The Soul-Killing Drudgery of Pharmaceutical Sales

[Anonymous]

Wake up...go back to bed at least once...

decide if you are going to work that day, and if so, for how long...

Drag your ass out of bed, chit, chower, chave, and head out the
door to your back-breaking company coffin...check the trunk to make
sure you have some crap to hand out so at least you can pretend you
are doing something of value...

Stop at Starbucks and buy some lattes' because you are the official
"coffee bitch" for all your offices...

Go in and make small talk gibberish for a while, with the fake smile plastered
on your face...

Make sure you are in your territory when you check your MVX so as to not
leave a ping off the wrong cell tower. Ditto your laptop when checking emails...

Go to the pointless lunch you have scheduled, and make some more small talk
while you sacrifice your dignity playing caterer.

Go back to Starbucks and try and find a spot to sit down while you "participate"
in another useless Telecon that your CTL justifies his existence with...Roll your
eyes at the thought that these tools make close to 200 grand a year with salary,
bonus, stock options, benefits, etc...

Make it home by 3 and feel pretty good about yourself...At least you got out there
and played the game...You live to fight on another day in the wacky world of pharma
sales...

Spend your evening answering pointless emails from kiss ass colleagues who think they
have a "career" and will forever be in the good graces of Merck, with their aftermarket
boobs and their flaxen blond hair...

Return to bed for another stressed out night of sleep, trying to remember if your forgot
anything that will land you on the dashboard with your boss...You are already starting to
dread the field visit, and it is still a week away...

Wake up and repeat the above grind, although today you go to a different coffee place, and actually look forward to eating the chicken salad you are catering in from Panera Bread...

Pharma Sales...no place for serious professionals...

FU MERCK!

 

[Anonymous]

That was soooooooooo funny!!!! Exactly the life of every rep out there!

 

[Anonymous]

Wake up...go back to bed at least once...

decide if you are going to work that day, and if so, for how long...

Drag your ass out of bed, chit, chower, chave, and head out the
door to your back-breaking company coffin...check the trunk to make
sure you have some crap to hand out so at least you can pretend you
are doing something of value...

Stop at Starbucks and buy some lattes' because you are the official
"coffee bitch" for all your offices...

Go in and make small talk gibberish for a while, with the fake smile plastered
on your face...

Make sure you are in your territory when you check your MVX so as to not
leave a ping off the wrong cell tower. Ditto your laptop when checking emails...

Go to the pointless lunch you have scheduled, and make some more small talk
while you sacrifice your dignity playing caterer.

Go back to Starbucks and try and find a spot to sit down while you "participate"
in another useless Telecon that your CTL justifies his existence with...Roll your
eyes at the thought that these tools make close to 200 grand a year with salary,
bonus, stock options, benefits, etc...

Make it home by 3 and feel pretty good about yourself...At least you got out there
and played the game...You live to fight on another day in the wacky world of pharma
sales...

Spend your evening answering pointless emails from kiss ass colleagues who think they
have a "career" and will forever be in the good graces of Merck, with their aftermarket
boobs and their flaxen blond hair...

Return to bed for another stressed out night of sleep, trying to remember if your forgot
anything that will land you on the dashboard with your boss...You are already starting to
dread the field visit, and it is still a week away...

Wake up and repeat the above grind, although today you go to a different coffee place, and actually look forward to eating the chicken salad you are catering in from Panera Bread...

Pharma Sales...no place for serious professionals...

FU MERCK!

Sums up my life pretty well!!!

 

[Anonymous]

Wake up...go back to bed at least once...

decide if you are going to work that day, and if so, for how long...

Drag your ass out of bed, chit, chower, chave, and head out the
door to your back-breaking company coffin...check the trunk to make
sure you have some crap to hand out so at least you can pretend you
are doing something of value...

Stop at Starbucks and buy some lattes' because you are the official
"coffee bitch" for all your offices...

Go in and make small talk gibberish for a while, with the fake smile plastered
on your face...

Make sure you are in your territory when you check your MVX so as to not
leave a ping off the wrong cell tower. Ditto your laptop when checking emails...

Go to the pointless lunch you have scheduled, and make some more small talk
while you sacrifice your dignity playing caterer.

Go back to Starbucks and try and find a spot to sit down while you "participate"
in another useless Telecon that your CTL justifies his existence with...Roll your
eyes at the thought that these tools make close to 200 grand a year with salary,
bonus, stock options, benefits, etc...

Make it home by 3 and feel pretty good about yourself...At least you got out there
and played the game...You live to fight on another day in the wacky world of pharma
sales...

