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 just finished up searching for 4 specific jobs where the company wanted to discover someone with an undergrad science degree (biology, chemistry, etc.). But really, they could live without the science degree if they found the right person with the kind of personality, drive, desire and presence they needed. So, the upshot is that for some areas of laboratory sales, a science background is a plus, but not always required. Go to www.phcconsulting.com/ to see if there are any that interest you.
But, even with flexibility from employers on background, there’s still a lot of different ways people can shoot themselves in the foot in the interview process—and I ran into a few this week. (These aren’t unusual, either…I get responses like this with disappointing frequency.) For example, after one person had described her background and experience, she summed up her desire to be in medical sales as “medical terminology makes me happy.” As a recruiter, that kind of statement makes me want to run in the other direction (laughing, but still running). You could say that that’s not such a major deal, but it sounds a little goofy, it doesn’t show a lot of maturity, it doesn’t show a lot of thought, and it’s an additional thing she just said to fill space. So, if you’re trying to get a medical sales job, DON’T FILL SPACE. Usually, you’re going to fill it with something that’s going to hurt you.
Another man with a very strong laboratory background wanted to get into medical sales but complained that “they just want so much sales experience.” If you’ve read my blog for very long, you know that I don’t think that medical sales requires reps to be all that skilled in sales: they don’t ask for a close, they don’t place orders, they have no power over pricing, and they have no power in the relationship…so, when he said that to me, it made me think he hadn’t done his research about the different types of sales jobs, or really put that much thought into it at all. When I said him that with his background, he should think about pharmaceutical sales, or field applications, he said to me, “All I wanna do is get off the bench.” Well, a lot of scientists will say that, and I can appreciate that… but as a recruiter, I don’t wanna hear it. When you’re interviewing for a laboratory sales position, I want to know that you’re running to something, not running from something. I’ve had managers comment to me about that to me, too: “I’m not sure they wanted THIS job…I think they just didn’t want the position they have.” So, when you’re in the interview process, be running TO something. It may not sound like a major deal, but it is to hiring managers. (Really, all hiring managers wanna know that you’ll be enthusiastic about the career opportunity they need you to do.) They’re going to spend somewhere between $25,000-$50,000 training you in the first 6 months, and they don’t want any questions about whether you’ll be successful.
Which leads me to the next point: Don’t ask your recruiter if she thinks you’ll be successful in pharma sales. If you’re not confident, I won’t be confident, and my hiring manager won’t be confident… and I won’t present you for the job.
These are just some things that you wanna think about as an entry-level person in the pharma revenue field and what you got to do. The big things you can do: be supple, be available, be honest, and DO YOUR HOMEWORK. So when I ask you, “What have you done to prepare for a revenue position?” don’t say what one person said to me this week: “Why, nothing. I don’t have a sales position yet, so how would I prepare?” That’s not what I want to hear. I wanna hear someone who’s creative in their thought process, has looked on You Tube for instructional movies, has read some books, and has done a ride-along or a job shadowing. I want to see someone who knows why he wants a job in medical sales, medical sales, biotech sales, clinical device sales, or clinical sales. I want to see someone with energy, drive, passion, and a desire to do something more, and different, and to make themselves better, more and different.
Nice luck,
Peggy McKee
The Medical Sales Recruiter
Article courtesy of Peggy McKee - Owner / Senior Recruiter at the nationally
recognized pharma and pathology revenue recruiting team of PHC Consulting.
© Copyright 2008 PHC Consulting | All rights reserved
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