If you are a sales professional or want to become one, or if you are looking for a new sales job, you will face one of the toughest interview processes of any job seeker.Medical Sales Reps: Will Your Job References Help You or Hurt You?
Career Sabotage: The Influence of a Past Employer
The word was out on Jim Walters. Someone was telling prospective employers that they shouldn’t hire him. It cost him at least twelve top job offers, kept him unemployed for over a year, and more than $100,000 of his retirement fund.
Walters, not his real name, has since found work, but two years later he is still angry at his former boss for nearly ruining his life. Walters was able to stop his boss from spreading more lies, but he wonders how many other job seekers are not so fortunate.
“For months I suspected that my former boss was saying something about me. The problem was I didn’t know what he was saying or how to prove it” said Walters, a former General Manager for a Manufacturing Company.
Job seekers can now turn the tables on their former bosses. Many are starting to check up on former bosses, colleagues and even trusted friends, by using professional reference checking firms. Let’s face it. Companies have been checking out potential employees’ backgrounds for years.
“When you get right down to it, you just don’t know for sure, who you can trust. There is simply too much at stake – your job, your income, your family’s well being – to chance it that your references are positive and accurate” said Heidi M. Allison, Managing Director of Allison & Taylor, Inc., a professional reference checking firm.
Allison & Taylor, Inc. has been checking reference since 1984 for a variety of clients from nurses and teachers to senior managers and even presidents of companies. Allison & Taylor’s clients also include attorneys, professional recruiters and companies who hire them to check out potential employees.
Ms. Allison stated that about half of the references they investigate are mediocre to down right negative – often to the surprise of the client. “People they believe are giving them a good reference are not” she said, “And just as many who have assumed they are getting a bad reference are not.”
Allison & Taylor, Inc. is up front with the people they call to check a reference. “When we call a reference we simply state that we are calling to do an employment verification and reference check on (name of client). Typically the reference assumes we are considering hiring that individual or we have been hired to check them out for a company that is considering hiring them. No matter what, we never disclosed who has actually hired us to perform the reference check. This allows our client complete confidentiality and the ability to use our information in court should the need arise” stated Ms. Allison.
It is not uncommon for references to pass out inaccurate information. Dates and title of employment, the reason for the separation and salary information are typically mistaken and unfortunately it is assumed by potential employers that the job seeker is lying.
Sometimes information is subtle. For instance, if a reference doesn’t return two or three calls, that raises a red flag. Innuendoes such as, “Are you sure he listed me as a reference?” or “Well, according to our agreement I can only confirm that she worked here” offer additional clues that things are just not right.
Ms. Allison has also noticed that the higher the position, the more freely references divulge damaging information. “Clients often assume that company policies to only confirm limited information are strictly followed. I usually ask them if they are in a hurry and don’t see a police officer if they tend to push the speed limit. References are no different. If someone really liked you and wants to help you land another job, or if they had a problem with you and don’t want to see you working, they can and will break company policy.”
In a slight turn of events, Ms. Allison stated that over the last few years, her clients have used positive references to assist them in their court cases. “In the case of wrongful termination, a positive reference can be used as support of litigation. In fact, our clients have been awarded settlements in excess of $1 million.”
The purpose of checking your references should not be to file a lawsuit. However, a candidate does need to know the quality of their references and whether former employers are passing on personal opinions, conjecture, rumors or accurate legal facts.
HOW TO CHECK YOUR OWN REFERENCES
A poor or even luke warm reference can sometimes cost you the job you want. If you are worried about what a former boss will say to a prospective employer, consider using a reference checking service as seen in the Wall Street Journal. The industry’s leading and oldest reference checking firm, JobReferences.com, an Allison & Taylor, Inc. company, provides reference checks for job seekers that range from $69 for basic to $99 for executive level reports. In business for 20 years, JobReferences.com will confidentially contact your references, inquiring about performance – managerial skills, judgment, integrity, productivity, technical skills – as well as employment dates, job description and reason for departure. Within an average of ten days, you will have a complete dossier on your reference, including how long it took for a response, general tone and verbatim quotes. For additional information on this crucial service, call 800 651 2460 or visit their comprehensive web site at www.JobReferences.com.
by Heidi Allison-Shane, Managing Director, Allison & Taylor Reference Checking
Using Your 30/60/90-Day Plan After You Get the Job!
If you’ve created a good 30/60/90-day sales plan before you start your job in medical sales, healthcare sales, laboratory sales, medical device sales, or pharmaceutical sales, you have a road map to success already. Don’t assume that because you got the job, you can just toss it and go with the company flow. That’s a little like “bait-and-switch.” Most likely, your manager hired you in part because of your sales plan. So, the first thing you should do after you start your job is to follow your plan!
You’ve already researched the specific company training, product training, or sales training that you need, so start setting that up. Get to know your co-workers, support staff, and customers. Learn the company culture and corporate systems.
The most important thing you can do is to get feedback from your manager. No later than one month into the job, meet with your manager to assess how you’re doing. Having been on the job for that long, you will be able to rework the 60-day and the 90-day part of your plan if necessary, and you can take that re-written plan to your meeting for input on how to adjust it further.
