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How To Become a Pharmaceutical Sales Representative
Summary. We reviewed real candidate profiles to learn the best path to become a pharmaceutical sales representative. We'll guide you through the education, experiences, and skills hiring managers look for in a pharmaceutical sales representative.
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Most companies require a pharmaceutical sales representative to have a bachelor's degree degree in a related field, such as business or marketing.
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It's important to have relevant work experience, with typical job requirements ranging from 1-2 years in related fields.
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Common job titles before becoming a pharmaceutical sales representative include sales representative, account executive, and account manager.
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Hiring managers expect a pharmaceutical sales representative to have soft skills such as customer-service skills, interpersonal skills, and physical stamina.
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Once you have all the required skills and experience, it takes an average of 1-3 months of job training to become a pharmaceutical sales representative.
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Getting a certification as a Certified Sales Professional (CSP) will help you to earn more as a pharmaceutical sales representative.
Before becoming a pharmaceutical sales representative, 84.7% earned their bachelor's degree. When it comes down to graduating with a master's degree, 8.1% pharmaceutical sales representatives went for the extra education. If you're wanting to pursue this career, it may be impossible to be successful with a high school degree. In fact, most pharmaceutical sales representatives have a college degree. But about one out of every nine pharmaceutical sales representatives didn't attend college at all.
Those pharmaceutical sales representatives who do attend college, typically earn either a business degree or a marketing degree. Less commonly earned degrees for pharmaceutical sales representatives include a communication degree or a biology degree.
How to become a Pharmaceutical Sales Representative in 5 steps:
- Step 1: Explore pharmaceutical sales representative education
- Step 2: Develop pharmaceutical sales representative skills
- Step 3: Complete relevent training/internship
- Step 4: Research pharmaceutical sales representative duties
- Step 5: Prepare your resume
Key Steps To Become a Pharmaceutical Sales Representative
Explore Pharmaceutical Sales Representative Education
If you're interested in becoming a pharmaceutical sales representative, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 84.7% of pharmaceutical sales representatives have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 8.1% of pharmaceutical sales representatives have master's degrees. Even though most pharmaceutical sales representatives have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a pharmaceutical sales representative. When we researched the most common majors for a pharmaceutical sales representative, we found that they most commonly have business, marketing and communication.
Pharmaceutical Sales Representative Major Percentages Business 26.20% Marketing 13.80% Communication 8.70% Biology 8.00% Other Degrees 43.40% Develop Pharmaceutical Sales Representative Skills
It'll be a good idea to develop pharmaceutical sales representative skills before applying for a job. Here are some skills commonly requested in pharmaceutical sales representative job descriptions:
Skills Percentages Patients 21.06% Pharmaceutical Products 7.51% Develop Strong Relationships 5.98% Territory Management 5.40% FDA 4.40% Complete Relevent Training/Internship
Pharmaceutical sales representatives spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. During this time, new pharmaceutical sales representatives learn the skills and techniques required for their specific job and employer. The chart below shows how much time 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.
Average Amount Of Time At Training
Research Pharmaceutical Sales Representative Duties
When you decide to become a pharmaceutical sales representative, It's important to know what duties and responsibilities are required for this position. Some common responsibilities are a part of most pharmaceutical sales representative jobs. Here is a list of the main duties that define the role:
- 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.
- Call on and maintain relationships with primary care physicians, cardiologists, nephrologists, internists, gastroenterologists, and endocrinologists.
- Call on primary care physicians, cardiologists, neurologists, endocrinologists, and vascular surgeons.
Prepare Your Resume
Finally, when you already have checked the skills and responsibilities for this role, you can start creating your resume. Everything that goes into creating a perfect resume can take hours, days, or even weeks. No worries, we created a resume builder to make this process as easy as possible with tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and a summary.
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 a Pharmaceutical Sales Representative Job
Pharmaceutical Sales Representative Jobs
Becoming a Pharmaceutical Sales Representative FAQs
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.