Why is this position so desired? The pharmaceutical industry presents an opportunity second to none. It is one of the few positions, where you are going to be dealing with professionals, who will know your product or company reputation, and will want to deal with you because they know what they are getting. Furthermore, you are in an industry that has entry-level medical jobs approaching $60-$70,000 and the more established in the industry can easily make salaries in the 6 figure range. When you take a position like this and then add the ability to travel on the company's dime, it is as though you have won a lottery.
To this point, we have been primarily focusing on medical jobs that are sales positions in the medical pharmaceutical industry but there are many more aspects of the field to explore, especially when you are speaking internationally. International pharmaceutical jobs, medical pharmaceutical jobs, clinical researchers, bi-lingual pharmacists, engineers, pharmacy technicians, and medical writers are but a few of the positions that you can explore when entering this field. Furthermore, doing so internationally will present you with more challenges and rewards than you will have locally as many people are intimidated by the proposition of going abroad to work.
Now that you are sold on pursuing a job in this field, how do you go about actually getting one? There is obviously a lot of work in landing such a lucrative position so we are going to key in on a few of the hot spots and try to get the ball rolling for you. First and foremost, you are going to need to make sure your resume is tight and get it posted. A pharmaceutical resume is not your run of the mill listing of past jobs and you would want to make sure you have it properly formatted. This is going to be crucial, as not doing so, will result in it being immediately dismissed by prospective employers. Don't get yourself out of the race without ever actually running. Hire a service if you are unsure of exactly what you need to do or not confident that your current resume is adequate. Better to spend a few bucks and get it done right than to cost yourself a job where your weekly paycheck is a couple of hundred times the value of getting your resume professionally done.
Another skill you are going to have to perfect when seeking a position in this industry, especially in sales, is role playing. It is not out of the norm for your interviewer to put you in a situation to see how you are going to perform in a situation that you will be faced with during the course of your normal duties. There is only one way to perfect this skill and that is to practice it. You may feel foolish having someone play the part of a potential client but believe me it will pay massive dividends down the road.
The obvious is perfecting your interviewing skills. Along with role playing, it is going to be one of the most integral parts of you landing a position. Many qualified people get walked to the door each and every day because they simply cannot present themselves in a professional manner or answer questions knowledgeably. Regardless of your experience, your interview is the one opportunity to sell yourself. You get one shot to get to the next step and that's it. If you can't sell yourself, how are you going to sell their products?
Job fairs are something we have all heard of and usually dread. You need to take the opposite opinion of them because they are a great way to not only find out about positions, but you also are able to check out the competition and more importantly, practice everything that we have been talking about here. When you go to a job fair, you are exposed to many different companies in rapid fire succession. That being the case, you are going to be interviewed by several different people all of whom will have their own style. Attending a job fair will ensure that you get the much needed practice you require when seeking a job in this field. Even if you are not able to land a position, you can take a huge positive out of the experience as you are training yourself for the future and ensuring that you will be much better prepared for future interviews.
Finally, when seeking an International Medical position in the Pharmaceutical Industry, pay attention to the job boards. This is one industry that has the advantage of sites that are completely devoted to it. Take advantage of all the services that they offer such as resume posting and tracking. These sites will also have very helpful articles written about the availability of positions and what you can expect when seeking a position. This is invaluable information that you should constantly seek and file away.
