Everyone wants to be a pharmaceutical rep. Why, I have no idea. It is little more than a glorified delivery person and signature-getter job. Like many "jobs" it used to be a profession. Scientific information and data was shared and taught. Doctors used to rely on reps to bring them new and interesting cure strategies. Reps were treated like the college graduates they are.
Now? First call no later than 8:00 am and last call at or later than 5:00 p.m. Keep in mind in some territories, it takes 3.5+ hours to get to your destination BEFORE hitting that first call, and WHAT doctor wants to see a rep at 5:00 pm? PLEASE. After that 5:30 p.m. call there's the drive home, daily administration, trips to the storage unit to restock, etc. Weekends are spent doing expense reports, weekly reports, time-sheets, and other lame admin requests and federally required sample inventories. Time off: maybe 8 hours a week - if you're lucky - in some companies.
I was hired in a day. In an industry that does not embrace middle-aged women, I was hired because of high recommendations and a stellar resume. I felt blessed. I embraced the job again (after a 4 year break) and was going to kick some major pharma ass. Guess what -- I did. My numbers were some of the highest numbers that territory had enjoyed in a long time. Cost: no time with children or husband and my marriage suffered! Intrinsic Rewards: umm.... still thinking.....
In an environment when jobs are scarce - I feel like a fool for giving my notice. People would KILL for my job. But those are the people who like to be micro-managed, atta-girled by texts every day, and pressured with weekly data. I say, you can have it.
I had a couple of really great products to represent -- the others were nothing special -- products that had gone generic. They simple added a little something to make them branded again. What a joke. The doctors thought it was a joke too. I mean how do you in good conscience ask someone to prescribe something that has a decent generic counter-part?
The poor doctors -- I mean how many reps should they have to see in a day. Talk about impeding patient care. Get a system. Set a specific date and time to see reps -- not all day every day. Some of defintely create their own chaos. Maybe they like to look at the young out of college ass that often visits them...
On Monday morning 8:00 am, I would see the doctors eyeing me warily. I would just laugh it off, and say - "that's okay, I wouldn't want to see me either!" That always broke the ice.
But unlike my many liberal - minded friends, I don't see big Pharma as the enemy. Most people don't realize that large pharmaceutial companies pay hundreds of millions of dollars for research and development -- and that research and development takes 10 years before they get any return on investment. Go ahead and hate the big pharma machine - but without them, we wouldn't have some of the incredible medications and break-throughs we enjoy. This is America for Christ-sakes, they put the money up, they deserve reasonable compensation for their discoveries.
The problem isn't so much BIG pharma, but small pharma. Small pharma buys certain medications and the right to market them. They are not researching and developing anything. They are simply focusing on the bottom line. They are finding a way to get doctors to write prescriptions for many medications that are nearing their patent end and going generic. Or, they are taking generics and adding a little something to make them branded (and 100x more expensive).
That said, the machine sucks, being a rep sucks and doctors have come to detest the system. But, the system still saves lives...I think. For me though, I say good-bye to the nice SUV company car. Good-bye to free gasoline and quarterly bonuses. Good-bye to overnight travel and free food. Good-fucking bye!
Now? First call no later than 8:00 am and last call at or later than 5:00 p.m. Keep in mind in some territories, it takes 3.5+ hours to get to your destination BEFORE hitting that first call, and WHAT doctor wants to see a rep at 5:00 pm? PLEASE. After that 5:30 p.m. call there's the drive home, daily administration, trips to the storage unit to restock, etc. Weekends are spent doing expense reports, weekly reports, time-sheets, and other lame admin requests and federally required sample inventories. Time off: maybe 8 hours a week - if you're lucky - in some companies.
I was hired in a day. In an industry that does not embrace middle-aged women, I was hired because of high recommendations and a stellar resume. I felt blessed. I embraced the job again (after a 4 year break) and was going to kick some major pharma ass. Guess what -- I did. My numbers were some of the highest numbers that territory had enjoyed in a long time. Cost: no time with children or husband and my marriage suffered! Intrinsic Rewards: umm.... still thinking.....
In an environment when jobs are scarce - I feel like a fool for giving my notice. People would KILL for my job. But those are the people who like to be micro-managed, atta-girled by texts every day, and pressured with weekly data. I say, you can have it.
I had a couple of really great products to represent -- the others were nothing special -- products that had gone generic. They simple added a little something to make them branded again. What a joke. The doctors thought it was a joke too. I mean how do you in good conscience ask someone to prescribe something that has a decent generic counter-part?
The poor doctors -- I mean how many reps should they have to see in a day. Talk about impeding patient care. Get a system. Set a specific date and time to see reps -- not all day every day. Some of defintely create their own chaos. Maybe they like to look at the young out of college ass that often visits them...
On Monday morning 8:00 am, I would see the doctors eyeing me warily. I would just laugh it off, and say - "that's okay, I wouldn't want to see me either!" That always broke the ice.
But unlike my many liberal - minded friends, I don't see big Pharma as the enemy. Most people don't realize that large pharmaceutial companies pay hundreds of millions of dollars for research and development -- and that research and development takes 10 years before they get any return on investment. Go ahead and hate the big pharma machine - but without them, we wouldn't have some of the incredible medications and break-throughs we enjoy. This is America for Christ-sakes, they put the money up, they deserve reasonable compensation for their discoveries.
The problem isn't so much BIG pharma, but small pharma. Small pharma buys certain medications and the right to market them. They are not researching and developing anything. They are simply focusing on the bottom line. They are finding a way to get doctors to write prescriptions for many medications that are nearing their patent end and going generic. Or, they are taking generics and adding a little something to make them branded (and 100x more expensive).
That said, the machine sucks, being a rep sucks and doctors have come to detest the system. But, the system still saves lives...I think. For me though, I say good-bye to the nice SUV company car. Good-bye to free gasoline and quarterly bonuses. Good-bye to overnight travel and free food. Good-fucking bye!