Feature Article: So You Want to Get Into Pharmaceutical Sales...
Special Feature: Do's and Don'ts for Launching a Career in Sales
Bonus Feature: Three Critical Elements of a Successful Job Search
Quintessential Site: Featured Career Web Site of this Issue
The Career Doctor: Answering Your Questions
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search
Notes from the Editor: About this Issue...
We've never wanted to open up the editorial floodgates by featuring any one profession
in QuintZine -- because we felt then everyone would want to see his or her target career
featured. But the demand for careers in pharmaceutical sales is just too great to
overlook, so this issue offers several features on how to break in. And since
sales in general is both a terrific career in itself and a great way to break into
pharma sales, we also offer Do's and Don'ts for Launching a Career in Sales.
And for those interested in all other careers, regular contributor Deborah Walker is on hand
with Three Critical Elements of a Successful Job Search.
Find pharmaceutical and other sales jobs in our job portal.
--Katharine Hansen, Master Resume Writer, Credentialed Career Master, Certified Electronic Career Coach,
and editor at
kathy@quintcareers.com
Feature Article: Getting Into Pharmaceutical Sales
So You Want to Get Into Pharmaceutical Sales...
by Katharine Hansen
As a resume writer, I get a lot of clients who are looking to switch careers into pharmaceutical
sales, as well as new college grads who would like to enter the field upon graduation. Do
job-seekers with no experience in pharmaceutical sales -- or even no experience in sales -- stand
a chance of breaking into this popular but competitive field? The answer is a resounding
"maybe."
Three Critical Elements of a Successful Job Search
by Deborah Walker
As any marketing guru will tell you, the success of a product launch depends
on the quality of its advertising message, its exposure to a targeted audience, and
the skill of its sales presenters. If any one of those critical elements is missing, revenues
fall short of corporate goals. Similarly, a successful job
search requires:
A clear marketing message (resume and cover letter);
Ample exposure to targeted employers;
Polished interview skills to secure the job offer.
Fall short on any of the three, and an
extended, lengthy job search is the result.
At hireRx, biotechnology and pharmaceutical professionals -- whether in sales, distribution,
research, or manufacturing -- can search (by keyword, level, category, and location) the latest job openings,
build resumes, and find training opportunities...and more.
Career tools on HireRx include an Event Calendar, Education & Degrees section, Discussion Groups
(our favorite -- these are really helpful!), Bookstore, Industry News (very up to date and handy for
interview prep), Publications at no cost, Resume Writing, and Interview Mastery.
Focus areas offer job listings in specific regions, professions, and with specific employers.
While some ancillary features like resume writing carry a fee, searching for jobs involves no cost to job-seekers.
Karly writes: "Two years ago I received a bachelor's degree in marketing and have been working in sales
for a large consumer-goods company. I am responsible for developing and maintaining accounts for a specific
region, pushing current or new lines of our food products. However, I have always had an interest in pharmaceutical
sales, and I feel my two years in sales now gives me a better chance of achieving my dream.
How do I go about making the switch from food to meds?"
Alma writes: "I am a high-school student, and I am so confused because I don't know what career I want. I
thought that I liked journalism because I like to write. But I am not even good writing English. I really like
history and Spanish literature, but I don't know if there is any career that includes those subjects.
Right now I am taking my first semester of journalism in school, and I am getting into the school newspaper
next semester. But I don't know if I really want to become a journalist. Can you help?"
Anonymous writes: "After almost 20 years of employment with the same company, I was fired last September due
to excessive tardiness. I have read Getting Fired:
An Opportunity for Change and Growth and found it
very helpful. However, the circumstances
that led to my termination are very personal. It involved a divorce and a bout of depression
that required psychiatric help and medication, leading to my termination. I have a very good resume,
11 consecutive years of perfect attendance award, good references from my former employer. I am
physically and mentally fit for employment, and I am eager to get back into the work force.
How can I explain this to a potential employer?"
Ian writes: "I am having problems finding a job, but not for the reasons you would expect. I have a
professionally developed resume, and I am getting a lot of interviews. The consistent feedback that
I am getting from employers is that I am 'Over Qualified.' As a professional marketing coordinator who also has
Internet design skills, I never expected finding a job would be this hard. I have spoken with professional
employment counselors who tell me that often the interviewer may say 'Over Qualified' as a way for
them not to tell me that I am a threat to them and may be out for their position.
I would really like your feedback as to what I should do."
Get the latest career, college, and job-search news you need!
Have you read the Quint Careers Weblog (Blog)?
It consists of career and job-search news, trends,
and scoops for job-seekers, compiled by the staff
of Quintessential Careers.
The blog is a great way to stay posted on the most
recent events occurring in the career and employment fields.
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
In our recent Internet Job-Hunting Annual Report,
we reported on the CareerXroads TOP 25 Highest Rated Companies for 2004. Now the 2005 list is out. CareerXroads'
Gerry Crispin and Mark Mehler personally examined the staffing pages of Fortune Magazine's annual list of America's 500
Largest Public Corporations in search of the job-seeker experience.
