RESUME HELP

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Anonymous

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Since there's a pretty good chance that I'm not going to be here in a couple weeks, I'm trying to be a little proactive and get my resume up to date. I would like to get the hell out of Pharma and so I'm trying to taylor my resume to more of an account management position vs Pharma. Does anyone know or have any experience using some of these resume builder companies like theladders.com to help out.
 






Anonymous said:
Since there's a pretty good chance that I'm not going to be here in a couple weeks, I'm trying to be a little proactive and get my resume up to date. I would like to get the hell out of Pharma and so I'm trying to taylor my resume to more of an account management position vs Pharma. Does anyone know or have any experience using some of these resume builder companies like theladders.com to help out.
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One thing that will help you is to "tailor" your resume....unless you are apply to the Taylor Swift fan club.
 












Honestly, I hate to build any hype. But that being said, I have been through a number of lay-offs in my career in pharmaceuticals and thus far have gone unscathed. I have a different vibe this time. So it would be nice if we could please use this forum to help each other. If someone wants resume help - steer them the right way. There are many people who could be in real finanical trouble. I am sure I spelled something wrong and some idiot will only post on the spelling.....
 






If they offer outsourcing like they did last round, there will be help with interviewing, resume building, job searching, etc. A colleague who was let go last time found this service valuable, stated that there were very few Novartis people using the service. I think too many reps wear blinders and refuse to think of any option but catering as a gen med rep--what a mistake. I will definately use the service if I am let go.
 






Anonymous said:
If they offer outsourcing like they did last round, there will be help with interviewing, resume building, job searching, etc. A colleague who was let go last time found this service valuable, stated that there were very few Novartis people using the service. I think too many reps wear blinders and refuse to think of any option but catering as a gen med rep--what a mistake. I will definately use the service if I am let go.
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The outplacement help is great for resume and interview help. YHE LADDERS IS A RIP-OFF.

I got out. You can too. Expect to take a bit off on base but if you are good sales person you will make it up on commission
 






DO NOT pay for a resume service. I have a couple good recruiter friends and they both told me the same thing. Find a few recruiters you work with and ask them to send over sample resumes to you of excellent resumes. Then just base your's off of those. I did and mine is great. Full of all types of shit and such.
 






Ladders is a rip off, so is Resume Rabbit and most other services. I honestly feel, besides networking, LinkedIn is one of the best resources for anyone looking for work. Update your profile, but try and be honest, as coworkers (past, present and future) will see your online resume.

Good luck to all. Hopefully Novartis does the right thing and finds positions for those let go throughout their affiliate network.
 






Anonymous said:
Ladders is a rip off, so is Resume Rabbit and most other services. I honestly feel, besides networking, LinkedIn is one of the best resources for anyone looking for work. Update your profile, but try and be honest, as coworkers (past, present and future) will see your online resume.

Good luck to all. Hopefully Novartis does the right thing and finds positions for those let go throughout their affiliate network.
Click to expand...

When you say affiliate network do you mean other divisions in the company? What do you mean by affiliate network. Thanks
 






The Ladders is a rip off. I paid for it for 6 mos and I did not get 1 single interview from it. You would figure since you are paying all this money for it the recruiters would at least occasionally call back leads from it. I never got a call back from this service. I had much better success on Linkedin, Medzilla and Medreps.com.
 






I would never pay for help, but if Novartis offers outsourcing, this is part of the package and should cost you nothing. I took it with another company, they will fly you to the location, work with your resume and help you with your search. Might be a mandated benefit, but definately worth the time. We also had follow up teleconferences until we got a job or for up to 3 months.
 












Honestly, I would not pay to have your resume done by another compamy unless you want to pay 500-1000 bucks for an updated resume. There are allot of ripoffs out there so be careful. Also, the Ladders, Climber, Career Builder, and others will lure you into paying for additional services which could cost you 25 per month to use. There are many scams right now on the internet because so many people are desparate for work. Dont be fooled. If you do get laid-off Novartis will be hiring Right-Management services which will do this for free. This is included in the severance agreement. They are a great resource and will help you rewrite the resume, job research, and network. Also you will be assigned a career counselor.

Good Luck
 






I worked with the ladders for over a year. Know that when you sign up, it is a real hassle to end your service. I finally closed the charge card which was the only way I could get the monthly fees to end. They stilll send me emails. I liked ladders for finding oppportunities outside of the industry and did get interviews. I ended up staying in the industry because i've been in this crazy business for more than 25 years and would basically need to start over at the bottom rungs in a different industry. Willing to do that if I have to but not taking a pay cut at this point in life if there is a choice!

