No, you could be one of the lucky 10% whom lands back in pharma, but if you dont, the chances of landing a better job, or any job paying equivalent is low. First off, very few industries pay as well as the pharma industry, other health field like medical devices etc are very, very, very, averse to hiring sales reps, since pharma "sales" is not really sales. Just do a google search on "pharma reps need not apply"
Of course you should try hard, and turn over every stone, but part of turning over stone is dealing with the real reality that you will likely have to start all over again, in your career. Perhaps get yourself a year or two of real sales experience in copiers, enterprise car rental, AFLAC, life insurance companies, etc. The companies all hiring tons, because the turnover is massive. The turnover is massive because the jobs are grueling. Most drug reps would even have a difficult time working 8 hours in an office; they have been conditioned to working the 6Ts (Tues Thru Thursday Ten To Two).
Well you will likely have to get yourself some experience at these companies, then trade it in after a couple of years. Think about this question, and answer it honestly. What skills do you actually develop as a drug rep? How many ads have you seen, outside of pharma stating "5 years of pharma sales desired?
So yes, some will just move forward; some will luckily find another dying rep job in a few weeks; some will get the hookup in another industry, even medical devices. But the undeniable fact is that there were 100,000 drug rep positions in 2005, and only 70,000 in 2012. Thats 36,000 people with no place to go, and applying for the same jobs that you will be. For every rep that spouts off about how great things are since they have a friend of a friend with ten offers for double the money, there will be ten that would say that they have been unemployed for six months or more, or had to except basically an entry level job at half the pay or less.
So yes you should try hard to be part of the lucky 10%, but mentally you need to be prepared for what the overwhelming majority of you will face, that is thatyour financial life as you know will likely change forever.
