I guess it really was too good to be true.

[Anonymous]

I remember when I started with Merck what a classy organization it was...Everything
was done first rate, from the places we had meetings at (Ritz Carltons, Four Seasons, etc.) to the beautiful shrimp and lobster on ice during our evening meals.) The pharma industry was one great place to be back in the '80s...

We are all working part time, if that, and blowing out our numbers...Merck science was cutting edge, and new blockbusters were popping out of MRL, quicker than Octomom on steroids.

It was a great job and I felt lucky to have landed at Merck...I remember thinking it was almost too good to be true...(And it turns out, I was right!!)

Like anything else that seems to good, it usually is...Even though Merck was actually producing good new drugs back then, there was still a sort of insular attitude within the pharma industry....It really didn't relate to anything else back then either...It was the lunar module quietly and safely hovering around the moon...

Flash forward...I am in my 50s now...pushed out of Merck by the bastards that run this company...No health insurance...been looking for work for almost 3 years now and nothing doing...no one will hire people from this industry...

Glad I caught some of the party, but at the end of the day, I stayed at the Party long after the keg ran dry...

I am seriously screwed in life now...(I accept part of that blame too)

It really was all too good to be true...FU MERCK!

 

[Anonymous]

Thats why I am telling all my friends to run hard and fast. Its dead, over, gone. Was fun but those days are long gone. Stay on at merck and go to school- during the day if you have to. Do anything you have to and milk this dying pig as much as you can.

 

[Anonymous]

We are pigs being led to slaughter by the black sheep ken frazier. Much like the american people who are being led off like sheeple by the hussein obaaamaa regime.

 

[Anonymous]

We are pigs being led to slaughter by the black sheep ken frazier. Much like the american people who are being led off like sheeple by the hussein obaaamaa regime.

How true.

 

[Anonymous]

Merck is definitely not the same place that existed in the 80's. I heard a report about Southwest Airlines philosophy of choosing to first take care of their employees so that their employees will be motivated to take care of their passengers/customers and in turn, the passengers/customers will take good care of the Southwest Airlines shareholders. I think Merck may have had that attitude back in the 80's but certainly not now.

 

[Anonymous]

We are pigs being led to slaughter by the black sheep ken frazier. Much like the american people who are being led off like sheeple by the hussein obaaamaa regime.

So sad.....You can't take responsibility for your own life. You wanted Merck to take care of you forever. When in doubt, blame the brown guys. So sad.

 

[Anonymous]

So sad.....You can't take responsibility for your own life. You wanted Merck to take care of you forever. When in doubt, blame the brown guys. So sad.

There a some generational issues going on here and your comment is totally uncalled for. Those of us in our fifties grew up with parents that worked one job for life with one company. Some of those companies are still around today becaue they were well run. Unfortunately, the greed at the top combined with a lack of American innovation, exportation of U.S. jobs, higher cost of living, etc, has led to extreme job instability in all but a few areas of the economy (Accounting, Direct Healthcare, IT, Engineering). For many of us, we truly had the expectation that working for a big company like Merck would be a safe bet and if we did a good job and worked hard, we would have a job for life. Good companies do NOT overstep their bounds and they know what products to expect in the pipeline in the future. Merck (like all pharma) is not a good company anymore. Perhaps some of the stuff the OP stated is more lavish than what would ever happen today, especially under the microscope of public opinion. The funny thing is that public opinion of pharma cannot be any worse. So, they might as well treat their remaining employees like gold and they don't.

