INTERVIEWING WITH BMS ONCOLOGY

While I know many people use this forum to vent their frustrations and anger about issues they have within their company, but I decided to throw out a solid question and see if I get any genuine responses.

Just got laid off from Pfizer and I'm beginning the interview process with BMS for their oncology division , but I don't know much about the company or its work environment . While finding another job is quite important to me and the financial stability of my family, my severance package is allowing me a decent amount of months to look for the right opportunity. I don't want to go from one bad company to another because the stress on myself and my family is unwelcomed.

I was a little disappointed in looking around and not seeing many good opportunities and I don't just apply for every open position just to have a job. I have over 15yrs experience in the medical industry and have always been a top performer, so I feel that if i trust in my career accomplishments I will eventually find the right fit for me. BMS contacted me about an open position within their oncology division and I was hesitant to take the meeting because I didn't know anything about the company , which is surprising having this much time in the medical industry.

I am not only looking for the right position but after having gone through a ton of corporate bullshit and politics at Pfizer, I'm looking for the right company . I want a company I can feel respected and valued with and also have opportunities to develop and grow in my career. I'm still in my 30s , so I still have a few more decades left in the workforce which is why this next position is important. I have had the unfortunate luck of being with companies or divisions that fail and either go through layoffs or I leave before when I see the writing on the walls. I want to continue providing a good life for my family and I have decided to remain in the medical industry for now but haven't decided on pharma or device sales as I have split my career on each side. My unique background allows me to have options that others who only have pharma sales on their resume. I have friends that are trying to get me to leave the industry and move to either telecom or security software sales but the idea honestly bores me. I know their is good money there but I worry I would have to start from the bottom to familiarize myself with the industry and as the head of household I'm financially limited in how low I can go in compensation no matter the level of opportunity.

So my question is for any current or past employees: what has your experience been with BMS? How would you describe their desire to allow for creativity in their sales reps HCP interactions, meaning are you reading from a slide show on your iPads or can you actually engage with your accounts and build strong relationships that foster a mutually beneficial sales experience? At Pfizer it was all about Activity vs Performance which is so backwards and against my natural sales style coming from device. In device it was all about creatively find a way to close each account and find ways to provide the best account management that produced residual revenue in commission each month. I was making more money than my manager due to my strategies and proactive approach in identifying opportunities. I miss that ability and rush of closing an account and watching the HCP sign that purchase order. But throw in a family and owning a home and I caved and wanted to move back to pharma for the guaranteed base salary vs banking on commission checks to pay the bills.

How is the compensation package for oncology reps compared to other companies? They say they can work within getting me $120K comp pckg between base and bonus which is my bare minimum that I can accept for any job.

How is the turn over here? Layoffs(reorgs)? Pfizer did at least 1 a year , sometimes 2. That level of instability shows how inept a company is with their business model and the reps are the ones left to pay the price.

Never having sold in a POD model before, what is it like ? Is it actually good for business in this division? Seems like such an outdated approach that could just wind up pudding off accounts and limiting access.

Are the bonuses and goals attainable as well as easily surpassed with hard work?

I don't care about what kind of car they provide or how many vacation days off a year they give because those are luxeries we have been blessed to get in this industry and sometimes take for grantid. Last week was the first time in a decade I went to a gas station and paid for my own gas. I couldn't have even told you what the current gas prices were let alone if they were higher or lower than normal since I have always had a company vehicle.

So any information on this opportunity and the company as a whole would be great. If all you want to do is leave asshole remarks because your life is so uneventful and you feel a rush leaving anonymous nasty comments on a thread, then choose one of the many other ones to get that fix. I'm just trying to do right by my family and my career and finding the right next company & division is important . For all those who leave genuine responses, thank you in advance. Your character is much appreciated.

#notanotherpfizerplease

 

Stay away!!! Biggest crap hole on the face of the earth run by a bunch of scared scientists that couldn't manage their way out of a paperbag.

 

Terrific place to be - truly making a difference and winning culture

 

I survived two or three reorgs. And then it hit me. Stay away. Total instability, they don't care about their people. Poor oncology management.

 

OP: thanks for feedback. Decided POD wasn't right environment for me so I moved back to device working in Ortho. Good move with solid company and no more backwards views on how to effective manage my territory.

 

Don't walk- run from the so called BMS Oncology sales job. All they do is go in and talk to MD's about shit that was at ASCO years ago. Leadership sucks. Products are bought by BMS- not developed by BMS. So- just a glorified marketing company.

 

Completely TRUE! So mismanaged. I wish someone would buy us and toss mid and senior management.

 

If you like an environment where people are tripping over each other and spending more time planning how to not to irritate the customers with too many calls, then by all means, jump aboard. Do you like autonomy? RUN from this place because you will have NONE.

 

No leadership in US Medical. People don't work together and hide their work from one another. One reorganization after another doesn't seem to make it a better place.

 

Pharma is pharma. SOS, different company. The pharma model is 20 yrs outdated. Obamacare will finish us off 0r good. Once Medicare is given the green light to negotiate drug prices only half, if that, will survive....and then only by cannibalizing on each other.
Sad demise for the leading industry in the world, and a sad demise of the future health of the world.

 

You made a good move as this division is run by thug managers from sample dropping divisions, and they have absolutely no interest in understanding the true job of an oncology sales rep in the modern-day. Anyone who comes here will be directed to execute all sorts of metrics with quotas set well above what can be reasonably accomplished in the real world. You will be forced to spam your customers with canned emails. You will be coerced to commit fraud and you will be incentivized to commit fraud through the conduit of fake sales calls. You will find yourself in a situation where it is easier to simply make things up than tell the truth about the fact that very little activity is really happening in the field as most of the accounts have been shut down due to pushy tactics from thug managers in similar organizations..... If you choose to take A position here, get an attorney who you consults with periodically and document everything. Document document document and do not stop as that is what management will do to you....remember everything that you document in detail is admissible in court

 

You have to be insane to work in BMS ONC! First, access is THE worst when compared to any specialty. Second, BMS ONC is run by total incompetents! We also lie a lot about calls. LOL!

 

Company makes money inspight of themselves. Horrible leadership, micro mangages everything, crazy broad leading sales and pay sucks. Better off going to Genentech where they will treat you like a true professional and not a corporate monkey.

 

dont do it, run away and don't look back. place sucks.

 

yes join us we need more slave meat monkeys