Is contract worth it??

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Anonymous said:
Agree completely! Contract pharma should be considered only if you are at the end of your rope. yes, you will ruin your car, and only get a small car and mileage allowance. Your contract will more than likely end way before it is supposed to. Micro management is as bad or worse than working for a real pharma company as an employee. Pay and vacation are THE worst when compared to being a company employee. The contracting pharma company looks upon you as expendable shit, and they have no loyalty to you whatsoever.

Look at the most recent Publicis contract with Duchesnay. It's over on 12/31/13. They are going to go to a week long "launch meeting" that more than likely will be nothing more than role playing with 0 fun or motivation.

Hold out for a full time employee position. Trust me you will be much better off.
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Exactly right. That way you will get a company car (although some contract companies have contracts that do have company cars and a gas card!). Everyone, and I mean everyone in contract sales, is always looking to get out ASAP. Think twice before you go this route.
 






Very true about getting NO SUPPORT from management in contract. The managers are "checked out" and you are on your own. Therefore, even if you are one of the reps with integrity and go into the contract with commitment to give 100%, you are cut off at the knees.
 






Anonymous said:
Very true about getting NO SUPPORT from management in contract. The managers are "checked out" and you are on your own. Therefore, even if you are one of the reps with integrity and go into the contract with commitment to give 100%, you are cut off at the knees.
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I support my family 100% on my own, so I have to have a job. I am not an idiot. The base pay is the same as my current job. The bonus potential is half. The vacation is what is killing me . 5 days in 2013 is awful. I would miss a family vacation and kid activities. But, I could be at home every night. But... If I end up unemployed, I could lose my home quickly and that scares me. Do you have roommates in training or at meetings here? I do not have a roommate w current job and I love it!!
 






Anonymous said:
I support my family 100% on my own, so I have to have a job. I am not an idiot. The base pay is the same as my current job. The bonus potential is half. The vacation is what is killing me . 5 days in 2013 is awful. I would miss a family vacation and kid activities. But, I could be at home every night. But... If I end up unemployed, I could lose my home quickly and that scares me. Do you have roommates in training or at meetings here? I do not have a roommate w current job and I love it!!
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I am assuming you are just messing with us now, but out of kindness I will answer you anyways. It seems clear you have read the above posts and state you could easily lose your home if you are unemployed and you're the only one in your family that brings in money, but you are really concerned about having a roommate in training. As far as I know all contract sales jobs have roommates at training and meetings. Now just in case you are not messing with us and are completely clueless. I will type slowly and in big letters. IF YOU GO INTO CONTRACT SALES YOU WILL BE UNEMPLOYED MORE THAN LIKELY BEFORE YOUR CONTRACT IS SET TO END. THE AVERAGE 2 YEAR CONTRACT RIGHT NOW IS LASTING ABOUT 9 MONTHS. YOU WILL BE LUCKY IF YOU EARN HARDLY ANY BONUS. MY LAST CONTRACT I WAS IN THE TOP THIRD OF THE COMPANY AND MY FIRST BONUS CHECK WAS $23.99 AFTER TAXES. I KID YOU NOT. YOU WILL BE LUCKY IF YOU AVERAGE A $1000 A QTR IN BONUS ON A CONTRACT. YOU WILL PROBABLY GET 10 DAYS OF VACATION A YEAR. WHICH THEY MAY OR MAY NOT LET YOU TAKE. MY LAST CONTRACT HAD A 6 MONTH BLACK WINDOW ON VACATION. YOU WILL DESTROY YOUR CAR AND GET JUST ABOUT ENOUGH MONEY TO COVER THE PAYMENT AND GAS. YOU WILL BE TREATED LIKE A RED HEADED STEP CHILD. YOU WILL MORE THAN LIKELY BE SELLING A PRODUCT THAT HAS NO MC COVERAGE. SO NO DOCTOR WILL WANT TO MESS WITH IT AND NO PHARMACIST WILL WANT TO FILL IT. MORE THAT LIKELY YOU CAN GET SIMILAR DRUG GENERIC OVER OTC. So to recap if you take this job based on what you have said you will probably be able to take more than 5 days of vacation and be home every night. You will probably lose your house and not be able to feed your family when you get let go in less than a year. So in closing have fun at training sound like a great opportunity for you and your family.
 






