I get this question a lot and my response is the same, NO.  95% of the time it’s in your best interest to keep this information to yourself and not let anyone within your organization know you are looking for a new position. It’s best to wait until you actually get a new job offer in writing.

I’ve seen numerous people through the years that let their boss know they were unhappy and starting to look for a new job. They felt that they had a good relationship with the boss and that the boss would understand and support them with their decision to look for a new position while still employed. The result; canned on the spot. Now you have an unemployed candidate looking for a job and rule 101 in medical and pharmaceutical sales is to never quit your job (or get fired) until you have another job lined up. From the interviewer’s perspective, it shows bad judgment. Before you quit your job, there are a few things to consider.

For those of you that missed it, the New York Times ran a good article in the jobs section this last week speaking to this same topic. To read the entire article, click here.

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This post is for all of you that missed the Nike commercial that aired during the Olympics of Marvin Gaye singing the national anthem with the USA men’s basketball team in the foreground.  I’m not a huge fan of the Nike running shoe but I think they are brilliant when it comes to branding and their ad campaigns.  They ooze cool and are champs of eliciting human emotion with song and visuals.

I’d also like to congratulate all of the men and women that represented the United States of America in the Olympics and led team USA to the highest medal count of any country, 110 total.

 Olympics — A lifetime of training for just ten seconds

Jesse Owens

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Between a war, hurricanes, global warming and a housing meltdown, there’s no shortage of bad news these days. Despite that, the healthcare industry is still hiring good representatives to compete in the current marketplace, selling life-saving products (and some that just make us feel better) to millions of customers. Given this need, our recruiters have been hard at work, and we expect to place even more candidates as we move through Q3 and Q4, especially in medical sales.

Of the three sectors - medical device, biotech and pharmaceutical sales - medical sales currently offers the greatest opportunity. Here is a brief breakdown of what we see happening in these three key sectors:

Medical Sales
Medical device companies continue to hire candidates with previous industry experience, or at least two to five years of outside business-to-business sales experience. Within the device sector, spine, cardiology, orthopedics, imaging, diabetes and trauma are hiring more than others. Overall, this sector is experiencing more growth than any of the other two sectors.

Biotech Sales 
Biotech continues to be a strong sector as well. According to a recently released report by IMS Healthcare, global prescription sales of biotech drugs increased 12.5% in 2007 to more than $75 billion. The global biotech market grew at almost double the rate of the pharmaceutical market.  New innovations, expansion of approved indications for existing products and the increased demand for biotech products outside of the U.S. have fueled the growth. The leading company for sales and market share in 2007 was Amgen, with $1.6 billion in sales and 21.3% market share. It was followed by Genentech, Johnson & Johnson, Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly and Sanofi-Aventis.

Pharmaceutical Sales
On the pharmaceutical sales front, prescription sales reached 286.5 billion in 2007. The top five therapeutic categories for prescriptions in the U.S. in 2007 were antidepressants, lipid regulators, codeine & combination pain medications, ace inhibitors and beta blockers. The 5 best selling medications for 2007 were Lipitor, Plavix, Advair, Enbrel and Nexium. We have experienced a slow down in hiring within the pharmaceutical sector.  Companies are scaling back their operations as well as reducing the size of their sales forces.  Among the companies with the largest layoffs for 2008: Merck, Wyeth, Johnson & Johnson & Pfizer. Some of these reductions can be attributed to patent expirations, increased competition from generics, impact of safety issues and fewer new product approvals.

The Bottom Line
It has become more challenging to obtain positions within the medical device, biotech and pharmaceutical sales arena. Competition is fierce, fewer job openings and more people are competing for those positions.  Our clients are being much more selective and looking for more experience than they have in the past, primarily because they can.  

However, there are still good opportunities available within these sectors, especially within medical sales.  It’s just a matter of who is willing to go above and beyond to secure these positions. Job searching in today’s marketplace is almost a full time job in itself. It requires drive, determination, resiliency, research and a commitment to sending out a large number of resumes on a daily basis. Don’t let anyone tell you it can’t be done. It all starts with making a decision and a commitment to get that job you’ve always dreamed of.

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Time Magazine wrote a great article on Nelson Mandela in honor of his 90th birthday and summarized his 8 Lessons of Leadership. I’ve included the summary below and click here to read the full article from Time.

Nelson Mandela’s 8 Lessons of Leadership

Lesson #1 - Courage is not the absence of fear - it’s inspiring others to move beyond it
As a leader, people model their behavior after you.  If a situation comes up and you appear panicked and fearful, those following you will respond in the same way.  Mandela’s learned to appear fearless and as a result inspired others.

Lesson #2 Lead from the front - but don’t leave your base behind
Be loyal to the people that put you in power.  When there is a difficult decision to be made, or a situation that is sticky to deal with, make sure that your supporters understand your actions and motives.  Having honest communication with you base increases your level of support even if they don’t fully agree with you.

Lesson #3 - Lead from the back - and let others believe they are in front
It is often said that the greatest conversationalists do the least amount of talking.  That is because they spend their time listening.  Listen to those you lead and don’t enter the debate too early.  When the discussion is winding down, summarize points of view, share your thoughts and steer the decision in your direction without imposing it.  Mandela said, “It is wise to persuade people to do things and make them think it was their own idea.”

Lesson #4 - Know your enemy - and learn about his/her favorite sport
Learn as much as you can about those you will “go to battle with.”  By seeing the world from their eyes, it is easier to identify strengths and weaknesses and formulate tactics accordingly.  Knowing their favorite sport and teams allows you to identify on a more human level outside of the board room or “battle field.”

