How do pharmaceutical sales reps get paid?

Pharmaceutical sales representatives get paid through a combination of base salary, commission, and bonuses. Many pharmaceutical sales representatives have an even split between base salary and their commission and bonuses.

How long does it take to become a pharmaceutical sales rep?

It takes around five to six years to become a pharmaceutical sales representative. This accounts for the educational and work experience requirements to be successful in this position. While the minimum educational requirement for pharmaceutical sales representatives is at least a high school diploma or its equivalent, most employers prefer to hire medical sales representatives with bachelor's degrees.

How to become a pharmaceutical sales rep without a degree

To become a pharmaceutical sales rep without a degree, you need to gain sales experience and network beforehand. Pharmaceutical sales is a fast-paced, competitive industry and can be difficult to break into. Many companies require their entry-level positions to have at least one year of sales experience. Without a degree, you will most likely need more than that. It is also extremely beneficial to have connections to people that may be able to help you find a position, especially throughout your career as you look to switch companies. Without a degree, you will most likely only be considered for entry-level positions. If you do see yourself wanting to grow in the industry and get promoted to higher-paying positions, it is a good idea to look into continuing your education and completing at least a bachelor's degree.

How to get a job in pharmaceutical sales?

To get a job in pharmaceutical sales you need to earn a bachelor's degree, a license, or certification, and have sales experience, strong network skills, and the ability to tailor your resume and cover letter to the job at hand. Employers are looking for pharmaceutical reps who have sales experience and the ability to understand and talk about products using medical terminology. Moreover, they are also looking for someone who is a natural people-person and comes across professionally with good eye contact and listening skills.

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

What is a pharmaceutical sales representative and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

John Cicala Ph.D.

A pharmaceutical sales representative assesses client needs and presents suitable promoted products, liaise with and persuade targeted doctors to prescribe products utilizing effective selling skills, and perform cost benefit analysis. They provide product information and deliver product samples and attend sales meetings, conference calls, training sessions, and symposium circuits.

For this career, they should familiarize themselves with databases, statistics, product lines, and latest medical issues, have excellent communication, negotiation and sales skills, be highly motivated and target driven with a proven track record in sales, and have strong organizational and time management skills.

A bachelor's degree in a biomedical field such as pharmacy, biochemistry, or medical laboratory professionals is required. For your efforts, you will earn an average salary of $95,590 a year or $45.96 an hour. However, you can earn anywhere between $71,000 and $127,000 per year.

What's a day at work look like for a pharmaceutical sales representative?

John Cicala Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Digital Marketing, University of North Alabama

It will not be as structured or segmented as previous generations' workdays have been, but it will involve more tasks and responsibilities. It will involve more research and inquiry. It will involve a significant amount of time working online and less time interacting in person. That said, the times that do require/involve interpersonal engagement will be more important than ever before due to the increased value that people will place on their time. Hence, the need for individuals to be skilled at both distanced and face-to-face interactions.

ScorePharmaceutical Sales RepresentativeUS Average

Salary

5.4

Avg. Salary $68,571

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 5.22%

Black or African American 3.90%

Hispanic or Latino 14.61%

Unknown 3.72%

White 72.31%

Gender

female 59.01%

male 40.99%

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 representative

Explore pharmaceutical sales representative education requirements

Most common pharmaceutical sales representative degrees

Bachelor's

84.7 %

Master's

8.1 %

Associate

4.3 %

Start to develop specific pharmaceutical sales representative skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	21.06%
Pharmaceutical Products	7.51%
Develop Strong Relationships	5.98%
Territory Management	5.40%
FDA	4.40%

Complete relevant pharmaceutical sales representative training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New pharmaceutical sales representatives 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 representative based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real pharmaceutical sales representative resumes.

Research pharmaceutical sales representative duties and responsibilities

Manage and establish relationships within specialty urology and neurology markets to drive new and existing therapies.
Demonstrate strong teamwork skills by partnering with Novartis counterparts and other pharmaceutical consultants to achieve company and individual goals.
Manage Santa Rosa/San Francisco territories, marketing and selling respiratory, urology, cardiology to pharmacies and primary care physicians.
Retail sales division promoting drugs in gastroenterology, endocrinology, pain management and infectious disease.

Prepare your pharmaceutical sales representative resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your pharmaceutical sales representative 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 representative resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable pharmaceutical sales representative resume templates

Build a professional pharmaceutical sales representative resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your pharmaceutical sales representative resume.

Apply for pharmaceutical sales representative jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a pharmaceutical sales representative job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

Average pharmaceutical sales representative salary

The average pharmaceutical sales representative salary in the United States is $68,571 per year or $33 per hour. Pharmaceutical sales representative salaries range between $42,000 and $110,000 per year.

Average pharmaceutical sales representative salary

$68,571 Yearly

$32.97 hourly

How do pharmaceutical sales representatives rate their job?

5/5

Based on 1 ratings

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Pharmaceutical sales representative reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2020

Pros

i enjoy the interaction with people, listen the customer in order to convert him/her into your friend, detect and help customer with his/her needs.

5.0

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2020

Pros

I like helping people and physicians find out about products that can improve their lives. Company car is great too.

Cons

Some offices are just rude

A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2020

Pros

Marketing products from a traceable companies to consumers and providing a good service to the clients .

What is a pharmaceutical sales representative and how to become one

What's a day at work look like for a pharmaceutical sales representative?

Pharmaceutical sales representative career paths

Key steps to become a pharmaceutical sales representative

Explore pharmaceutical sales representative education requirements

Most common pharmaceutical sales representative degrees

Start to develop specific pharmaceutical sales representative skills

Complete relevant pharmaceutical sales representative training and internships

Research pharmaceutical sales representative duties and responsibilities

Prepare your pharmaceutical sales representative resume

Choose from 10+ customizable pharmaceutical sales representative resume templates

Apply for pharmaceutical sales representative jobs

How did you land your first pharmaceutical sales representative job

Average pharmaceutical sales representative salary

How do pharmaceutical sales representatives rate their job?

Pharmaceutical sales representative reviews

Pharmaceutical sales representative FAQs

How do pharmaceutical sales reps get paid?

How long does it take to become a pharmaceutical sales rep?

How to become a pharmaceutical sales rep without a degree

How to get a job in pharmaceutical sales?

Search for pharmaceutical sales representative jobs