Sorry to hear about your three years of struggle. It is no better at other pharma companies. I jumped and it sucks here too. I feel like a flea that has just found a different dog. LOL

If you can take some of your 401k, take the hit and go back to school. There are many two year degrees that would land you a job (Yahoo just did several good articles on two year degrees that pay). Network on LinkedIn and with recruiters. I noticed a number of my hospitals never advertise except on their own website. There is Monster, Careerbuilder, Indeed.com, Medzilla, Medicalsalesjobs.com and a few others. I would not bother with Medreps.com. You can go there and look up the companies and go to the companies themselves and apply. We cannot jump to manufacturing. They want someone with gear, electrical, engineering, etc experience. I know of no one that has gotten a job there. Sadly, you might have to go retail, sell cars, sell insurance, and dumb down your resume and education considerably to get work. Device jobs want nothing to do with us, especially if we're in our fifties and have been in pharma for 10 plus years. Don't bother. A few of my friends actually made a go of the 1099 medical jobs and after a year, one of them gave up and the other is making 100,000-plus annually. Good luck.

 

[Anonymous]

We are pigs being led to slaughter by the black sheep ken frazier. Much like the american people who are being led off like sheeple by the hussein obaaamaa regime.

Well said and accurate!!

 

[Anonymous]

There a some generational issues going on here and your comment is totally uncalled for. Those of us in our fifties grew up with parents that worked one job for life with one company. Some of those companies are still around today becaue they were well run. Unfortunately, the greed at the top combined with a lack of American innovation, exportation of U.S. jobs, higher cost of living, etc, has led to extreme job instability in all but a few areas of the economy (Accounting, Direct Healthcare, IT, Engineering). For many of us, we truly had the expectation that working for a big company like Merck would be a safe bet and if we did a good job and worked hard, we would have a job for life. Good companies do NOT overstep their bounds and they know what products to expect in the pipeline in the future. Merck (like all pharma) is not a good company anymore. Perhaps some of the stuff the OP stated is more lavish than what would ever happen today, especially under the microscope of public opinion. The funny thing is that public opinion of pharma cannot be any worse. So, they might as well treat their remaining employees like gold and they don't.

Sorry to hear about your three years of struggle. It is no better at other pharma companies. I jumped and it sucks here too. I feel like a flea that has just found a different dog. LOL

If you can take some of your 401k, take the hit and go back to school. There are many two year degrees that would land you a job (Yahoo just did several good articles on two year degrees that pay). Network on LinkedIn and with recruiters. I noticed a number of my hospitals never advertise except on their own website. There is Monster, Careerbuilder, Indeed.com, Medzilla, Medicalsalesjobs.com and a few others. I would not bother with Medreps.com. You can go there and look up the companies and go to the companies themselves and apply. We cannot jump to manufacturing. They want someone with gear, electrical, engineering, etc experience. I know of no one that has gotten a job there. Sadly, you might have to go retail, sell cars, sell insurance, and dumb down your resume and education considerably to get work. Device jobs want nothing to do with us, especially if we're in our fifties and have been in pharma for 10 plus years. Don't bother. A few of my friends actually made a go of the 1099 medical jobs and after a year, one of them gave up and the other is making 100,000-plus annually. Good luck.

thank you so much for this wise and extremely helpful post...I am going to do exactly what you suggested...Bust into one of my 401Ks and get a two year degree to update my ancient bachelors degree...

I would settle for retail at this point as well...

People don't realize what deep doo doo they are going to be in after their pretend, fake phrama job ends...

newsflash...the world out there does not operarate like fictional pharma industry.

 

[Anonymous]

There a some generational issues going on here and your comment is totally uncalled for. Those of us in our fifties grew up with parents that worked one job for life with one company. Some of those companies are still around today becaue they were well run. Unfortunately, the greed at the top combined with a lack of American innovation, exportation of U.S. jobs, higher cost of living, etc, has led to extreme job instability in all but a few areas of the economy (Accounting, Direct Healthcare, IT, Engineering). For many of us, we truly had the expectation that working for a big company like Merck would be a safe bet and if we did a good job and worked hard, we would have a job for life. Good companies do NOT overstep their bounds and they know what products to expect in the pipeline in the future. Merck (like all pharma) is not a good company anymore. Perhaps some of the stuff the OP stated is more lavish than what would ever happen today, especially under the microscope of public opinion. The funny thing is that public opinion of pharma cannot be any worse. So, they might as well treat their remaining employees like gold and they don't.

