The Boy Scout Motto

[Anonymous]

The Boy Scout Motto is "Be Prepared".

Every single field based employee should be working actively to retool their career. Whether you are interested in a trade, other sales that require training (series 6 or real estate), or something else, you should not expect to be in pharma much longer, as the industry will not recover from its own errors. And those diligently working to sell are the ones who will be hit the hardest.

My New Year's resolution is to end 2011 in a different industry. Yours should be too...on your own terms, ideally.

Do not expect those who drove the truck into the ditch to pull it out....pharma is cooked.

Take care of yourself this year...Merck will not.

 

[Anonymous]

AMEN. But make sure you don't "double dip" or you will get skewered on CP by a jealous colleague.

 

[Anonymous]

If you go the securities sales route like I did, be prepared to receive even greater scrutiny than what most in pharma sales are accustomed to. I hold a FINRA Series 7 license and have a compliance officer from my broker-dealer who nitpicks the piss out of my sales. It's unbelievable how much documentation is required to sell a stock, bond, mutual fund, or annuity at my firm. It is all about covering your ass come audit time which is generally annually. Product suitability must be documented thoroughly so the client can't come back and cry foul. What pisses me off is the regulations become more strident on account of assholes like Bernie Madoff and honest joes or josephines end up suffering as a result. Other than that, the job smokes pharma sales!

 

[Anonymous]

If you go the securities sales route like I did, be prepared to receive even greater scrutiny than what most in pharma sales are accustomed to. I hold a FINRA Series 7 license and have a compliance officer from my broker-dealer who nitpicks the piss out of my sales. It's unbelievable how much documentation is required to sell a stock, bond, mutual fund, or annuity at my firm. It is all about covering your ass come audit time which is generally annually. Product suitability must be documented thoroughly so the client can't come back and cry foul. What pisses me off is the regulations become more strident on account of assholes like Bernie Madoff and honest joes or josephines end up suffering as a result. Other than that, the job smokes pharma sales!

Glad you got out...congrats!

No job is a panacea and it sounds like you like the securities business....goodonya!