Lesson #5 - Keep your friends close - and your rivals even closer
Mandela believed that embracing and flattering rivals was a way to control them.  They were less dangerous in your circle of influence than they are on their own.  Invite those you don’t fully trust to dinner, compliment them, call them on their birthday and send them gifts.  You can neutral your rivals with charm.

Lesson #6 - Appearances matter - and remember to smile
First impressions are lasting impressions.  Strength and size are a matter of DNA and not a requirement for being a great leader but remember, appearances can do much to advance your cause and career.  People who are dressed well, smell good and are groomed appropriately immediately gain an advantage called the halo affect.  The halo affect associates your appearance with certain traits, either positive or negative.  For instance, looking professional, people assume you are a professional and give immediate credibility - whether you deserve it or not.  What traits does your appearance associate you with?

Lesson #7 - Nothing is black or white
Embrace the power of “AND” and let go of the “OR.”  Why choose between a raise OR more vacation time when you could figure out a way to increase productivity to earn a raise AND more vacation time.  Life is never either/or.  Decisions and situations are complicated so get comfortable navigating through contradictions.

Lesson #8 - Quitting is leading too
Recognizing when to abandon a failed idea, task or relationship is one of the most difficult decisions a leader has to make, especially when it was your idea in the first place.  Ingratiate reality and know when to gracefully accept defeat.

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Andi Atteberry is the Business Development Manager for Tom Ruff Company. Andi is our guest blogger today and she will share her insight into her job, who’s hiring and who’s not within the medical device and pharmaceutical sales arena, trends she has observed within the healthcare sector and her networking advice for breaking into medical and pharmaceutical sales.

TR:  Andi, please tell us about what you do for Tom Ruff Company and what your position entails:

AA:  I am the Business Development Manager for Tom Ruff Company.  Simply put, I network and dig to find the decision makers at the most up and coming medical device and pharmaceutical companies.  I market our recruiting services until they agree to give us a shot at finding them sales talent.  Our recruiters then take over the searches and do the rest.  

TR:  What do you like most about your job?  

AA:  I like digging for leads and the feeling I get when I am able to get us on board with a great company that our candidates will be excited about.  It’s all about the ‘chase’ for me.   

TR:  From your perspective, what is the current state of the medical sales industry vs. pharmaceutical sales industry?  

AA:  Almost all of my progress made so far in my position has been on the medical side of the industry.  I am finding there is much more opportunity for agencies like TRC to present talent for medical sales opportunities.  Competition is fierce to get into the best companies.  I regularly hear that I am one out of 20-30 recruiters marketing their services to HR departments and hiring managers each day.    TR:  Are companies still hiring within medical and pharmaceutical sales?  

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More than 10 million people have tuned in to watch the Carnegie Mellon professor’s “Last Lecture” presentation.  Randy Pausch passed away on Friday of pancreatic cancer at the age of 47.  Professors are sometimes asked to give lectures on what wisdom they would convey to their student’s if it were their “hypothetical” last lecture.  A few months after Randy Pausch agreed to give his “Last Lecture” presentation, he found out he only had months to live.

The last lecture is a fanciful journey touching on childhood dreams, the power of goals, the love of family, not listening to the nay sayers and living life to the fullest. 

Since he gave his talk, the last lecture has been translated into 7 languages, a book titled “The Last Lecture” was released by Hyperion Publishing which has already made the NY Times bestseller list and he appeared on Oprah to give a condensed version of the last lecture.  His message is reaching millions of people around the world and he has inspired others to live life to the fullest.

The last lecture was not intended to be a talk about cancer, Randy said it was simply “a father’s effort to digest a lifetime of advice into one talk for his children.”

He will be missed.

The “Last Lecture” Presentation:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

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In a bold and somewhat controversial gamble, Swiss drug maker Roche announced that it offered $43.7 billion for the 44 percent of Genentech it does not already own.  Genentech is considered to be one of, if not the, most successful biotech companies in the world.  In 1990 Roche bought a controlling stake in Genentech for 2.1 billion dollars.

 Shares of Genentech jumped 13.5% while Roche’s stock fell 4.8%.  Based on the stock market reaction today, it looks like Roche is going to have to raise it’s offer in order to make a successful acquisition. Time will tell.

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New guidelines were released on Friday by PhRMA (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America) and they prohibit drug makers from giving out pens as well as other “non-educational” items to doctor’s offices and their staff. 

In 2002 the PhRMA Code was put in place as an ongoing effort to ensure that pharmaceutical marketing practices comply with the highest ethical standards. Several marketing practices have come under fire over the last couple of years that were not addresses in the 2002 Code. On Friday, several additions were made that will take effect in January 2009. 

The new Code:

• Prohibits distribution of non-educational items (such as pens, mugs and other “reminder” objects typically adorned with a company or product logo) to healthcare providers and their staff. The Code acknowledges that such items, even though of minimal value, “may foster misperceptions that company interactions with healthcare professionals are not based on informing them about medical and scientific issues.”

 • Prohibits company sales representatives from providing restaurant meals to healthcare professionals, but allows them to provide occasional meals in healthcare professionals’ offices in conjunction with informational presentations. The Code also reaffirms and strengthens previous statements that companies should not provide any entertainment or recreational benefits to healthcare professionals.

• Includes new provisions that require companies to ensure that their representatives are sufficiently trained about applicable laws, regulations and industry codes of practice – including this Code – that govern interactions with healthcare professionals. Companies are also asked to assess their representatives periodically and to take appropriate action if they fail to comply with relevant standards of conduct.

• Provides that each company will state its intentions to abide by the Code and that company CEOs and Compliance Officers will certify each year that they have processes in place to comply, a process patterned after the concept of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance mechanisms.

The times they are a-changin’…

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