We have a couple of our larger clients that will make an exceptions for a
candidate that does not have outside sales experience. Those two exceptions
are candidates with a nursing background or military experience.

Of all of our clients, the two that stand out that really like military
experience are Johnson & Johnson & Pfizer. Often, J&J will hire people right
out of the military and put them into a “Territory Assistant” role or “TA”
for short. I would recommend trying to find a sales representative or
manager for either of these two companies and see if they can submit your
resume for any upcoming openings. It also helps if you are willing to
relocate to a smaller market where they tend to have a challenging time
finding candidates.

Best of luck,
Tom

How can I break into the field of pharmaceutical sales coming from a military background without sales experience. I am an Air Force Intelligence briefer with over 10 years of briefing/presentation experience as well as a bachelors in Biology, will this be enough?

In How to Break Into Pharmaceutical Sales, I list the top 15 networking
resources for breaking into the industry. Here are some of my favorites:

1) Get the names of the pharmaceutical sales representatives that call on
your doctor and pharmacist and contact the reps directly
2) Find out what pharmaceutical trade shows are coming to your area and find
a way to get in & work the room with all of the managers and representatives
3) Forward your resume to a good recruiter that specializes in
pharmaceutical sales
4) Attend a local pharm rep association meeting as a guest and let them know
you are looking to break into the industry. Here’s a good directory that
lists ones around the US:
www.pharmrep.com/pharmrep/static/staticHtml.jsp?id=101197
5) One of my favorites, which hardly anyone does (that is why I like it) is
to stand in front of a hospital and track down all the reps that come and go
and collect business cards and hand out resumes.

We list several other tips and pointers on our website: www.tomruff.com.

Your nursing experience should make up for a lack of sales experience so
don’t let anyone tell you it can’t be done. Anything is possible if you want
it bad enough.

All my best,
Tom

My question is this:

Most sales jobs, including pharmaceutical entry level jobs require you to have at least 2 years of experience in sals.

I am a nurse and am seeking to \”break into pharmaceutical or medical equipment sales\” I have a B.S. in Office Administration Management, A.A.S. in nursing with 11 years of varied nursing experience and some graduate level coursework in Training and Continuing Education Management, some retail experience as a cashier, but no true sales experience.

How can I break into pharmaceutical sales w/o experience? Should I follow the information about the young lady you wrote about who did it?

Signed Lela Pinkard,RN

Compensation within the pharmaceutical industry has changed quite considerably since I first started recruiting in 1989. I have noticed within the large pharmaceutical companies (IE: JNJ, Pfizer, Abbott,
GlaxoSmithKline) that bonuses are not what they used to be 15-20 years ago.

Alternatively, base salaries have increased quite significantly.

Pharmaceutical companies typically pay a large base salary along with a bonus. Some people like the security of knowing you will get your paycheck every week and approximately how much they will make.

If you are driven by commissions and love the thrill of closing a sale, pharmaceutical sales is probably not for you. I would recommend looking into medical device sales. Medical device companies typically have a very low
base salary but give you the opportunity to make a lot of money in commissions, usually without a cap as to how much you can make.

Thank you for the good question,
Tom Ruff

I have been told by several people, sales recruiters included, that a career in pharmaceutical sales is not as lucrative as it once was.

What are your thoughts on this?

Are there any particular sectors that would be better than others