Anonymous said:
I am assuming you are just messing with us now, but out of kindness I will answer you anyways. It seems clear you have read the above posts and state you could easily lose your home if you are unemployed and you're the only one in your family that brings in money, but you are really concerned about having a roommate in training. As far as I know all contract sales jobs have roommates at training and meetings. Now just in case you are not messing with us and are completely clueless. I will type slowly and in big letters. IF YOU GO INTO CONTRACT SALES YOU WILL BE UNEMPLOYED MORE THAN LIKELY BEFORE YOUR CONTRACT IS SET TO END. THE AVERAGE 2 YEAR CONTRACT RIGHT NOW IS LASTING ABOUT 9 MONTHS. YOU WILL BE LUCKY IF YOU EARN HARDLY ANY BONUS. MY LAST CONTRACT I WAS IN THE TOP THIRD OF THE COMPANY AND MY FIRST BONUS CHECK WAS $23.99 AFTER TAXES. I KID YOU NOT. YOU WILL BE LUCKY IF YOU AVERAGE A $1000 A QTR IN BONUS ON A CONTRACT. YOU WILL PROBABLY GET 10 DAYS OF VACATION A YEAR. WHICH THEY MAY OR MAY NOT LET YOU TAKE. MY LAST CONTRACT HAD A 6 MONTH BLACK WINDOW ON VACATION. YOU WILL DESTROY YOUR CAR AND GET JUST ABOUT ENOUGH MONEY TO COVER THE PAYMENT AND GAS. YOU WILL BE TREATED LIKE A RED HEADED STEP CHILD. YOU WILL MORE THAN LIKELY BE SELLING A PRODUCT THAT HAS NO MC COVERAGE. SO NO DOCTOR WILL WANT TO MESS WITH IT AND NO PHARMACIST WILL WANT TO FILL IT. MORE THAT LIKELY YOU CAN GET SIMILAR DRUG GENERIC OVER OTC. So to recap if you take this job based on what you have said you will probably be able to take more than 5 days of vacation and be home every night. You will probably lose your house and not be able to feed your family when you get let go in less than a year. So in closing have fun at training sound like a great opportunity for you and your family.
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Sounds like you are one narrow minded person. I'm on the Merck contract, it's been going strong for about its third year now, we get paid a good mileage rate, our products have very good mc, and can realistically make around $10-$17k/ year in bonus. So I'm not exactly getting what you are supposedly saying about contract sales.
 






Anonymous said:
Sounds like you are one narrow minded person. I'm on the Merck contract, it's been going strong for about its third year now, we get paid a good mileage rate, our products have very good mc, and can realistically make around $10-$17k/ year in bonus. So I'm not exactly getting what you are supposedly saying about contract sales.
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That is a part time contract right. The average bonus on that contract is 8k a year with about a 30,000 base. So you are telling me the average rep on that contract makes $38,000 a year. Sounds like a great deal if you can live on that. Name one other contract that Publicis has that has lasted more than 2 years?
 






Anonymous said:
Sounds like you are one narrow minded person. I'm on the Merck contract, it's been going strong for about its third year now, we get paid a good mileage rate, our products have very good mc, and can realistically make around $10-$17k/ year in bonus. So I'm not exactly getting what you are supposedly saying about contract sales.
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There you have it. Publicis best contract it has been around almost 3 year. The reps make about 40 grand a year total base plus bonus with no vacation no paid holidays and no benefits working for a big name company sample dropping for the most part good products. So if this is the best just imagine what the average or worst contract are like.
 






