So this is what I am doing post merck

[Anonymous]

Many of us have tons of self confidence and the tenacity to stick it out.
Those of us invested in this company for 20+ years have much more to lose financially. It's worth the monthly 2-day in a row field visits, being told you can't detail, etc.
I consider it like being on a huge game show, waiting to get "voted out" and receiving a year's worth of severance, plus my full retirement. If I make it and survive, I'm a millionaire. Self made at that and I put my blood, sweat, and tears into this company. I honestly believe that I have made a difference over the years with the products I have had the pleasure of educating my customers about. I have heard the life altering stories of success that make me continue going forward. From the patient with heart failure who could breathe easier to the HIV patient who would have died but now can hold a job and live for years to life and limbs spared due to awesome antibiotics only Merck could produce. That's what it's about Charlie Brown. Not the BS from unqualified DCO's and Managers. They are only a couple days a month. It's an Amazing Race and I'm in it till the end.

You would not have done well at Jonestown...You would have been first in line to drink the Purple Kool-Aid.

The only thing you have done for patients is to feed the nurses and doctors that prescribe them...Oh, and you also have done much for raising office alertness levels with all the Starbucks you've brought in...

 

[Anonymous]

drugs, PTSD, et al WOW give me break, you have got to be kidding me!! you're equating our job with the stress of war. TRAUMA...PLEASE. A crisis !?! We don't know what a crisis is today. Just another microcosm of what is wrong with society today. All you whiners should never have been hired. If it's so bad...leave. Grow up. So sick of reading this drivel and whining. See you next year, now I know why I only come here once a year.

I think it is actually worse than the stress of war...At least in war, you have some semblance of control of your destiny...

at Merck, you are harassed for the sin of getting older, and are given the task of propping up a phony job in a phony snake oil industry...that my friend is stress...

PTSD is very common in older drug reps being forced out of the company...Most have never experienced the savage treatment they get daily at Merck...

 

[Anonymous]

drugs, PTSD, et al WOW give me break, you have got to be kidding me!! you're equating our job with the stress of war. TRAUMA...PLEASE. A crisis !?! We don't know what a crisis is today. Just another microcosm of what is wrong with society today. All you whiners should never have been hired. If it's so bad...leave. Grow up. So sick of reading this drivel and whining. See you next year, now I know why I only come here once a year.

You, my friend, are part of the joy I have in returning to this site to watch the Titanic slowly go down. It never gets old. :O)

I do feel a sense of sadness for the ones still going through it, but not the obnoxious ones. You are like the hamster running on the wheel because he thinks he's getting somewhere. LOL

In the morning, I head over to the office and chat with my colleagues over a cup of coffee. At the end of the day, I head home and faggettaboutit! At this time, you're thinking about all the email you need to read and reports you have to churn out for your cover-my-butt DM. Or you're obsessively detailing your car for the field visit the next day.

NO THANKS!!

 

[Anonymous]

You, my friend, are part of the joy I have in returning to this site to watch the Titanic slowly go down. It never gets old. :O)

I do feel a sense of sadness for the ones still going through it, but not the obnoxious ones. You are like the hamster running on the wheel because he thinks he's getting somewhere. LOL

In the morning, I head over to the office and chat with my colleagues over a cup of coffee. At the end of the day, I head home and faggettaboutit! At this time, you're thinking about all the email you need to read and reports you have to churn out for your cover-my-butt DM. Or you're obsessively detailing your car for the field visit the next day.

NO THANKS!!

Bravo!! Come on Cafe Pharma is definitely more fun as an Ex Merckbot than a current one...

The Germans have a word for it.. Schadenfreude

It is sort of fun to sit back and envision all the loyal Merckbots doing there spreadsheets and pre call planning...what a fucking joke...

FU MERCK!

 

[Anonymous]

There is definitely an element of schadenfreude when one comes to this bb as a former Merckie. I still have dreams/nightmares of working for Merck and it's been 6 years since I left the place. I will wake up with a sense of terror followed by relief and joy that my Merck experience is now confined to dreams.

 

[Anonymous]

drugs, PTSD, et al WOW give me break, you have got to be kidding me!! you're equating our job with the stress of war. TRAUMA...PLEASE. A crisis !?! We don't know what a crisis is today. Just another microcosm of what is wrong with society today. All you whiners should never have been hired. If it's so bad...leave. Grow up. So sick of reading this drivel and whining. See you next year, now I know why I only come here once a year.