Spend your evening answering pointless emails from kiss ass colleagues who think they
have a "career" and will forever be in the good graces of Merck, with their aftermarket
boobs and their flaxen blond hair...

Return to bed for another stressed out night of sleep, trying to remember if your forgot
anything that will land you on the dashboard with your boss...You are already starting to
dread the field visit, and it is still a week away...

Wake up and repeat the above grind, although today you go to a different coffee place, and actually look forward to eating the chicken salad you are catering in from Panera Bread...

Pharma Sales...no place for serious professionals...

FU MERCK!

Dude, it's true but I make $135,000/yr + benefits. I'll eat the shit for that kind of cake!

 

[Anonymous]

Dude, it's true but I make $135,000/yr + benefits. I'll eat the shit for that kind of cake!

Amen to that. Boring? Yes. Pain in the behind with manager? Yes. But the money is good. You can't have both.

To the OP, take the pain and the money or leave Merck then.

 

[Anonymous]

Dude, it's true but I make $135,000/yr + benefits. I'll eat the shit for that kind of cake!

you have the same attitude as a Louisiana street trollop...

congrats on your ambition and integrity...

 

[Anonymous]

you have the same attitude as a Louisiana street trollop...

congrats on your ambition and integrity...

My ambition in life is to support my family while maximizing my QOL in some legal endeavor. So tell me what the problem is with my choice of employment? Remember, I didn't create the mess that pharma is today, I'm just making the most of the situation.

 

[Anonymous]

you have the same attitude as a Louisiana street trollop...

congrats on your ambition and integrity...

Some people are willing to take the craps and make a good income. Then they can feed the family and have fun and develop a hobby. Working at Merck is just a way to fund all the fun things.

It is their choice and not up to me to call them have or have no ambition and integrity.

 

[Anonymous]

I take the OP as a person of integrity. Pharma sales melts the brain and anyone with half of one, surely wants more out of their "career." I know I did (still do) but there is nothing out there for anyone over fifty regardless of our degrees. So, we do put up with this horrible job where we really are completely useless. People who like to actually see something accomplished are always going to have a hard time with pharma - now more than ever. I feel exactly this way most days and wonder how I can do this for even 8 more years. Yet, I have no other options (not rich, no husband and been here too long for any other employer to ever look at me).

 

[Anonymous]

Some people will do anything for money, let's face it. Thus, we have prostitutes, drug dealers and pharmaceutical representatives

 

[Anonymous]

Some people will do anything for money, let's face it. Thus, we have prostitutes, drug dealers and pharmaceutical representatives

Sitting on your throne and equating pharna reps the same as drug dealers and prostitutes?

Actually our customers, the health care professionals are similar. Some prescribe excessively for money. Some squeeze reps for funding to golf. Some plit an appointment into two to bill for more. I even have one that squeeze reps to renovate his clinic kitchen. Another one asked for money for an office machine. One insisted that we did the speaker program at his restaurant or else. One told me Merck is not doing enough as the other rep is giving him customized golf clubs and more.

We are all whores, reps and docs. Happy?

 

[Anonymous]

To all: Do whatever it is you want to do.

I think Merck is a disgrace that shames us all. I'll leave as soon as I find a suitable alternative, which is exactly what my West Virginia trailer trash manager wants. I'm somehow fine with leaving this dump behind, though. Many others have gone before me and I envy them. The scared rabbits will remain, until the axe falls on them, too. No thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

To all: Do whatever it is you want to do.

I think Merck is a disgrace that shames us all. I'll leave as soon as I find a suitable alternative, which is exactly what my West Virginia trailer trash manager wants. I'm somehow fine with leaving this dump behind, though. Many others have gone before me and I envy them. The scared rabbits will remain, until the axe falls on them, too. No thanks.

There is life after Merck. The transition was a little bit scary and you miss all the perks for awhile. You adjust and soon you are free from all the stress and Merck-induced illness.

 

[Anonymous]

There is life after Merck. The transition was a little bit scary and you miss all the perks for awhile. You adjust and soon you are free from all the stress and Merck-induced illness.

But is life after Merck worth giving up my 135k annual income? It comes down to what price am I willing to pay to accept all of Merck's stress and induced illness. I don't know because accepting less money also carries its own stress and potential induced illness, too. It's a fine line that I walk along with many other Merck reps. We all hate what this job and company has become but are scared to face the other side.