Anonymous said:
I am assuming you are just messing with us now, but out of kindness I will answer you anyways. It seems clear you have read the above posts and state you could easily lose your home if you are unemployed and you're the only one in your family that brings in money, but you are really concerned about having a roommate in training. As far as I know all contract sales jobs have roommates at training and meetings. Now just in case you are not messing with us and are completely clueless. I will type slowly and in big letters. IF YOU GO INTO CONTRACT SALES YOU WILL BE UNEMPLOYED MORE THAN LIKELY BEFORE YOUR CONTRACT IS SET TO END. THE AVERAGE 2 YEAR CONTRACT RIGHT NOW IS LASTING ABOUT 9 MONTHS. YOU WILL BE LUCKY IF YOU EARN HARDLY ANY BONUS. MY LAST CONTRACT I WAS IN THE TOP THIRD OF THE COMPANY AND MY FIRST BONUS CHECK WAS $23.99 AFTER TAXES. I KID YOU NOT. YOU WILL BE LUCKY IF YOU AVERAGE A $1000 A QTR IN BONUS ON A CONTRACT. YOU WILL PROBABLY GET 10 DAYS OF VACATION A YEAR. WHICH THEY MAY OR MAY NOT LET YOU TAKE. MY LAST CONTRACT HAD A 6 MONTH BLACK WINDOW ON VACATION. YOU WILL DESTROY YOUR CAR AND GET JUST ABOUT ENOUGH MONEY TO COVER THE PAYMENT AND GAS. YOU WILL BE TREATED LIKE A RED HEADED STEP CHILD. YOU WILL MORE THAN LIKELY BE SELLING A PRODUCT THAT HAS NO MC COVERAGE. SO NO DOCTOR WILL WANT TO MESS WITH IT AND NO PHARMACIST WILL WANT TO FILL IT. MORE THAT LIKELY YOU CAN GET SIMILAR DRUG GENERIC OVER OTC. So to recap if you take this job based on what you have said you will probably be able to take more than 5 days of vacation and be home every night. You will probably lose your house and not be able to feed your family when you get let go in less than a year. So in closing have fun at training sound like a great opportunity for you and your family.
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This poster is 1000% right about contract sales. You will destroy your car. The territories are gigantic. Everybody (management too!!) is doing whatever they can to get the hell out and get on full time with pharma company. MC coverage is usually a total nightmare. Minimal vacation. Bonus is shit. So i think you get it.

Seriously, if it is possible, stay the hell away from contract sales, especially Publicis.
 






Anonymous said:
This poster is 1000% right about contract sales. You will destroy your car. The territories are gigantic. Everybody (management too!!) is doing whatever they can to get the hell out and get on full time with pharma company. MC coverage is usually a total nightmare. Minimal vacation. Bonus is shit. So i think you get it.

Seriously, if it is possible, stay the hell away from contract sales, especially Publicis.
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I know your right. I know you are 100% right. I'm also smart enough to know this is not a smart move, but traveling and living in a hotel room is misery, so therefore I thought it would be worth it. However, I already have plans this summer, and Christmas. this 5 days vacation has really freaked me out....especially when I am used to having 4-6 weeks, depending on the company. I guess your right, not worth the gamble, but how to I get out of this mess? They act like it is such a great opportunity and that it will not end early....I thought you could start interviewing for an outside company 6 months into it to avoid unemployment, but I also know that it could take 2 years to get an offer in this economy. Why are you still here? Is it because the industry has gotten that bad? Curious if companies turn their nose up to "contract" on a resume? thanks for your advice. And what makes Publicis the worse?
 






Anonymous said:
That is a part time contract right. The average bonus on that contract is 8k a year with about a 30,000 base. So you are telling me the average rep on that contract makes $38,000 a year. Sounds like a great deal if you can live on that. Name one other contract that Publicis has that has lasted more than 2 years?
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So I was correct about you being narrow-minded. Yes, it's a part time contract, I work 3 days a week, make about $40k, get paid mileage, tolls and parking, I have a 401k, and I make another $40+k in my other job. My financial portfolio is balanced, my house and cars are paid off...so yeah...it's not bad at all.
 






Anonymous said:
I know your right. I know you are 100% right. I'm also smart enough to know this is not a smart move, but traveling and living in a hotel room is misery, so therefore I thought it would be worth it. However, I already have plans this summer, and Christmas. this 5 days vacation has really freaked me out....especially when I am used to having 4-6 weeks, depending on the company. I guess your right, not worth the gamble, but how to I get out of this mess? They act like it is such a great opportunity and that it will not end early....I thought you could start interviewing for an outside company 6 months into it to avoid unemployment, but I also know that it could take 2 years to get an offer in this economy. Why are you still here? Is it because the industry has gotten that bad? Curious if companies turn their nose up to "contract" on a resume? thanks for your advice. And what makes Publicis the worse?
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The people on here that say a contract will end way before it is scheduled to end are right. Very, very few exceptions. They prorate the 2 weeks vacation based on when you are hired during the year. You accrue about .80 days PER MONTH of vacation! It will destroy your personal car. By the time you are getting the territory rolling, the contract ends. Think hard before going into contract pharma sales. It's only for the very desperate. Lastly, I am not working in contract pharma sales anymore. Just trying to give you a heads up.
 






In other words, you are totally USED, USED, USED by contract companies and don't ever think otherwise. You will put in a lot of effort with no long term gain and very poor pay. It doesn't matter how good your sales numbers are or how stellar of an employee you are. So if you have no other choice financially, take the job, but adjust yourself accordingly.
 












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