You have no idea what you are talking about. Yes our men and women in uniform can and do suffer PTSD, and God bless them for their service. But to think that others may not be impacted by other stresses in this life and are just whiners is totally inaccurate. Why not read up on PTSD some, learn about it and show a little compassion.

 

[Anonymous]

I hope one day you will be able to join us as a Merck retiree. I was voted out a few years ago and took a lump sum. I believe we have helped many patients and built great relationships and friendships. When I ran into my former customers we interact as friends, not as rep and doc. If I feel like it I will stop at one of their offices for a cup of coffee and B.S. and get some freebies from them. My former manager has been re-assigned over and over a few times already. My former DCO, who pioneered the concept in using PIP to retire people, has been voted out to the pasture by the HQ. Life is interesting. Karma.

Thank you for the well wishes! There are more of the 20+ "lifers"here than the cynical, nasty posters on this thread. Those "lifers" I work with still hold the values of this once great company near and dear to our hearts. We still bring in many millions of dollars per territory and it isn't just because we are good caterers. Not in this environment of easy and mandated generic utilization. Pray we can make it to retirement like you.

 

[Anonymous]

You would not have done well at Jonestown...You would have been first in line to drink the Purple Kool-Aid.

The only thing you have done for patients is to feed the nurses and doctors that prescribe them...Oh, and you also have done much for raising office alertness levels with all the Starbucks you've brought in...

Wow, very nasty comments. BTW, I never bought Starbucks. Those were pioneered by the Ken and Barbie reps. You sound very young and very much in love with yourself.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the well wishes! There are more of the 20+ "lifers"here than the cynical, nasty posters on this thread. Those "lifers" I work with still hold the values of this once great company near and dear to our hearts. We still bring in many millions of dollars per territory and it isn't just because we are good caterers. Not in this environment of easy and mandated generic utilization. Pray we can make it to retirement like you.

I think we "lifers" no longer believe in the Merck values either. But I strongly believe the "lifers" were hired in have values. You can read many of the negative and attack posts here to know the younger ones have a different perspective and value system. I bring food in but I let the office staff know my purpose is to buy their time and to get the physicians to sit down for a few minutes and talk business. I notice my younger colleagues tend to avoid the latter part which, unfortunately, turn them into caterers. I would provide decent food within my budget. My younger colleagues seem to focus well too much on getting fancy food to make all the staff happy and forget the business aspect.

 

[Anonymous]

Bravo!! Come on Cafe Pharma is definitely more fun as an Ex Merckbot than a current one...

The Germans have a word for it.. Schadenfreude

It is sort of fun to sit back and envision all the loyal Merckbots doing there spreadsheets and pre call planning...what a fucking joke...

FU MERCK!

As a retiree my pre-call planning today is what to get at the grocery store so I can make dinner. Tomorrow pre-call planning is for a hike. Sunday's pre-call planning is for Sunday School and to visit a restaurant with friends after church. Monday's pre-call planning is to hit the local department store with my family, armed with the 30% off coupon.

 

[Anonymous]

I think we "lifers" no longer believe in the Merck values either.

I think you are absolutely right. Merck changed for the worse as many have said and this included a change in values from the patient's perspective. That, I believe, led to our current sad state.

 

[Anonymous]

I think the reason why some younger Barbie and Ken reps are so afraid of talking business during a lunch is because Merck hired them for their good looks and how well they can BS during the interview. But they mostly became chicken shit and fold when it is serious business. The default is to spend the entire lunch talking about families, vacations, lives and everything else but business. The old fart reps like us are more practical and shameless and we tend to get down to business. The staff would say Dr. XYZ does not like to be "bothered" during lunch. I would always say I am not going to corner him but my purpose to bring lunch is to do this and that and we all got an understanding that Merck is not in the free lunch business for nothing.

You really need some old fart reps who have dealt with marriage, divorce, death, illness, military service, seen death, etc. to be the stabilizing force. You can't have only reps who know how to organize a great party, talk BS eloquently and their worse experience in life is breaking up with a boyfriend/girlfriend or their perfectly manicured finger nails.

