How Do Med Techs / Pathology Employees Transition to Laboratory Sales Jobs?

Well, I guess the first question should be:  CAN med techs or other pathology people transition from a technical role into a sales role?  The answer is:  it depends.  The odds are low, but for those who can beat the odds, they’ll likely be amazing sales reps.  It tends to be a love it/hate it proposition.  Why is that?  It’s because the medical is a black-or-white world.  There are absolutes and definites.  In the sales world, there are many more variables, many more maybes, and much more fluidity inherently involved in dealing with people.  The clinical person who has good people skills coupled with that extensive technical background and who can deal with the uncertainty and constant change will be very successful.

So, if you’ve got the technical background necessary for success in pharmaceutical sales, how do you make the leap?

• Before you do anything else, go for a ride-along with a few revenue reps.  See what it’s like on the other side of the fence.  Ask questions about the pros and cons of the job, ask what a typical day is like, and find out how to be competitive in the career opportunity search and in the field.  The logical way to discover a sales rep willing to let you job shadow him would be to get names from labs they sell to.  If you’d like to keep this on the down low for a while, discover a laboratory where you’re not known to ask for a few contacts.

• Use the career opportunity shadowing experience to beef up your resume with keywords that will get it flagged by computerized tracking systems.  You’ll have to revamp your CV to give it a sales focus while still highlighting your technical background.

• Discover out everything you can about how to get into medical sales.  There are hundreds of articles available right here on this blog.

• Expand your professional network. If you haven’t done it already, set up a profile on LinkedIn.  Join sales groups like Sales Cafe:  Revenue Rep Careers to discover out what’s going on and make more contacts.

• Shore up your revenue skills. Research revenue skills and sales call best practices online.  Read books on sales techniques.  Watch YouTube movies for job search advice.

• Seriously consider hiring a career coach to help with your pharma revenue career opportunity interview preparation. On the face of it, it looks like an expensive option when you could do all this research yourself, but in reality, it’s a time- and money-saver:  if you want to get hired faster, you consult an expert who already knows the territory and can give you a map of the best way to get where you want to go.  It will keep you from making some completely avoidable mistakes and show you how to put your best foot forward.

• Get admirable at handling phone interviews. Almost all your initial contacts with recruiters and hiring managers will be by phone.  Making a valuable impression there will be the key to landing the face-to-face interview.

• Learn how to write a 30/60/90-day plan. Use all of the research you’ve done on the sales process, and then research the specific company you’d like to interview with.  Write an outline of what you’d be doing in the first 30 days, the first Sixty days, and the first 90 days on the job.  That’s usually things like training (find out how they do that ahead of time) in the first 30 days, initial field work and customer introduction in the first 60 days (find out who their customers are), and going after new accounts in the first 90 days (think about who that might be).  The 30/60/90-day plan will make you stand out as a person who knows how to be successful in this new role, and help the hiring manager see you in the job–which is half the battle.

• Polish your interview skills (this is a given).  Practice answers to difficult but common interview questions, know how to answer behavioral interview questions, dress appropriately for a sales rep role, watch your body language, ask queries of your own, project confidence, know how to ask for the career opportunity, and don’t forget the thank you note.

This is all a lot to remember, and it’s certainly a lot of work.  But if you’re ready to transition out of the laboratory, the rewards will be worth it.

Article courtesy of  Peggy McKee - Owner / Senior Headhunter at the nationally
recognized medical and laboratory sales recruiting team of PHC Consulting.
© Copyright 2008 PHC Consulting | All rights reserved

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How Do Med Techs / Lab Employees Transition to Medical Sales Jobs?