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Starting or advancing your pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical sales career requires a strategic approach.

Here are six steps to take in the coming year to upgrade your career.

Polish your resume. Use more action words and quantifiable achievements. Ruthlessly trim away the fluff. Include percentage to quotas and rankings against your peers. Being ranked as the number three sales rep out of a hundred is much different than being number three out of five.

Here are some of the attributes hiring managers are looking for:

  • Passionate about achieving success
  • Strong work ethic
  • Competitive
  • Financially motivated
  • Professional appearance and attitude
  • Ability to establish rapport
  • Easily bounces back from rejection
  • Prepared with a plan, and product and market knowledge

Expand your network. Reach out to people in person and online. Knowing someone in the business won’t get you a job, but they can get your foot in the door.

Optimize your Brag Book. For the uninitiated, a Brag Book is a binder of your professional accomplishments that you can bring along on interviews to highlight your successes. Veteran sales professionals – clean out any information from longer than ten years ago, unless it is particularly relevant.

Make sure that the binder itself and its plastic sleeves are in good condition. Consider creating an electronic copy of your book to send to hiring managers who request it.

Items to include in Brag Book:

  • Company ranking reports
  • Performance reviews
  • College transcripts
  • Letters of recommendation
  • Positive emails
  • Continuing education certificates
  • Photos of trophies, plaques, awards

Prepare for a long road. It can take as many as ten to fifteen interviews to get hired for a pharmaceutical, medical or biotech sales position. You may also be tested on your knowledge or sales skills or invited for a ride-along with a seasoned sales rep or manager. If you are currently employed, anticipate using a lot of vacation days in your 2015 job search.

Know your stuff. Research the company you are targeting or interviewing with. You are ahead of the game by starting with a business or life sciences degree, but investigate training options to fill in any gaps in your knowledge.

There are several online programs for current or prospective sales representatives in the pharmaceutical, medical and biotech industry. Weigh the costs against the potential for setting yourself apart from other candidates.

Partner with a niche staffing firm. Don’t trust your career to just any agency. Choose a firm that knows the ins and outs of the industry and has an extensive clientele.

At SMR Group Ltd, we specialize in helping sales and marketing professionals find great positions in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical industries. If you need help or more tips for your 2015 job search, contact us today.


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