Tip No. 160
Q. I have 12 years experience in sales and would like to go into pharmaceutical sales. Unfortunately, most companies require two years experience in this field. Are there any courses I could take?
A. Your aspiration of getting into the field of pharmaceutical sales is probably a pretty good choice. In a February issue of "Newsweek," the health care industry is reported as one of the areas that is growing, which certainly would include pharmaceuticals. You may or may not need to take additional courses or study to get into this arena. Sales is sales; if you are good at it, you will simply want to discuss your sales philosophy and how you are successful at generating sales. you will need to discuss your transferable strengths as a sales person that make you good at what you do; and back it up with examples of times when you used those attributes to be successful in generating sales and customer relationships for your previous employers. You will also need to develop a resume that encompasses some of this same information, so companies will be interested in talking with you because you are a successful sales person, whether you have background in their industry or not. Of course, it is always easier to find a new position in the industry where you already have expertise, but with a little perseverance and hard work, you can find a position in a new field. Your first order of business will be to do some research on the field you would like to enter. you can do this online and at the library. Find out who the major pharmaceutical companies are, what their goals and philosophies are, and what they look for in their employees. Once you have some of this background information, you should begin networking and holding information gathering interviews with people who already work in that field. Find out from them how they got into the field, what they like about it, what their challenges are, what industry changes they see coming, and then get their advice on how you could get into the field. Also as you do this, you should also educate the people you meet with about your successful sales background and get their suggestions on where or how they see you being successful in their field. Then ask them if they would suggest anyone else you should talk to who would be helpful to you in your exploration of information and entry into this new field. As you go through this process, you may find that the people you meet with have a need for someone like you and you could generate a new opportunity for yourself in this manner. This is how most people find new positions. From your note, it sounds like you are only "applying" for advertised positions. There is no problem with that, except that you will have a great deal of competition and most of the people you will be competing with, probably already have the pharmaceutical background requested. That makes it very difficult for you to compete. You should continue applying for positions for which you are interested, but you should also add networking to your job search. One conversation with the right person could generate a new position for you and you may not have any competition at all. For a thorough review of networking, I suggest you read Richard Nelson Bolles' What Color is Your Parachute. To prepare for and be successful in your job interviews, you mal also want to read Knock 'Em Dead by Martin Yate. Best of luck!
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