Sorry to hear about your three years of struggle. It is no better at other pharma companies. I jumped and it sucks here too. I feel like a flea that has just found a different dog. LOL

If you can take some of your 401k, take the hit and go back to school. There are many two year degrees that would land you a job (Yahoo just did several good articles on two year degrees that pay). Network on LinkedIn and with recruiters. I noticed a number of my hospitals never advertise except on their own website. There is Monster, Careerbuilder, Indeed.com, Medzilla, Medicalsalesjobs.com and a few others. I would not bother with Medreps.com. You can go there and look up the companies and go to the companies themselves and apply. We cannot jump to manufacturing. They want someone with gear, electrical, engineering, etc experience. I know of no one that has gotten a job there. Sadly, you might have to go retail, sell cars, sell insurance, and dumb down your resume and education considerably to get work. Device jobs want nothing to do with us, especially if we're in our fifties and have been in pharma for 10 plus years. Don't bother. A few of my friends actually made a go of the 1099 medical jobs and after a year, one of them gave up and the other is making 100,000-plus annually. Good luck.

Everything you said is completely true. I don't understand the other poster who blames it on Obama and Frazier.

 

[Anonymous]

There a some generational issues going on here and your comment is totally uncalled for. Those of us in our fifties grew up with parents that worked one job for life with one company. Some of those companies are still around today becaue they were well run. Unfortunately, the greed at the top combined with a lack of American innovation, exportation of U.S. jobs, higher cost of living, etc, has led to extreme job instability in all but a few areas of the economy (Accounting, Direct Healthcare, IT, Engineering). For many of us, we truly had the expectation that working for a big company like Merck would be a safe bet and if we did a good job and worked hard, we would have a job for life. Good companies do NOT overstep their bounds and they know what products to expect in the pipeline in the future. Merck (like all pharma) is not a good company anymore. Perhaps some of the stuff the OP stated is more lavish than what would ever happen today, especially under the microscope of public opinion. The funny thing is that public opinion of pharma cannot be any worse. So, they might as well treat their remaining employees like gold and they don't.

Sorry to hear about your three years of struggle. It is no better at other pharma companies. I jumped and it sucks here too. I feel like a flea that has just found a different dog. LOL

If you can take some of your 401k, take the hit and go back to school. There are many two year degrees that would land you a job (Yahoo just did several good articles on two year degrees that pay). Network on LinkedIn and with recruiters. I noticed a number of my hospitals never advertise except on their own website. There is Monster, Careerbuilder, Indeed.com, Medzilla, Medicalsalesjobs.com and a few others. I would not bother with Medreps.com. You can go there and look up the companies and go to the companies themselves and apply. We cannot jump to manufacturing. They want someone with gear, electrical, engineering, etc experience. I know of no one that has gotten a job there. Sadly, you might have to go retail, sell cars, sell insurance, and dumb down your resume and education considerably to get work. Device jobs want nothing to do with us, especially if we're in our fifties and have been in pharma for 10 plus years. Don't bother. A few of my friends actually made a go of the 1099 medical jobs and after a year, one of them gave up and the other is making 100,000-plus annually. Good luck.

1099 medical jobs ......ONLY if you have a very high-demand and reimbusable skills or license. Engineers and techs can demand high prices but not the case in most other areas.
For medical trained people its also the need of getting on an insurance plan. Most insurance plans are very difficult entry unless you have a high demand specialty and when a window opens for applications..this can take years. Once you manage to get on its a process of scramble for referrals (hard to do) to literally make pennies (especially after the hours of paperwork for each visit) in the end...

All 1099 people face a double-up on government SS deductions (an extra 7% on you since no employer is picking up your employee SS) oh yea,....and no benefits!!! How about 1500.00 -- 3000.00 a month for health coverage!.

Upshot: .....for most you spin your wheels and make nothing.

