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The pharmaceutical industry is a very lucrative area and there are a lot of career opportunities there. Whether you are interested in the research and development end or the sales and marketing end, there are a lot of different career options for you. If you are interested in pharmaceutical sales, here’s how you can get started in your career.
Qualifications
In terms of qualifications, it really depends on the company that you are hoping to work for. Most companies do not require you to have a specific degree like you would need if you were going into research and development. Companies are more interested in the qualities that you have and your previous job experience.
As demand for healthcare grows, the business behind it becomes more complex. Prepare to meet the challenge by developing in-demand skills to help steer modern practices or manage your own business.”
Tweet ThisA lot of them are looking for graduates, but not all of them, so if you don’t have a degree, that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to find a position. However, they are looking for people that have a keen interest in science and medicine, so a related degree will give you a bit of an advantage over the competition. It’s not essential but if you are serious about a career in pharmaceutical sales, it’s worth considering.
Skills
The most important thing when applying for these jobs is the skills that you have. Pharmaceutical companies are looking for somebody that has a keen interest in science and a good knowledge of the latest innovations in their field. You should keep up with publishing companies like Bentham science and make sure that you have a good working knowledge of all of the latest research. Demonstrating this knowledge in applications and interviews will be a big help.
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Companies are also looking for people that have good sales skills. That means a person that is confident and outgoing and gets on well with people. Good communication skills are absolutely essential as well. Pharmaceutical sales are all about hitting targets, so the biggest thing that they’re looking for is somebody that is motivated and goal orientated. You need to highlight these skills on all of your applications and try to come up with good examples from your previous experience.
networking
If you start looking at job sites for vacancies in the pharmaceutical sales sector, you might have trouble finding anything. Sometimes, you will see jobs advertised, but a lot of the time, those vacancies will be filled by word of mouth. A lot of the jobs are taken by people that work in other areas of the industry, which does put you at a disadvantage. One option is to try to get a different position in a pharmaceutical company and see if you can move over to sales.
“Many people think that people are born to be a natural sales person to have a successful career in the industry, along with uber confidence and the almost important gift of the gab. However, in reality there really is no one that is born to be a sales people. If you get enough training and good experience anyone could build a successful career in sales.”
The most important thing, whether you have a position or not, is networking. If you can network effectively, you will hear about these vacancies and you can express your interest in them. Try to attend any industry events that you can, and you can even ask your doctor who their suppliers are and whether they can put you in touch.
Getting into pharmaceutical sales can be tough, but if you follow this advice, you should be able to land your first position.
