How To Become A Pharmaceutical Sales Person: What It Is and Career Path

What is a pharmaceutical sales person and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

John Tobon

Pharmaceutical salespersons represent pharmaceutical companies and their products. They visit medical professionals in clinics, hospitals, and private practices to inform them about the latest products and their benefits to patients. They promote medicine, medical tools, and treatments, giving out product samples and informational packages.

You will be traveling a lot if you take on this job, to visit as many locations in a given time as you possibly can. It will be your job to create strong working relations with customers, and you will most probably have a circle of physicians you regularly visit. You might attend meetings and conferences to network and keep educating yourself in your area. Conducting surveys on the reactions to new products will also be your job.

You will need a solid understanding of how different kinds of medications affect the human body. You have to answer questions related to the products you are pushing, including the risks of use and side effects. A degree in an area related to pharmacology might be useful. Besides your subject-matter knowledge, your communication skills will be your most important asset here, allowing you to earn $95,590 per year on average.

What's a day at work look like for a Pharmaceutical Sales Person?

John Tobon

Adjunct Professor, Florida International University

In the near term the work day will look a lot like online learning. Everything, starting with onboarding of employees has transitioned online. Newly hired employees may not meet their supervisors and co-workers in person for several months, if ever. There will be more real time online collaboration and greater need for proficiency in the use of communication software. Graduates may not necessarily live in the city where their employer is located, this will provide greater freedom to employees but it will also increase the level of competition for some positions. In the long term, workplace will look different. As a cost savings measure, companies will maximize the amount of offsite work that can be performed by implementing hybrid models that incorporate maximum telework arrangements.

ScorePharmaceutical Sales PersonUS Average

Salary

8.4

Avg. Salary $130,507

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.6

Growth Rate 4%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 5.21%

Black or African American 3.89%

Hispanic or Latino 14.54%

Unknown 3.72%

White 72.42%

Gender

female 49.84%

male 50.16%

Age - 48

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 48

Stress Level

7.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.8

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

3.6

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a pharmaceutical sales person

Explore pharmaceutical sales person education requirements

Most common pharmaceutical sales person degrees

Bachelor's

77.1 %

Master's

10.4 %

Associate

8.4 %

Start to develop specific pharmaceutical sales person skills

Skills	Percentages
Pharmaceutical Products	17.69%
Sales Territory	15.05%
Pharmaceutical Sales	8.78%
Sales Growth	7.64%
Medical Sales	7.54%

Complete relevant pharmaceutical sales person training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New pharmaceutical sales people learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a pharmaceutical sales person based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real pharmaceutical sales person resumes.

Research pharmaceutical sales person duties and responsibilities

Manage Santa Rosa/San Francisco territories, marketing and selling respiratory, urology, cardiology to pharmacies and primary care physicians.
Present, negotiate, and close hospital contracts for antibiotics.
Maintain inventory of samples on a monthly basis for reporting to FDA.
Collaborate with NP's and RN's in charge of Coumadin clinics to ensure proper patient use of Coumadin.

Prepare your pharmaceutical sales person resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your pharmaceutical sales person resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a pharmaceutical sales person resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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