Best bests if you must....high end sales or consulting OR in practioner areas..RN/nursing, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, CDE certified diabetes educators, pharmacists and sometimes, physical therapists.....Then, sonography, xray, laboratory, billing and office LPNs and medical assistants..others, a joke and a half...

I say do it if you have no other choice and if your spouse if footing most of the bills and providing medical coverage...for me its a been there, done that and won't and can't do it again....

 

[Anonymous]

Best bests if you must....high end sales or consulting OR in practioner areas..RN/nursing, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, CDE certified diabetes educators, pharmacists and sometimes, physical therapists.....Then, sonography, xray, laboratory, billing and office LPNs and medical assistants..others, a joke and a half...

A few comments. Most Pharma reps have a 4 year degree - correct? The best bet is to apply to PA schools. They take any type of background and esp. like a diverse class. Typically, it is a second career for many individuals. Most PA schools require basic college science courses (biology, chemistry, etc.) it depends on the program. Also, they require you to take the GRE (some instances they will except MCAT scores). The GRE is really not difficult and you can take a Kaplan course or whatever they have now. PA schools were very competitive but there are more of them now so I don't really know how difficult the process is to be admitted. You graduate with a masters degree in whatever the school you attend. Emory and Duke have the best PA schools (or did). However, they are VERY difficult to get accepted.

I mean no disrespect to NPs or nursing but the time it takes unless you are already an RN or LPN to become a NP is lengthy. You would have to get a Bachelors in RN (4 years) and then a master of nursing (2-3 years). Please correct me if I'm wrong - a lot has changed since I was in school. I think there are bridge programs or something like that.

PT or OT is an excellent career. It is a masters program - similar to PA. The job market is great for this field. My friend owns her own practice and is making great money.

PA, PT, NP, PT, OT (not in order of importance!) all are very lucrative careers. In fact, you can make a much better salary than in pharma. All these careers are NOT easy but I've found mine work to be rewarding. You also can work per diem or part time. Another great thing is that you can work until your a 90 yo if you choose to do so. There are also a bunch of contract work that you can do or write for medical journals.

Most reps. I've met are determined, verbose and really have the "art" of medicine down. Good luck to everyone making these tough decisions.

 

[Anonymous]

Wrong. You will not make as much if you become a PT or OT. I know this because I was a PT who got tired of working 8-5 ,weekends and nights and was looking for something better. PT school is very expensive and full time. You cannot work. Then you have to do clinical rotations for another 6 months.

 

[Anonymous]

Wrong. You will not make as much if you become a PT or OT. I know this because I was a PT who got tired of working 8-5 ,weekends and nights and was looking for something better. PT school is very expensive and full time. You cannot work. Then you have to do clinical rotations for another 6 months.

Yeah but you will have a real job that you won't be embarrassed to have, no longer introduce at parties as a drug pusher, and no longer a corp hack. And you will be helping people and be living an honorable life. No price on that!!!!!!!

 

[Anonymous]

I agree with the post about generational difference. Myself in the 50's never thought it would be an issue to work for one single company in different job titles throughout my career. Many would see that as a plus. I have noticed the younger group see it differently. They do not have a problem jumping from one company to another for a few thousand dollars more per year. I think one guy is now with his 3rd or 4th one in 5 or 6 years? I was pretty Merck loyal until the company took a nasty turn.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah but you will have a real job that you won't be embarrassed to have, no longer introduce at parties as a drug pusher, and no longer a corp hack. And you will be helping people and be living an honorable life. No price on that!!!!!!!

Wow maybe you should try it....you're a big advocate. Yeah, go back to some new healthcare practitioner program, wrack up the bills, waste a lot of time then find out the truth about most non-MD programs of study...

Be sure to report back to everyone. Tell us how rewarding it feels to help people but surprise...you can't make a living at your new career...gee wiz now you've got student loan debt mounted on top of all your other obligations....

Sure seems like you're spouting out dreamed-up fantasies about what the other guy should do.....when in truth you don't have a clue about anything at all.

