If you are a sales professional or want to become one, or if you are looking for a new sales job, you will face one of the toughest interview processes of any job seeker.
I was asked recently about the National Association of Pharmaceutical Representatives (NAPRx)—specifically, whether or not the training certificate program they offer is an adequate substitute for a 4-year degree if the end goal is breaking into clinical sales as a sales rep.
There’s a couple of ways to answer this question, so here goes:
First of all, my opinion is that no certificate program is an adequate substitute for a 4-year degree. There is just no substitute for a solid science background if you’re going into clinical sales. Remember—the customers in this area DO have science degrees…if you don’t, it will be apparent that you don’t. My big candidates all have 4-year science degrees and some kind of sales/business experience.
Second, of all the areas available in clinical revenue (pharmaceutical revenue, clinical diagnostics sales, biotechnology revenue, DNA products revenue, cellular products sales, molecular products sales, hospital equipment sales, imaging sales, surgical supplies revenue, medical device sales, laboratory revenue, histology revenue, pharmaceutical software sales), clinical sales is the most volatile and the least respected—partly because medical revenue reps (as a whole, though there are exceptions) bring the least value. The effectiveness of the pharma sales force is declining, and layoffs are everywhere.
See my web site, www.phcconsulting.com, for job listings. Reading job descriptions and requirements will give you a much better idea of where you got to focus your prep time before getting into medical sales.
Article courtesy of Peggy McKee - Owner / Senior Recruiter at the nationally
recognized laboratory and pharmaceutical sales recruiting team of PHC Consulting.
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