John Bult

The trend for contract sales – jobs in pharmaceuticals

Nursing, teaching, building and secretarial – over a decade ago, these are all industry sectors that I would have associated with staff that are supplied on a contract basis.

Back then, I was working in the pharmaceutical industry and employing staff on a contract was not something that I thought was part of jobs in pharmaceuticals.

The contract sales industry, supplying medical sales people to companies, has exploded since then. Annually, more and more medical sales people are employed on a contract basis. There are a number of reasons why pharmaceutical companies use contract positions.

1. To fill in for people who are off sick or taking maternity leave

2. To provide flexibility in the sales force; having a team of reps who can work in any area when necessary

3. Brought in when a new product is launched. This enables a company to have a fully operational team for the launch without recruiting new staff and increasing headcount. After this period, the team can be reduced, or if the product is a success, permanently employed.

4. As an alternative to a recruitment process, companies may wish to take an individual on a contract initially, to assess their performance.

A pharmaceutical company will use an external agency which has employed sales people on their behalf. They are employed on a short term contract, and after this time, the contract can be extended, ended, or the person could be employed permanently.

We get regular questions from sales people about job security concerns when a contract position is being considered. My opinion is that just because a role is on a contract basis, this alone should not make it any less secure than a permanent job. Other factors about the position should be considered. Obviously, if the role is due to a new product launch, and then the product fails, your job may come to an end. But, if you are being taken on as a trial, the main insecurity of the role is your ability to meet given target levels and sell yourself. This is like a trial period in a permanent job.

The sophistication of contract sales roles in the pharmaceutical industry has improved over the past decade, where initially there weren’t seen as particularly valuable. You should always research a company that you are interested in working for but don’t be put off by a role that is on a contract basis. Companies like Takeda fill their highest positions with contract staff on a permanent basis. The Swedish pharmaceutical company Meda use contracts to assess staff to make sure that they are employing only the best available. High quality contract sales teams are featuring more and more in jobs for pharmaceuticals, with increasingly more of the best paid jobs in pharmaceuticals available through contracts.

Article Tags: Contract Sales, Sales People

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