 

[Anonymous]

I take the OP as a person of integrity. Pharma sales melts the brain and anyone with half of one, surely wants more out of their "career." I know I did (still do) but there is nothing out there for anyone over fifty regardless of our degrees. So, we do put up with this horrible job where we really are completely useless. People who like to actually see something accomplished are always going to have a hard time with pharma - now more than ever. I feel exactly this way most days and wonder how I can do this for even 8 more years. Yet, I have no other options (not rich, no husband and been here too long for any other employer to ever look at me).

unfortunate but true...pharma sales lifers need to be prepared to never work again...once they get into their 50s, no one will even look at them...

the only jobs available are even crappier than pharma...your only choice is to buy a business or go back to school...

 

[Anonymous]

But is life after Merck worth giving up my 135k annual income? It comes down to what price am I willing to pay to accept all of Merck's stress and induced illness. I don't know because accepting less money also carries its own stress and potential induced illness, too. It's a fine line that I walk along with many other Merck reps. We all hate what this job and company has become but are scared to face the other side.

there is life on the other side...you just need to find the courage to face it...

Merck loves dolling out fear in big dollops...they play on the fear of reps and love breaking them down until they feel they are worthless...

 

[Anonymous]

unfortunate but true...pharma sales lifers need to be prepared to never work again...once they get into their 50s, no one will even look at them...

the only jobs available are even crappier than pharma...your only choice is to buy a business or go back to school...

Take my word for it, unless you go back to be a BSN, JD or MD, no one will STILL hire you with a recent advanced degree. I hear accounting and IT are big but I did not go in that direction because I do love science. Lots of people already getting pharmacy tech, lab tech, cath tech and medical coding degrees (not that any of those pay above 40k). I really think it is an age thing and America just does not value any worker over the age of fifty. Hit sixty, like a few of my friends, and I am told it is even worse. Some have had to start their own businesses making maybe 12k annually just to put food on the table when they used to make 100k annually. A lot are realtors or financial planners now. Sad.

 

[Anonymous]

Take my word for it, unless you go back to be a BSN, JD or MD, no one will STILL hire you with a recent advanced degree. I hear accounting and IT are big but I did not go in that direction because I do love science. Lots of people already getting pharmacy tech, lab tech, cath tech and medical coding degrees (not that any of those pay above 40k). I really think it is an age thing and America just does not value any worker over the age of fifty. Hit sixty, like a few of my friends, and I am told it is even worse. Some have had to start their own businesses making maybe 12k annually just to put food on the table when they used to make 100k annually. A lot are realtors or financial planners now. Sad.

You have pretty much nailed it. I left Merck at age 49 with 24 years in, so unless I wanted to find another pharma job, and I certainly did not since I really had come to hate it, I went the financial advising route. Got hired at 35K base plus commission and a benefits package and made 50k my first year. I made 80k my second year and 85 in my third. I also got my CFP so I could officially use the term financial planner. I'm in my 6th year now and should finish the year around 150k. I work in a credit union that has a nice family feeling and get to cover 6 locations so I am able to get a change of scenery which is what I missed most about pharma. I did work some Saturday mornings when I was building my business but now my weekends are free. I have a sales assistant that handles my paperwork and the job is basically 8-5 M-F. For anyone around 50, know it can be done with a little effort. I don't miss a thing about pharma now.

 

[Anonymous]

You have pretty much nailed it. I left Merck at age 49 with 24 years in, so unless I wanted to find another pharma job, and I certainly did not since I really had come to hate it, I went the financial advising route. Got hired at 35K base plus commission and a benefits package and made 50k my first year. I made 80k my second year and 85 in my third. I also got my CFP so I could officially use the term financial planner. I'm in my 6th year now and should finish the year around 150k. I work in a credit union that has a nice family feeling and get to cover 6 locations so I am able to get a change of scenery which is what I missed most about pharma. I did work some Saturday mornings when I was building my business but now my weekends are free. I have a sales assistant that handles my paperwork and the job is basically 8-5 M-F. For anyone around 50, know it can be done with a little effort. I don't miss a thing about pharma now.

Good for you!!! I would love to get out of pharma. I am in my early 50s. I am just worried I will fail..and be broke.

 

[Anonymous]

To all: Do whatever it is you want to do.

I think Merck is a disgrace that shames us all. I'll leave as soon as I find a suitable alternative, which is exactly what my West Virginia trailer trash manager wants. I'm somehow fine with leaving this dump behind, though. Many others have gone before me and I envy them. The scared rabbits will remain, until the axe falls on them, too. No thanks.

I wonder who your manager is? From northeast Ohio?