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What is a pharmaceutical sales specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
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A pharmaceutical sales specialist's main role is to contact pharmacies, clinical establishments, and physicians to talk about drugs in a bid to ensure sales. Your duties usually center around discovering and understanding all about the goods that are being offered. Also, you will have to travel to supply samples to various areas and keep and sustain transaction records.

As a pharmaceutical sales specialist, you must develop merchandising materials and form a connection with customers to attain sales goals. Essentially, you must always instruct customers about the side effects, advantages, quantity, and reasons connected to every drug. You are expected to perform consistent self-assessments to make sure you meet sales goals every time. More so, you have to be always updated with policies.

You need either a bachelor's or master's degree in pharmaceutical Microbiology, pharmacy, or in a related area for this role. Apart from this, you need to possess the physical strength to work for long hours. With these, you will earn an average of $64,910 annually or $31.21 per hour.

ScorePharmaceutical Sales SpecialistUS Average
Salary
5.7

Avg. Salary $73,003

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 5.19%

Black or African American 3.87%

Hispanic or Latino 14.44%

Unknown 3.72%

White 72.55%

Gender

female 52.10%

male 47.90%

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

Pharmaceutical sales specialist career paths

Key steps to become a pharmaceutical sales specialist

  1. Explore pharmaceutical sales specialist education requirements

    Most common pharmaceutical sales specialist degrees

    Bachelor's

    84.7 %

    Master's

    9.7 %

    Associate

    3.9 %
  2. Start to develop specific pharmaceutical sales specialist skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Patients33.20%
    Sales Territory7.59%
    Diabetes7.22%
    Business Plan7.15%
    Sales Strategies7.00%
  3. Complete relevant pharmaceutical sales specialist training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New pharmaceutical sales specialists 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 specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real pharmaceutical sales specialist resumes.
  4. Research pharmaceutical sales specialist duties and responsibilities

    • Organize and lead Coumadin education programs through Kroger pharmacies.
    • Accomplish daily sales activities and goals while working in a pod setting.
    • Train and lead development of new hire personal in CSS and primary care.
    • Achieve all sales goals and exceed projected goals for Q4 2012 and Q1 2013 ,
  5. Prepare your pharmaceutical sales specialist resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your pharmaceutical sales specialist 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 specialist 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 specialist resume templates

    Build a professional pharmaceutical sales specialist 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 specialist resume.
    Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist Resume
    Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist Resume
    Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist Resume
    Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist Resume
    Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist Resume
    Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist Resume
    Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist Resume
    Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist Resume
    Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist Resume
  6. Apply for pharmaceutical sales specialist jobs

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

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

How did you land your first pharmaceutical sales specialist job

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Average pharmaceutical sales specialist salary

The average pharmaceutical sales specialist salary in the United States is $73,003 per year or $35 per hour. Pharmaceutical sales specialist salaries range between $47,000 and $112,000 per year.

Average pharmaceutical sales specialist salary
$73,003 Yearly
$35.10 hourly

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Pharmaceutical sales specialist reviews

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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


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.