Peggy spills the beans on the top 50 questions about medical sales…
Get the 90 minute audio conference, the resume audio coaching, the samples of the 30/60.90 day sales plan and much more here:
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Should you e-mail your 30/60/90-day sales plan to the hiring manager?
As a Medical Sales Recruiter, I recommend to all my candidates that they create a 30-60-90-day sales plan to present to hiring managers or hiring teams during job interviews for every position in sales, sales management, or marketing for medical sales, healthcare sales, laboratory sales, biotech sales, medical device sales, clinical diagnostics sales, imaging sales, or pharmaceutical sales. Simply put, a 30-60-90-day sales plan is a document that spells out how you will spend your time in the first 30 days, the first 60 days, and the first 90 days on your new job. To do one correctly, you have to research the position and the company, and you have to analyze the job so that you can lay out the steps to success. It takes some effort, but the results are almost always worth it in terms of great job offers.
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In an ideal situation, you bring your 30-60-90-day plan to the interview and “wow” the hiring manager when you bring it out and present it during your conversation. You ask the hiring manager for input during the interview, and in your follow-up thank you note, you should attach your sales plan with the changes that the hiring manager suggested.
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Less than ideal, but better than nothing: you don’t get a chance to present your 30-60-90-day plan during the interview, but you realize that thank you notes can be second chances. Either you attach your sales plan to your thank you note (which points out how the information you gained during the interview is included), or you put a shortened version of a 30-60-90-day plan in the body of the note if you think he might not open the attachment.
What if you can’t even get the interview?
If you can’t even secure an interview, this might be a good time to e-mail your 30-60-90-day sales plan to the hiring manager with the subject heading of:
“This is how I can help your company”
Or
“Here’s my plan for increasing your sales”
You get the drift…
This is an attention-grabber. It’s a way to entice the hiring manager into meeting with you. You’ve probably already sent your resume, which hasn’t helped, so it’s another opportunity for contact with out seeming annoying. Showing what you can do for the manager and the company from the first few days of employment is powerful, and has a decent chance of securing a meeting.
AACC Clinical Diagnostics Companies on Twitter From @salesrecruiter
I cruised through Twitter and looked up all the exhibiting companies at the AACC (American Association of Clinical Chemistry) and found the ones that were represented on Twitter.
If you were not included on this list or there is something missing from your listing, don’t worry. We want to include you and/or feature you correctly. Just email me for additions and/or modifications to current listings. Please also follow me on Twitter. @salesrecruiter
1. Affymetrix @Affymetrix
2. Agilent Technologies @Agilent
3. AutoGenomics @AutoGenomics
4. Beckman Coulter, Inc. @beckmancoulter
5. bioMerieux @biomerieux
6. Bio-Rad Laboratories @Bio_Rad
7. EMD Chemicals, Inc. @EMD_Chemicals
8. Illumina @illuminainfo
9. Invitrogen @GIBCO
10. Labconco Corporation @Labconco
11. Luminex Corporation @luminex
12. Millipore Corporation @karenbradbury Corp Comm Specialist
13. Miltenyi Biotec, Inc. @miltenyibiotec
14. Thermo Scientific @nitonxrf
15. Whatman, Part of GE Healthcare @GEHealthcare (not specific for Whatman)
16. The American Assocation for Clinical Chemistry @_AACC
I would have expected Siemens, Abbott, and some of the other big guys to have a presence….
Some are really active, some not at all. If I missed your company, comment and let me know.
Want to follow all of them? Do it quickly and easily with Ninjafollow.com.
After typing in your Twitter username and password, write in the experts’ Twitter usernames into the correct field, making sure to separate each with a comma, and then click ”Ninja Follow!”
NinjaFollow will attempt to add these experts to your Twitter account (100 people at a time) letting you know whether each has been added successfully or whether you are already following them.
I have gone ahead and made it easier for you to follow all of them by putting together the comma-separated lists for you to copy, paste and edit in the appropriate field at NinjaFollow.com:
Affymetrix,Agilent,AutoGenomics,beckmancoulter,biomerieux,Bio_Rad,EMD_Chemicals,
illuminainfo,GIBCO,Labconco,Luminex karenbradbury,miltenyibiotec,nitonxrf,GEHealthcare.
When To Introduce Your 30/60/90-Day Plan In the Interview
Creating a 30/60/90-day plan is one of the most effective things you can do to impress a hiring manager and win a job offer in medical sales, healthcare sales, laboratory sales, clinical diagnostics sales, imaging sales, pathology sales, hospital equipment sales, medical device sales, biotech sales, or pharmaceutical sales. It shows knowledge of the position, initiative, energy, enthusiasm, the ability to focus, written communication skills—all of which you definitely want to demonstrate to your interviewer and potential new boss.
when to bring up a 30-60-90-day plan for a medical sales job interview
But when do you bring it up?
