40 year rep back again. I hope people didn’t think I was trying to brag that I made it that long, or that my advice about switching from company to company was flawless, because it’s not. When I started it was Stuart Pharmaceuticals. All we had was the GI line of the Mylanta’s, Mylicon, Sorbitrate and the prenatal vitamins. It was 1 rep per company. You were welcomed in offices and most always talked to the doc in their office. Then we launched Tenormin (atenolol), and we had more money than we knew what to do with! Upper management was great and accessible. I walked around a convention floor with our then current CEO for 45 minutes taking about the how great our future was at Stuart. Meetings were great, and they spared no expense on treating us to a great time!
I believe it was Merck that went on a hiring campaign, and that was the beginning of a slow period of changed or the worse. Our pipeline was amazing! It really wasn’t a “job”, but lots of fun. I truly experienced the “Golden Years” of this industry. Oh we complained about what would be totally stupid stuff today, but we didn’t realize how good we had it and what was coming. Believe it or not, I would call my DM and ask him could be come down for a field ride
Of course, all of that changed many years ago. In looking back, I still think the job is one of the best ones available today. Oh I know you have to put up with spreadsheets, useless conference calls, unproductive field rides, and endless role playing but when you look at your salary and benefits, it’s still not a bad job compared to many others.
Make the best of what you have. Save as much as you possibly can, and spend it WISELY. Good luck to all!
