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.
The term “pharmaceutical sales” covers a lot of area: pharmaceutical device revenue, medical sales, clinical diagnostics sales, biotechnology revenue, imaging sales, pathology sales, medical sales, and tons of other niche areas of health care sales. Even though there are strong differences in style (capital vs. consumable sales, for instance), there are several basic, bedrock things you got to know if you’re going to land a job in one of these areas. They all have to do with background, experience, and candidate preparation.
Background
Ideally, you need a science degree. There are people who will tell you that you don’t need a science degree to be successful in clinical sales, but that’s only partially true. In some cases, candidates with very strong sales backgrounds have gotten by with it, but they almost always have science classes under their belts (beyond just the minimum they needed to graduate). You have to know what you’re talking about in order to sell with credibility and confidence–so if you want to be successful selling medicine, science, and technology, you got to know medicine, science, and technology. Pathology sales training programs can be helpful (in the way that all training is worthwhile), but won’t help an otherwise bad candidate.
Experience
- You need sales experience and revenue skills in order to land a position in pharma sales. However, you don’t necessarily got to have medical sales experience. What you must be able to do is demonstrate how the sales process you’re nice at will translate into your desired area of health care sales.
- Complete a field preceptorship (position shadowing). It shows that you’re ready to do something that you won’t get paid for in order to land this position. It demonstrates your initiative, determination, and strategic thinking. If you’re short on experience, it helps fill in some of the weak areas. It’s great for your resume, because it furnishes you with handy keywords that will get your resume noticed.
- Read sales books and get sales training. These will help you in the interview, and if you can communicate that you’ve done these things, it will highlight your commitment to getting into pharmaceutical sales.
- Find laboratory sales reps or managers who will give you an informational interview. It’s a good line to walk, because you don’t wanna take advantage and turn it into asking for a career opportunity, but a nice informational interview will give you tremendous insight into the field.
Presenting yourself as a top-quality candidate
- Use your network. Work the network you already have, and establish a profile on LinkedIn. Join groups that are relevant to the medical sales areas you’re interested in, and participate. Follow influential recruiters on Twitter.
- Pay attention to your CV. Go beyond the basics of having an impressive, easy-to-read, professional resume. You must have the right keywords on your resume (that will get picked up by the Applicant Tracking Systems of medical revenue recruiters), as well as a strong RESUME objective. Highlight your technical degree, if you’ve one.
- Improve your interview skills. Polish your interview skills. Be willing for behavioral interview queries by having stories willing that highlight your skills. Do your homework before the interview so that you’ve musings of your own to ask, costume appropriately and watch your body language, and use your sales skills to close the interview for the career opportunity.
- Write a 30/60/90-Day Plan. Prepare a 30/60/90-Day Plan to show your interviewer that you know what it takes to be successful at this job. A 30/60/90-Day plan requires that you analyze the career opportunity as well as the company, and set goals for success. Its an outline for what you will do when you start the job. This kind of effort before you even get the position impresses hiring managers. You become less of a risk to hire, because they can see that you will be able to hit the ground running as an asset to the company.
- Consider hiring a pharma sales headhunter for custom consulting. It’s the quickest way available for you to find out what it is that you have to do to land a clinical sales job. This kind of career coaching will also show you how to highlight your best assets, and how to deal with potential drawbacks (or even turn them into an advantage).
Article courtesy of Peggy McKee - Owner / Senior Headhunter at the nationally
recognized medical and medical laboratory sales recruiting team of PHC Consulting.
© Copyright 2008 PHC Consulting | All rights reserved
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