 

[Anonymous]

I think we "lifers" no longer believe in the Merck values either. But I strongly believe the "lifers" were hired in have values. You can read many of the negative and attack posts here to know the younger ones have a different perspective and value system. I bring food in but I let the office staff know my purpose is to buy their time and to get the physicians to sit down for a few minutes and talk business. I notice my younger colleagues tend to avoid the latter part which, unfortunately, turn them into caterers. I would provide decent food within my budget. My younger colleagues seem to focus well too much on getting fancy food to make all the staff happy and forget the business aspect.

the business aspect?? are you joking?? If you wanted to be a business person why the hell did you get into pharma sales...

the only business aspect is whether to order cotto salami or non nitrate ham on the deli plate...

the job is a joke...now go call your caterer Mr. Bitnessman....(Spoken like Mr. T.)

 

[Anonymous]

I think the reason why some younger Barbie and Ken reps are so afraid of talking business during a lunch is because Merck hired them for their good looks and how well they can BS during the interview. But they mostly became chicken shit and fold when it is serious business. The default is to spend the entire lunch talking about families, vacations, lives and everything else but business. The old fart reps like us are more practical and shameless and we tend to get down to business. The staff would say Dr. XYZ does not like to be "bothered" during lunch. I would always say I am not going to corner him but my purpose to bring lunch is to do this and that and we all got an understanding that Merck is not in the free lunch business for nothing.

You really need some old fart reps who have dealt with marriage, divorce, death, illness, military service, seen death, etc. to be the stabilizing force. You can't have only reps who know how to organize a great party, talk BS eloquently and their worse experience in life is breaking up with a boyfriend/girlfriend or their perfectly manicured finger nails.

This is so true. I read an article over last couple of years about how the pharma industry hires good looking people to sell. I guess its a subtle sexual sell in a way. On top of that is that fact that how most reps I've met really dont know much about health or medicine at all. Most have no idea about the subject matter other than what they read in their training manual. Majority are unable to draw associations between aspects of disease states and other conditions that influence the patients. I always like to see nurses and the like in the field over your typical accountant or history major....I doubt if an engineering company would hire the accountant, history major or MBA to sell their expensive mechanical equipment unless they also had the engineering background as well. Its different in pharma for some reason. Go figure.

 

[Anonymous]

I think the reason why some younger Barbie and Ken reps are so afraid of talking business during a lunch is because Merck hired them for their good looks and how well they can BS during the interview. But they mostly became chicken shit and fold when it is serious business. The default is to spend the entire lunch talking about families, vacations, lives and everything else but business. The old fart reps like us are more practical and shameless and we tend to get down to business. The staff would say Dr. XYZ does not like to be "bothered" during lunch. I would always say I am not going to corner him but my purpose to bring lunch is to do this and that and we all got an understanding that Merck is not in the free lunch business for nothing.

You really need some old fart reps who have dealt with marriage, divorce, death, illness, military service, seen death, etc. to be the stabilizing force. You can't have only reps who know how to organize a great party, talk BS eloquently and their worse experience in life is breaking up with a boyfriend/girlfriend or their perfectly manicured finger nails.

I would be embarrassed to talk about my personal life. Why would anyone care? I take the opportunity to discuss the product, disease state, etc.. Why would anyone have a lunch without discussing business? I have heard about reps that only discuss their personal life, vacations, kids, boyfriends, etc…weird!

 

[Anonymous]

I would be embarrassed to talk about my personal life. Why would anyone care? I take the opportunity to discuss the product, disease state, etc.. Why would anyone have a lunch without discussing business? I have heard about reps that only discuss their personal life, vacations, kids, boyfriends, etc…weird!

Guys talk about the latest game all the time....sometimes reps also talk about the kids with docs....but in general doctors don't give a damn about your life. The vast majority are NOT interested in idle chit chat either (unless, of course, they are interested in YOU, as in off limits dating)....For most they want info on what's new with a product and they they want those precious samples. That's about it. Might be why sample dropping has become the thing for the older products and the cso companies.........

 

[Anonymous]

As a retiree my pre-call planning today is what to get at the grocery store so I can make dinner. Tomorrow pre-call planning is for a hike. Sunday's pre-call planning is for Sunday School and to visit a restaurant with friends after church. Monday's pre-call planning is to hit the local department store with my family, armed with the 30% off coupon.

THANK YOU!!! I am so looking forward to this time in my life.