Which one is a better opportunity? More money and security? Less BS? Any thoughts?
Big or Mid-Sized Pharma
- Thread starter Anonymous
- Start date
-
- Tags
- None
<
Walking Eagle
Active Member
- Walking Eagle Sep 08, 2011 at 04:40: PM
Walking Eagle
Active Member
Big pharma has better insurance coverage and higher base pay, better car, better and often cheaper benefits.
Mid pharma has more problems with insurance/medicaid coverage and higher co-pays, often bend "the rules" to get business and expect the reps to do so as well, higher benefit costs(there are always exceptions), and smaller/cheaper cars (again-exceptions -- worked for mid pharma bio tech with Volvo and no deducts for insurance and great package for 401K matching). Do your homework.
Drug Dumper
Well-Known Member
I am in device but have worked for HUGE pharma and then VERY SMALL pharma. I preferred the smaller one hands down. We were a newer start-up that is still growing and it was more of a family feeling there...there were a handful of DMs, a handful of Reps and we really all just wanted this thing to get off the ground. We faced a lot of challenges, like formulary, but we did the best we could and luckily the management was smart enough to know that we needed to make our goals low to start and I never felt like I was pressured.
Much less backstabbing in my smaller pharma experience. Much less ego as well.
Much less backstabbing in my smaller pharma experience. Much less ego as well.
People stay longer at small so harder to get promoted sometimes. I like big for rising.
Big companies lay off, small companies are bought so security is a wash. It all depends on what you are looking for. Smaller gives you more visibility. Sure, there are fewer positions available for career advancement, but you're not standing in line based on 100 other people who have been with the company longer. You are more often judged on merits than on connections and 'time served'. Pay and training are often better at bigger companies, so ideal for the new and near to retirement time frames. In between, go small and enjoy your job for the first time in years! SO much less BS, box checking, and mindless policies.
It is a really difficult question as there is very little consistency between the ‘Big Pharma’ by themselves, let alone comparing them to Mid-Size. And again within the Midsize there are wide variations. I’ve worked for Big Big Pharma and depending on what division you were in it could feel very much like a small biotech. Likewise I’ve worked for small & midsize biopharm’s that felt like and very much wanted to act like Big Pharma. There is no way anyone can give you an accurate answer as it is to nebulous of a question. You need to compare companies to companies and divisions to division to get a clear picture.
So with that being said I will give you me $.02. Small biotech in niche TA’s like oncology, MS, HIV, and rare conditions pay far more than there Big Pharma counterparts, there is less BS, but with small market caps there are more likely to get bought out. This holds true but I will say this, if Wyeth can get bought out anyone can be bought out in this industry. So sure you chances are lower of being displaced by a buyout in big pharma but I think due to the still bloated size of many of the big pharma’s being displaced as a cost recovery method is far more likely than with lean, small/mid size companies.
Look not into the size of the company but what therapeutic specialty you want to work in and find companies that match that. If all you want to do is be a PC rep and the products or disease is unimportant than it probably doesn’t matter all that much.
Lastly what is ‘mid-size’ in you frame of reference? Is it based on number of employees, number of products, divisions, annual revenue, market cap, etc? I pretty sure for Big Pharma you mean the top 10 companies based on revenue but after that the picture is a little less clear.
So with that being said I will give you me $.02. Small biotech in niche TA’s like oncology, MS, HIV, and rare conditions pay far more than there Big Pharma counterparts, there is less BS, but with small market caps there are more likely to get bought out. This holds true but I will say this, if Wyeth can get bought out anyone can be bought out in this industry. So sure you chances are lower of being displaced by a buyout in big pharma but I think due to the still bloated size of many of the big pharma’s being displaced as a cost recovery method is far more likely than with lean, small/mid size companies.
Look not into the size of the company but what therapeutic specialty you want to work in and find companies that match that. If all you want to do is be a PC rep and the products or disease is unimportant than it probably doesn’t matter all that much.
Lastly what is ‘mid-size’ in you frame of reference? Is it based on number of employees, number of products, divisions, annual revenue, market cap, etc? I pretty sure for Big Pharma you mean the top 10 companies based on revenue but after that the picture is a little less clear.
Not really. The higher the specially I got into the more I got paid and the less stress and BS came with it. I haven’t had a field ride along in years, no call reporting, one regional POA and one NSM a year and that is it.
Once you get out of PC/Big Pharma this business can be pretty enjoyable and lucrative. Unfortunately this board is reflective of the pharma industry where most people are stuck in big pharma primary care which I would agree has to be the worst job out there and should be reserved for kids right out of college. More than five years in PC is a detriment to your career, and there is not one recruiter who will tell you differently, unless your plan is to stay with your current company for the rest of your career.
unfortunately, these jobs are not available in this economy
if you were lucky to land one pre 2008, good for you
all i know is that i sell my ass off but always get passed over, and i am not blaming others for my bad luck, as it is mostly due to bad luck and a terrible economy
The truth is that you have been lucky to have had such a great opportunity.
Sure, you worked hard and did things the right way. But, many of us have as much talent as you, and might even have more education and even more drive, but we never got our chance.
Good for you. Congrats!
I just think you need to realize that some people do have more "luck" than other in career choices and other factors beyond their control...
its not like we are living in the 1950s to 1990s America, where go-getter and hard workers killed it...
today the hard workers and go-getter are getting passed over for that 4 year college kid that is cheap and easier to control.
It’s not that those jobs are unavailable it’s just the old catch 22. They are hiring people with experience in that therapeutic area. I have suggested this on this site many times before, so here it goes again. You have to take baby steps to get there. For instance many PC reps jump to Amgen and Ortho Biotech. Neither are particularly attractive jobs nor does either pay all that well and they have very high turnover rates, which creates opportunity. What many of us did was we had a plan and got our foot in the oncology door by selling low level supportive care drugs like Procrit and Aranesp. You do that for a few years and you can parlay it into a good oncology job paying very well. It is very tough to jump from PC to a high paying specialty without having that ‘bridge job’ . It has been my view that most PC reps want to get somewhere but they get very comfortable with their situation even when it is NOT a comfortable situation and they pass up on the smaller and riskier jobs at companies that are not household names that could get them to a better place down the road.