· Career Center Resource Center. Another valuable resource is the extensive amount of information at most career centers. Take the time to get to know your career counselor and ask them for assistance.

· Resume preparation. On your resume, be sure to indicate your specific desire to break into pharmaceutical sales as your objective. Limit your resume to one page. Illustrate your accomplishments with each of your summer jobs. Remember, you are going against other college graduates who have similar work experience. It is also helpful to illustrate any life science course that you have taken.

Do I need a degree to become a pharmaceutical sales representative?

Yes, A four-year degree from an accredited university or college is required to become a pharmaceutical sales representative. Pharmaceutical companies prefer candidates with degrees in life science (such as biology) but, generally speaking, all four-year degrees are considered. Your receipt of a four-year degree represents your ability to learn and master new information and shows that you have the discipline to complete a goal.

Do I need a specific type of resume to interview for a pharmaceutical sales position?

Yes, you need a GREAT-looking resume to break into pharmaceutical sales! The resume is probably one of the most important components of your pharmaceutical sales job hunt. You've heard that a picture is worth a thousand words, but a good resume can be worth thousands of dollars . Therefore, the resume must accurately and concisely articulate who you are, what you have accomplished and what your desired position is. The resume should be clear, concise, factual and truthful.

There are dozens of great resume guides and books on the market. However, the resumes that catch my attention (as a seasoned pharmaceutical recruiter) are the resumes in a chronological order format loaded with accomplishments listed under each job. Let me give you a HUGE tip ¾ Accomplishments, Accomplishments, Accomplishments give your resume a competitive advantage! I discuss why accomplishments are important in my book Secrets of Breaking Into Pharmaceutical Sales (Sorry for the plug, but it is the truth!).

What is a typical day like for pharmaceutical sales representative?

Like most sales positions, the "typical" day for a pharmaceutical sales representative does not exist. Due to the nature of their clients (physicians with medical emergencies), a pharmaceutical sales representative must be flexible, resilient and capable of changing their schedule.

That being said, the sales representative must have a daily, weekly and monthly schedule of doctors to call on. Most pharmaceutical companies expect their sales representatives to make eight to 10 sales calls per day, depending on doctor density and territory size (doctor density is the number of doctors in a given territory. Doctor density will be greater in a metro area with a large medical center than in a rural area.)

A day can start as early as 7:45 AM with a breakfast meeting at a physician's office and end at 10:00 PM with a dinner at a nice restaurant with a physician or two. Daily sales calls are made in the morning and late afternoon.

I've heard that the interview process takes forever. Is this true?

In some cases the interview process can take several weeks, but at other times the process can take less than two weeks. It all depends on how the interview processes are set up within each pharmaceutical company. Typically, the larger companies require more steps in the interview process (more managers to interview the candidate), which results in a several week interview process. Also, the length of the interview process can