Crispin, CareerXroads co-founder, states that:
The most qualified job-seekers will always have a choice.
Their experience of a company will influence their choice.
The corporate Web site, increasingly, IS the job-seeker's experience of [the] company.
The 25 members of the Fortune 500 that seem to best understand this new recruiting reality are:
It wasn't being late, or even lacking company knowledge that was the biggest complaint, reports
Robin Ryan. "The number one turn-off for hiring managers was poor communication skills, according to a recent survey
published in Staffing Management, a journal of the Society of Human Resource Management. Noted as particularly
displeasing were inarticulate answers to interview questions, and vague accounts of past experience," says Ryan,
a well-known career counselor.
"Ironically, a candidate can and should have the answers to interview questions mastered long before
they ever walk into the hiring manager's office," Ryan continues. Whether it's an interview for a new job or
an internal promotion (Internal hiring is up! 53 percent of management jobs are filled from within the company
ranks) you can stand out as a well-qualified candidate by
following the guidelines found here.
If your school, organization, business or other
entity has a Web site, we welcome you to link to Quintessential Careers.
If you already have a link from your site, we want you to know we
appreciate it. If you don't have a link to us, please
send a request to your site's Webmaster to establish a
link to Quintessential Careers. Thanks so much!
For more details (including sample HTML copy), see our
Link to Us page.
QuintZine: Topics in Upcoming Issues
WATCH FOR feature articles on these topics in upcoming
issues of QuintZine:
* Job Burnout Quiz
* Job Burnout Remedies
* The Value of Internships Abroad and Study Abroad
* Top 10 Fears of Job-seekers
* For Job-hunting Success, Develop a Detailed Job-Search Plan
* How to Build a Personal Advisory Board
* Keep Your Career Dreams Alive
* MBA Career Portfolios
* Trends/Tips in Career Portfolios
* Pre-Hire Background/Credit Checks
* Noncompete Clauses
* Managing Job Stress
* Telecommuting Ranks High
* Sticky Job Interview Situations
* Situational Interviews
* 10 Resume Tips
* Why Hire a Resume Writer?
* Is Your Resume Lost in the Internet Void?
* Career Activist Quiz
* Practice Career Management to Avoid Career Crisis
* The Changing Landscape of College Admissions
* Offbeat Ways to Pay for College
* Financial Aid/Scholarship Timetable
* Build Confidence and Avoid Insecurity in Job Interviews
* Empty Nest Job-seekers
* Baby Boomers Beware
* Are You Sabotaging Your Job-Search/Career?
* Quiz: Marketing Yourself
* Marketing Yourself with internal/External Promotions
* Lifelong Networking
* Networking for the Shy
* Converting a Seasonal Job to a Permanent Position
* Working Night Shifts/Odd Hours
* Quintessential Career Profiles of YOU, our readers
* Q&As with well-known career experts
* Career, College, and Job-Search Book reviews
. . . and much, much more!
Don't ever want to miss another issue of QuintZine? Get a free subscription to
the email version of QuintZine by completing our
subscription form.
Ad: Quintessential Careers Career Coaching Services
We now offer two types of career-coaching services!
Are you...
feeling stuck in an unsatisfying job?
facing a major change in career or job status?
searching for your ideal career or job?
seeking help in developing a job-search plan?
looking for a solution to job-search obstacles?
desiring to bounce ideas off of a career expert?
trying to discover the keys to career success?
Let Dr. Randall S. Hansen, The Career Doctor, help you work through all your college, career, and job-search concerns,
issues, and problems. He has helped hundreds of teens, college students, and experienced job-seekers identify obstacles, develop
action plans, and achieve success -- and he can help you!
And for an economical online-only career-coaching alternative,
visit The Career Clinic.
Quintessential Careers Advertisements
Quintessential CVs is Your North American Headquarters for CVs
We produce professional quality career marketing correspondence -- Curriculum Vitae (CVs), cover letters,
resumes, and more -- for job-seekers in all industries at all levels from all over the world. Quintessential CVs
is your premier North American source for:
Curriculum Vita (CVs) for Academic jobs: College/university teaching and administrative positions.
CVs for Scientific jobs: Research and all types of science-oriented jobs.
CVs for Medical jobs: Physicians, nurses, and more.
CVs for International jobs: Whether you seek a position in your own country or any other country around the world,
we can prepare an English-language CV for you that conforms to the CV traditions of your target country or countries.
Quintessential Careers also offers writing services
for those who have been asked to give a speech and
need assistance in researching and writing their
remarks.
Need a speaker for your career-oriented conference or
event at your college or organization? The Quintessential
Careers Speakers Bureau can help! Our quintessential experts
can provide presentations/workshops on a variety of
career-related topics.
In our recent 
