Every day at Innovex we receive countless requests for us to organise field visits. Whilst it would be easy for us to do so, if you're asking us this question, you are probably missing the point. 80% of the time, shadowing is considered to be a vital step in the recruitment process and you would be well advised not to miss it.
If you have already been in contact with pharmaceutical recruitment agencies, you may have already discovered that in their initial telephone screening of you - their potential candidate - that they will ask you if you have shadowed. Many will not invite you for an agency interview if you answer no and you may well have missed an important opportunity.
Take a moment to consider this step from the eyes of the Recruitment team. Your relationship with them is one of mutual gain i.e. they are your ticket to your chosen career and their ability to earn a salary is directly linked to you gaining a job offer. Therefore, it is logical that any Recruitment Consultant is looking for the best-prepared, motivated and qualified candidates. Can they take you seriously if you have not experienced, first-hand, elements of your chosen career? In view of the overwhelming competition to secure jobs within the pharmaceutical industry, the answer is...probably not!
One also has to consider that the role of a Medical Sales Professional is not a soft option. You will need levels of business acumen, resilience, flexibility and drive that are well above those required in other sales professions. Many would-be candidates, having spent a few days on the road, decide that a career in medical sales is not the glamorous role that they had imagined and is not suited to them!
Taking the time to shadow an existing Medical Representative demonstrates that you are serious and perhaps, more importantly, offers you the chance to be sure that you have made a well-informed decision.
As with your future sales role, it is highly likely that you will face a number of challenges in attempting to secure some time on the road with a Medical Representative. For example, many pharmaceutical companies do not allow their representatives to take non-employees on the road! Your ability to overcome these minor hurdles will further serve as evidence that you have the necessary tenacity to excel in the medical sales arena.
Unless you have the luxury of personally knowing an accommodating Medical Representative, without doubt, you will face some obstacles.
Below, you will find a number of ways to gain contact with a helpful Medical Representative:
Via your local Doctors Surgery
You may wish to approach your own GP or talk with the Practice Manager at your local surgery. Explain that you are planning a career in the Pharmaceutical Industry and that you need to shadow a Medical Representative. Ask them for some personal introductions or for some contact details of the representatives that they know.
Another approach would be to ask the Practice Manager for work experience. Offer your services, free of charge, for a few days. In doing so, it is likely that you will have several opportunities to meet with Medical Representatives as well as the opportunity to talk with your future NHS customers. Look for the opportunity to converse with everyone and to learn about their views on the Pharmaceutical Industry and its sales representatives. Create opportunities to witness the interaction that takes place between Medical Representatives and Practice Staff. By doing so you can begin to form your own opinions, as well as establishing knowledge of the skills required to 'open doors'. This level of 'go the extra mile' research will pay dividends and to a certain extent will allow you to stand out from the crowd when you are dealing with recruitment agencies and subsequently at interview.
Via your local Retail Pharmacy
All Pharmacists know Medical Representatives. Why not adopt a similar approach as discussed above? Ask for personal introductions and consider a days work experience.
Via your local Post Graduate Education Centre
Most hospitals have educational facilities for their resident NHS staff. These are usually termed 'Post Graduate Educational Centres' and are always frequented by Medical representatives, per the educational timetable.
You may wish to seek a meeting with the Manager of your nearest 'Post Grad Centre', explaining your goals and gaining her permission to attend the centre at the appropriate times.
If nothing else, this will allow you the opportunity to meet with a number of Medical Representatives and to witness one aspect of their sales / educational role.
In our experience, the above methods work and it is likely that you will learn a whole lot more than you would from a shadowing experience alone.
If you have yet to shadow or to conduct some industry / NHS research, consider the merits of not contacting the recruitment agencies until you are better prepared. At the very least, have your plan in place and field visits in your diary before seeking the help of a Recruitment Consultant. We guarantee that if you heed this advice, the recruitment process will be a smoother journey for you, with less setbacks and a higher probability of a successful outcome.
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