Soon to graduate from college looking for a Pharm. Sales job

I will shortly be graduating from college with a Bachelors in Business Marketing. I really want to be a pharmeceutical sales rep., but dont know where to look to find a company. I am 24 yrs old and have worked in retail for the past 10 1/2 yrs. Does anyone know where I can find a job or something to get my foot in the door. This is my passion. Please help!!!

Meghann in Whittier, California said: I will shortly be graduating from college with a Bachelors in Business Marketing. I really want to be a pharmeceutical sales rep., but dont know where to look to find a company. I am 24 yrs old and have worked in retail for the past 10 1/2 yrs. Does anyone know where I can find a job or something to get my foot in the door. This is my passion. Please help!!!

Hey.. first of all congratulations on your your achievement! My husband just moved to the Bay area for a great job opportunity.. He found it on a website www.worktree.com They have a fantastic job search engine that allowed him to narrow the field by state and helped find him his job! If I recall correctly they had a section for college graduates.. you should def check it out..I just signed up myself.. hope this helps & good luck! Tiffany

I visited the Worktree.com website, found out there was a fee to sign up and left their site. Since then I have received email after email from them offering better deals etc. Do youself a favor and stay away! Scam!

Meghann in Whittier, California said: I will shortly be graduating from college with a Bachelors in Business Marketing. I really want to be a pharmeceutical sales rep., but dont know where to look to find a company. I am 24 yrs old and have worked in retail for the past 10 1/2 yrs. Does anyone know where I can find a job or something to get my foot in the door. This is my passion. Please help!!!

You will get a job in pharmaceutical sales if you show the desire to whom you interview. Present yourself as a polished well put together go getter. Create a Brag book of your achievments in life to this point. Anything you can show in leadership, advanced learning, sales skills, awards etc....Pharma reps that get hired show themselves in a proffesional manner. Confidence is key. My recommend would be to start with the lesser know companies as they may have less competition.

Jeff Stahl

create your brag book online with www.bragfolio.com

Meghann in Whittier, California said: I will shortly be graduating from college with a Bachelors in Business Marketing. I really want to be a pharmeceutical sales rep., but dont know where to look to find a company. I am 24 yrs old and have worked in retail for the past 10 1/2 yrs. Does anyone know where I can find a job or something to get my foot in the door. This is my passion. Please help!!!

indeed.com, monster.com, medzilla.com, these are just a few. Check your local newspapers, check for job fairs at your college - talk to your advisor about jobfairs that may be coming and how to talk to employers who are interested in hiring students right out of school. It is very difficult for most people (it took me two years just to start getting interviews!) I have been in the industry for over 5 years and have loved every minute of it. It is a great career however it is not a stable industry - especially now...I was laid off in December and am currently searching for a job now. This is how I came across your message! Good luck!

Hello Meghann: I am looking for people with leadership skills who are ambitious and money motivated and want to make at least $100,000 in the next year, if that describes you email me directly at manifest.goals@gmail.com with your telephone contact information.

And herein you find the problem. For every legit job there are 20+ "people" trying to take andvantage of you. Noor Zareh, Peggy Mckee, tiffany in houston...a bunch of scam artists looking to take advantage of fresh college grads looking just looking for career advice. What a shame. Here is your best advice, beware of the shark.

Urbanbreez speaks the truth. Do yourself a favor and never consider the "entry level sales/marketing" jobs plastering the internets.

Unless you like walking from business-to-business peddling trinkets for commish only… beware. You’ll know when a, "job interview" is more like an invitation to participate in slave labor when interviewer starts his sales pitch instead of asking how exactly you’re qualified for the position. I've been through it, and it blows. Actually, I'm sort of going through it right now, even with 6 years of high end sales and management experience, a B.S.B.A, Real Estate License, not to mention a flat-out charming personality :) Bottom line is that it’s tough out here and only the smart ones with the ability to persevere are going to find the remaining golden opportunities.

Experience has taught me to do research and to not be afraid in asking some tough questions before you commit to an interview. You may think you’re being rude but trust me, if it’s a real company they should understand and even appreciate the fact that you’re not naïve. A good question to ask is: Is this a 1099 or W2 position? 99% of crap jobs are 1099s. There are some good jobs where you can be an Independent Contractor but it’s an indicator if you already have a bad feeling about something. People selling cherries on the side of the road would be 1099 if they had legal residence, keep that in mind.

I made over 100k in each of the past 3 years before my entire division was shut down. In the past two months, I’ve been posting my resume and writing customized cover letters on CB, Monster and several other sites. 90% of call backs I get are from some hair-brained scheme-artist D-bag wanting to “churn and burn” you. Either that or Aflac. Aflac has up to three reps a day calling me. If it was a good job, do you think they’d harass me not unlike some IRS agent wanting to collect a delinquent tax or something? These sales professionals don’t understand the concept of a "Bum’s Rush" and how desperation is a big turn off. It's like they never met a pretty girl in a bar before.

Urbanbreez,

Thank you.

WOW!! All these comments have me a little freaked out. I would like to be a pharma sales rep as well and am currently in my last semester of college. I fear that no one will take a look at me because I have no sales experience besides being a waitress for the passed 7 years. Well as difficult as it might seem you have got to try right.