Dear Cindy – RN Wants Pharmaceutical Sales

I am an RN with 14 years of experience in ICU/CCU and ER, two years in orthopedics, and the past six years as a school nurse at a high school of 4,000 students. My last child just graduated from high school, and I am looking at getting into something new. I am interested in pharmaceutical sales. I have zero sales experience, but have received numerous honors over the years for my volunteer work with the PTA, diabetic students, and with the American Red Cross.

Can you help with tips for making sure my résumé gets a second look and for successful interviewing?

Sincerely,

JS

Do you have a Bachelor's degree? This is usually the educational requirement for medical/pharmaceutical sales jobs.

Otherwise, in general, companies prefer to hire people who have a science or healthcare background for their medical/pharmaceutical sales jobs. You have this, so you'll have their attention, but you want to offer more than this, because you'll be facing competition from nurses and other healthcare professionals (and science grads) interested in this potentially very lucrative day job.

One strategy would be to send targeted applications to companies that sell products relevant to your strongest area of current knowledge. For example, if you consider this to be diabetes, craft your résumé and cover letter to foreground your knowledge of diabetes patients and diabetes-related products, tests, and procedures, and apply to companies specializing in this area. However, you also have well-rounded nursing and volunteer experience, teaching/presentation skills, and the ability to work under stress, so these are other factors that you could use to sell yourself to a potential employer, even outside of your main area of expertise.

And though you have no sales experience, you should illustrate how you possess soft skills relevant to sales, such as the ability to establish rapport easily, high energy levels, negotiation skills, ongoing relationship-building skills, and strong communication, teaching, and presentation skills.

Good luck!