 

[Anonymous]

Wow maybe you should try it....you're a big advocate. Yeah, go back to some new healthcare practitioner program, wrack up the bills, waste a lot of time then find out the truth about most non-MD programs of study...

Be sure to report back to everyone. Tell us how rewarding it feels to help people but surprise...you can't make a living at your new career...gee wiz now you've got student loan debt mounted on top of all your other obligations....

Sure seems like you're spouting out dreamed-up fantasies about what the other guy should do.....when in truth you don't have a clue about anything at all.

I'm a PA and will chime in on this discussion. PA programs are master degrees that are 2 years in length. Many are at universities and are not too expensive. Really, what do you expect? ANY masters program is going to be expensive and difficult. Unless, you are an upper level manager who gets an MBA from (?). MBAs are fine degrees but they are not impressive because many managers have them and most sales positions do as well.

Go to MD/DO school see how fast those bills wrack up. Poster - do you have any idea what you are talking about? First, to get accepted to either school, you have are required all undergrad courses as well as taking the MCAT. Which is difficult unless you can understand how to take those types of tests.

MD/DO individuals walk away with student loans or they have wealthy parent who will pay for it. Otherwise they come in via the "back door" as foreign medical school students and do a residency for 2 years (at a hospital). Guess what? Then they are then Medical doctors. Most of them can't even pass their boards to become certified. Patients can't even understand their English and have a hard time figuring out what the doctor said. Come to find out they end up on my schedule (PA).

Vet school is actually harder to get into than Medical school. This is a little known fact. Do you know their average salary for a vet? Around $80,000 a year. How would I know this? Because I have a few good vet friends who told me.

Most (even newbies) Physician assistants make about $80,000. Guess what a experienced PA makes? Yep, more than a DM, regional, etc.

BTW, you seem to be clueless or jealous - TRUE?

 

[Anonymous]

Wow maybe you should try it....you're a big advocate. Yeah, go back to some new healthcare practitioner program, wrack up the bills, waste a lot of time then find out the truth about most non-MD programs of study...

Be sure to report back to everyone. Tell us how rewarding it feels to help people but surprise...you can't make a living at your new career...gee wiz now you've got student loan debt mounted on top of all your other obligations....

Sure seems like you're spouting out dreamed-up fantasies about what the other guy should do.....when in truth you don't have a clue about anything at all.

I am doing just that my friend, working as a resp therapist. Went to school while I was still at Merck. I don't have any bills from school but did use some of my savings to pay for it. Never been happier and am better off financially. What is it I don't have a clue about lol?

 

[Anonymous]

Wow maybe you should try it....you're a big advocate. Yeah, go back to some new healthcare practitioner program, wrack up the bills, waste a lot of time then find out the truth about most non-MD programs of study...

Be sure to report back to everyone. Tell us how rewarding it feels to help people but surprise...you can't make a living at your new career...gee wiz now you've got student loan debt mounted on top of all your other obligations....

Sure seems like you're spouting out dreamed-up fantasies about what the other guy should do.....when in truth you don't have a clue about anything at all.

A little jealousy? Sounds like a classic merckie in the phony job still.

 

[Anonymous]

Wow maybe you should try it....you're a big advocate. Yeah, go back to some new healthcare practitioner program, wrack up the bills, waste a lot of time then find out the truth about most non-MD programs of study...

Be sure to report back to everyone. Tell us how rewarding it feels to help people but surprise...you can't make a living at your new career...gee wiz now you've got student loan debt mounted on top of all your other obligations....

Sure seems like you're spouting out dreamed-up fantasies about what the other guy should do.....when in truth you don't have a clue about anything at all.

Wow what a surprise that we have people who resent our success in leaving. My guess is you worked for merck right out of college, did multiple silly rotations (that are meaningless in the real world) and now are stuck because you didn't prepare for this day.

Wake up and open your windows- life is beautiful after merck.