is still a sales field, but it's NOT the same thing as general retail! Unless you have a strong background in the sciences - with a thorough understanding of biochemistry, pharmacology, and biology - you're probably not cut out to be a pharmaceutical rep. Physicians figure out pretty quickly who knows their stuff and who is just mindlessly spouting company propaganda, and reps who don't really know what they're doing are told not to come back and waste our time. Hope that doesn't sound too harsh, just wanted to give you an idea of how things look from the other side, having seen the good, the bad and the ugly. (well, ok, I've actually never seen an ugly drug rep, but you know what I mean...)

[Sillygirl]

My first thought? Prostitution pays just as well, and you get to keep more of your dignity.

But I'm biased. I work at an academic hospital and the drug reps are everywhere. I will admit to using the pens, and eating the lunches they bring for our conferences. I wish I could hang on to my pens long enough to maintain my own stash, but when you carry your "office" in your coat pockets, it gets hard. And usually I don't have time to get to the whole conference, much less brave the lines in the cafeteria to get my own food.

However, I don't go to the sponsored dinners, and I have a lot less respect for the professors that take big honorariums to lecture about the merits of one type of drug or another. I believe the research showing how effective marketing to physicians is, and how it adds to the cost of drugs that many Americans can't afford. I think the whole practice should be much more tightly regulated.

Drug reps all have great hair, great clothes, and are super friendly. They all remember my name. They all get a conversation going by asking me about my schedule, or my research, or some minutaie about how my fellowship is structured. When they talk about their drug, they NEVER NEVER admit that it may have any shortcomings. It's four times as expensive as a similar drug and has more side effects? You'll never get them to admit it. We all sit in silence and scarf our lunches and wait for them to stop talking so we can get to some actual, unbiased learning from our professors. I can't imagine a job I would hate more.

There's an article in this month's "Atlantic Monthly" about the job if you'd care to read more.

[missliss55]

Mt BIL is a rep for Merck (he has his BS in genetics). His first position was in the Sacramento area and he was on the road a lot. He now works out of San Francisco where he spends 3 weeks and then the 4th week he is in Hawaii. (I know...Hawaii) It works out great for him as he is single with no kids. It does keep him busy!

[jennifer_r]

I was never a sales rep but had LOTS of experience dealing with them. I was an analyst in Sales and Marketing in Pharmaceuticals for most of my career so I often worked directly with them and alot of my work centered around their jobs. Some were very nice but some were very condescending, pushy, etc. Think typical salesperson stereotype. Personally, I could never do that job - the doctors often won't talk to them and they spend alot of time driving on the usual day. On the other hand, they get paid pretty well and they get more perks than you would believe. Everything from free trips to free towels, leather portfolios, movies on DVD, windowbox herb gardens (yes, I am not making that one up - I was lucky to get one because they had too many). But, based on my personality, it wouldn't be worth the money. You'd have to be able to face alot of rejection.

HTH

Jennifer

Mom to:
Christopher 12/29/89
Adelaide 8/23/04
Bronwyn 11/9/05

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[JamiMac]

I was a pharmaceutical sales rep for 6 years at one of the large companies. In short, I thought it was a great job! I had the job in Texas and California so I was able to gain perspective from two different areas. The territory I had in Texas had zero travel, except for a 4 day national meeting once a year, and an overnight trip once a quarter. My California territory did have one overnight a month, but honestly I could have done it in one day if I had to. Now, my territory in California was the only one in southern California that actually had an overnight, so it's not typical in the industry. I'm not sure why everyone is saying there is a lot of travel? I knew lots of different people from different companies, and besides the random sales meeting, travel isn't common, on the rep level, anyway.

We were heavily trained on the products that we represented. Most companies have wonderful resources that aid in the training, but you also do need a strong background in science. I would never have been able to speak to a doctor or the staff about the products, if I didn't have a strong knowledge of what I was saying. There is NO pharmaceutical company that will hire anyone without a 4 year degree minimum. I can speak only for myself, but there was never a time that I would not have represented BOTH sides of the products I sold, good or bad. We went over negative side effects at every presentation, as well as price points for all products. Not everytime were we on top, either. I tried to provide doctors with current information that they would find useful, if I did not have anything I thought was useful at the time, I would not waste the doctors time.

There is a lot of waiting around, though. You drive alot during the day from office to office. Not all doctors are easy to talk to, and a few were very condesending. I actually found most residents to be the most condesending as a whole. Once in practice, most were much more mellow. Doctors that had been in practive a while were usually more than accomodating to having reps in their offices. I would say I was able to work with 90% of the 150 doctors I called on. 5% would not talk to the reps, but would still accept drup samples, the other 5% had a closed door policy to drug reps.

Overall, it's a great job for a working mommy. You can basically set your own schedule. There is a fair amount of paperwork, but that can be done from home. There are, of course, some bad examples of drug reps, but most I worked with were educated, nice people. Most had families. There are alot of misconceptions about the pharmaceutial industry, which is somewhat funny to me. I liked the job alot, and will probably go back to it someday. Right now, I'm staying home with my girls. :) If you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to help.

[dr mom]

"there was never a time that I would not have represented BOTH sides of the products I sold, good or bad"

I suspect that made you way too honest to really thrive as a drug rep. ;)

I deal with reps on a daily basis who misrepresent information about their products, either because of ignorance (they wholeheartedly believe the company propaganda and don't do any research or thinking of their own) or deliberate deception. Sorry to say it, but reps are out to sell, not to present facts. Sure, they're nice people - they get paid to be nice. But they also get paid to SELL PRODUCT, bottom line, and their bonuses and advancement within the company depends on sales.

I have *never* yet in my 9 years as a student/resident/practicing physician heard a rep say "you know, there is a cheaper generic equivalent to my product that works just as well" or "our drug is just a me-too product exactly like six others already available, we just wanted a cut of the market share" or "actually, our competitors product seems to be better-tolerated and may be safer." NEVER, not ONCE.

Not intending to be sarcastic here and I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but if you were really, truly representing both sides of the products you sold - the good as well as the bad - you are the first drug rep in 9 years that I've met who actually did so. I don't hate reps, I interact with them on a daily basis and have even become friends with a few regulars - but I have to say that based on my experiences thus far, I don't trust much of what they tell me. Being a drug rep is a little too much like being a used car salesman, only with a better wardrobe.