The ladders resume service is useless. The focus is more on form and buzz words than content. They have little ability to give different direction. To someone with 5 years compared to 25. Use friends, coworkers, and a good hiring manager you know personally to help you and write it yourself.

I'm not sure how you construct a sales rep job to be account management. Especially in this market, most account managers have been line managers over a sales force, have large, corporate, or key account and project management backgrouunds, and have product and market experience in the area they are interviewing. Don't want to burst yourbubble, but there are steps between rep and true account management.
 






In the last layoff (Feb 2011) we were given Lee Hecht Services. You sit in a board (boring) room (just like national sales meetings break-outs) watch videos, meet the "players/team" and then schedule meetings with the team leader for you t review your background. If offered the choice, I would have taken the money N paid for this service and done it myself. I thought it was a complete waste of time and money.

They condense your resume to one page. name, address, last job, awards, and short description of duties, previous job, awards, and short description of duties, skills, education.

There are recruiters (as mentioned above in a previous posting) that will send you (name missing) copies of resumes that are outstanding! Plug and Play! I landed a position with a hospital system that is far more important than a UPS/Caterer at Novartis, and the money was 10k more in salary wth an additional week of vacation. Sure I do not get a company car, but, who cares! I can buy my own, drive what I want, and write it off of my taxes since I use it for business. You can make the transition effortless or terrible and costly. It is truly up to you. Use the interet to resource resume samples, use recruiters for advice, ask your previous manager (who is probably going to be let go) for copies of outstanding resumes he likd. He does have copies of everyones employment record and resume as well as all of the good and bad. I got a copy of my whole record to copy once I was displaced. She didn't care.

Good luck to all of you. I hope you do not get displaced, however, if you do, there is a BIGGER & BRIGHTER light at the end of the dark tunnel of Novartis!
 






In the last layoff (Feb 2011) we were given Lee Hecht Services. You sit in a board (boring) room (just like national sales meetings break-outs) watch videos, meet the "players/team" and then schedule meetings with the team leader for you t review your background. If offered the choice, I would have taken the money N paid for this service and done it myself. I thought it was a complete waste of time and money.

They condense your resume to one page. name, address, last job, awards, and short description of duties, previous job, awards, and short description of duties, skills, education.

There are recruiters (as mentioned above in a previous posting) that will send you (name missing) copies of resumes that are outstanding! Plug and Play! I landed a position with a hospital system that is far more important than a UPS/Caterer at Novartis, and the money was 10k more in salary wth an additional week of vacation. Sure I do not get a company car, but, who cares! I can buy my own, drive what I want, and write it off of my taxes since I use it for business. You can make the transition effortless or terrible and costly. It is truly up to you. Use the interet to resource resume samples, use recruiters for advice, ask your previous manager (who is probably going to be let go) for copies of outstanding resumes he likd. He does have copies of everyones employment record and resume as well as all of the good and bad. I got a copy of my whole record to copy once I was displaced. She didn't care.

Good luck to all of you. I hope you do not get displaced, however, if you do, there is a BIGGER & BRIGHTER light at the end of the dark tunnel of Novartis!
 


















Anonymous said:
Since there's a pretty good chance that I'm not going to be here in a couple weeks, I'm trying to be a little proactive and get my resume up to date. I would like to get the hell out of Pharma and so I'm trying to taylor my resume to more of an account management position vs Pharma. Does anyone know or have any experience using some of these resume builder companies like theladders.com to help out.
Click to expand...

In the event of layoffs, Novartis will include the services of Right Management as part of the severance. USE THEM!!! They are outstanding! They will do your resume for free, and if I were you, I would work with them to do your resume in every format possible-Chronological, Functional, or a Hybrid style. When you apply for work, you will want to curtail the content anyway so you have the best chance of being called back based on the position needs and skills required. This is also the case if you expect there to be a very large applicant pool for positions that you are applying to, which may still employ "scannable" techniques.

Right Management also has a way that you can download sample interview questions, and you can actually view yourself answering the questions, provided you have a webcam on your computer.

They have a number of excellent resources, including company profiles. I wish I had time to get into all of the resources that they provide but trust me, it is worth it to utilize that resource.
You are doing the right thing at being proactive with your job search. Just think of the jump start you are giving yourself over everyone else. The applicant pool will only be getting bigger the longer you wait....
 






I wrote three links back "In the last layoff". I work for a hospital system as Medical Practice Development Manager. I work with the physician offices/ groups and specialties(all), owned by the hospital system or affiliated with the hospital system, to assure compliance with the hospital system SOP, physician management meetings, and new practice/practioner inductions to offices and hospital system. NOT a physician recruiter but the other poster may have that position. Look at hospital systems in your locale and speak with them. They may have a similar position/positions available depending on the size of the system. Good Luck.
 






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