Posted in Uncategorized on November 27, 2007 at 11:00 am
Interested in a career in pharmaceutical sales? Check out these expert tips from Tom Ruff, president and CEO of Tom Ruff Company and the author of How to Break Into Pharmaceutical Sales: A Headhunter’s Strategy.
Breaking into pharmaceutical sales is no easy feat, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. A few years ago, I got a call from a young woman who wanted us to find her a job in pharmaceutical sales. She was a recent college graduate with no sales experience, but, by the time I put down the receiver I knew that she would succeed.
Here is what she did: For three months, she walked into doctors’ offices and requested the business cards of reps that left them behind. She also went to hospitals and talked to reps working their daily beats. She impressed one sales rep so much that he told his manager about this young woman with incredible drive. The company called her in for an interview and subsequently offered her a job.
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I recently wrote a book, How to Break into Pharmaceutical Sales: A Headhunter’s Strategy, that I hope will give job-seekers an upper-hand over the competition. Here’s a crash course on how to get a job as a pharmaceutical sales rep:
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Step One: Set a goal for finding a position in pharmaceutical sales and write it down. Just the act of writing down your goals generates alchemy that will help you in the job hunt.
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Step Two: Write your resume and compile a brag book. Recruiters and pharmaceutical companies spend only seconds (literally) looking at resumes, so it’s your job to be short and sweet. I have done interviews with hundreds of district managers who all agree that there is just one basic format that works best for landing a pharmaceutical sales job. Go here and copy the format exactly. The brag book is generally a three-ring binder filled with documents like diplomas, letters, stack rankings and emails that support the information in your resume.
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Step Three: Research. People either succeed or fail based on the amount of research and preparation done before the actual interview. Start with the Internet. Go on a “ride-along” with a pharmaceutical sales representative. Call the customer service department and ask general questions about the company.
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Step Four: Network. This is a must for anyone looking to break in. In order to get those key interviews, you’ve got to muster a little creativity and fearlessness.
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Step Five: The Phone Interview. Treat the phone interview like a regular interview because it is. Stand up and walk around when you are talking on the phone. Wear a suit. Ask the same questions you would ask in an in-person interview, and don’t forget to smile!
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Step Six: The In-Person Interview. One of my friends and a former district manager for Johnson & Johnson tells me he decides within the first two or three minutes whether or not to hire a candidate. Every second counts. Be prepared for the most obvious and usually first question: “Why do you want to get into pharmaceutical sales?” For more examples of frequently used interview questions, check out our company website.
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Step Seven: Close the Interview. All of the research and preparation you have done up to this point is null and void if you ignore or gloss over ‘the close.’ You simply MUST close. Not closing the interviewer is like presenting flowers to your boyfriend or girlfriend and forgetting to say ‘Happy Anniversary.’
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Step Eight: Creative Follow-up. Leave a handwritten note thanking your interviewer with the receptionist before getting into your car. After you get home, send the interviewer an email. Leave a voicemail if you feel it’s appropriate–but make it brief and don’t ask for or expect a return phone call.
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All of the above steps are outlined in more detail in my book , and a complete list of interview questions and a sample resume are available at www.tomruff.com.
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Good luck with your job search!
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Do you have questions for Tom? He has graciously offered to reply on my blog — just comment below!
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