The interview model that most people envision is that of a job seeker passively answering the questions put to him, focusing on delivering the “right” answers to interview questions. Not a bad model, but you want to do a little better than that—you want to stand out. You want to be exceptional. And the chances of your interviewer asking about your 30/60/90-day plan so that you can answer are pretty slim. This is “above and beyond” stuff…not expected, and so not asked about.
So what do you do?
· The ideal time to introduce your 30/60/90-day plan is when your interviewer asks something like, “How do you see yourself in this job?” With a softball like that, you’re set.
· If you don’t get an obvious lead-in, you can segue from talking about your relevant job experience to how that’s enabled you to create your 30/60/90-day plan for this one. You know what you’re talking about, and you know how you’ll transition into this position with efficiency and effectiveness.
· If your experience is a little light, and your skills are what got you the interview, focus on finding an appropriate time to point out that you researched this position extensively, and your 30/60/90-day plan is how you see yourself spending your time in the first 90 days of employment to bring yourself up to speed. This is an especially good way to alleviate any doubts a hiring manager might have—you’ve already answered the question of how you’ll transfer your skills into this job, and shown how you’ll take ownership.
If no opportunity falls in your lap, be assertive and make one. At least bring up your 30/60/90-day plan before you go. Your job search is too important for you to be so passive that you miss a chance to show such a great document. Taking some (polite) control over your interview conversation is another sign to the hiring manager for how you’ll interact with customers and clients. They want to see someone who knows how to lead.
How to Write a 30/60/90-Day Plan
If you’re searching for a job in medical sales, laboratory sales, healthcare sales, clinical diagnostics sales, pathology sales, imaging sales, biotech sales, medical device sales, hospital equipment sales, or pharmaceutical sales, you want every advantage you can get, right? Which means, you’ve probably put a lot of effort into your resume, you’ve found the perfect suit for interviewing, and you’ve gone over your answers to potential interview questions as well as your dos and don’ts.
Want another advantage?
Create a 30/60/90-day plan for the job you want.
What is a 30-60-90 day plan? And how do you use it to get a job in sales? Why does it help?
A 30-60-90-day plan is an outline for what you will do when you start the job. Essentially, you spell out for your future employer, in as little or as much detail as necessary, how you will spend your time. To do that, you have to do some research on the company so that you know what you’re talking about…a search on Google, LinkedIn, or the company’s own website can provide you with the information you need. (It’s always impressive to a hiring manager if you can show that you’ve done your homework before the interview, remember?)
The basics:
The first 30 days of your plan is usually focused on training–learning the company systems, products, and customers. So, most of the items in your 30-day plan should be along the lines of attending training, mastering product knowledge, learning specific corporate systems, traveling to learn your territory (if you’re in sales), meeting other members of the team, or reviewing accounts.
The next 30 days (the 60-day part) are focused on more field time, less training, more customer introductions, reviews of customer satisfaction, and getting feedback from your manager.
The last 30 days (the 90-day part) are the “getting settled” part. You’ve had the training, you’ve met the customers, and now you can focus on sales! It should include things that take more initiative on your part: landing your own accounts, scheduling programs, or coming up with new ways to get prospects’ attention (again, if you’re in sales), as well as continuing to get performance feedback and fine-tuning your schedule.
The more specific you can be in the details, the better off you are—by that I mean specifying the name of the training you’ll need, rather than just indicating that you’ll “get training,” for instance. That’s why you research the company, not just the position!
This kind of analysis of the position not only sets you apart from other job seekers… it also makes you a better performer on the job. It means you’ve put some thought into what it takes to be successful, and once you’ve written down your goals, they become much easier to attain.
Using a 30-60-90-day plan to show that you’ve done your homework, analyzed the position, and thoughtfully considered how you can best serve this particular company in this particular capacity is very impressive to a hiring manager. This kind of effort is the advantage you need that will set you apart from other candidates and get you hired.
Cafe Pharma: The Web Equivalent of the Men’s Room Wall?
Cafe Pharma (or Cafepharma) can be a great source of news on the pharma industry for sales reps. However, it can also be less than professional and extremely negative. Although maybe I’m understating…here’s a link to an article that calls Cafe Pharma the “cyberspace equivalent of scrawls on a men’s room wall.” (I do enjoy a nice turn of phrase.) It’s home to rumors, accusations, racism, misogyny–that’s helpful, huh? (read with sarcasm, please)
Pharmaceutical reps are already the least respected of all areas of medical sales–behind laboratory sales, biotech sales, medical device sales, imaging sales, pathology sales, and clinical diagnostics sales. Some of it’s intrinsic to the job, but chat room ranting doesn’t help.
What do you think?
Peggy’s video about your Resume for Medical Sales
I actually go through my 12 inch stack of resumes that did not make the cut (maybe these tips will help you)….check it out:
Go here to get a medical sales resume template, some 30/60/90 day samples, cover letter tips, etc.
Here is the link:
http://30-60-90-day-sales-plan.com/volume-one-special-sale.htm
Good Luck.
Peggy
Sales Resume Tips: You must have numbers (#s) on your resume.
When a sales rep has a resume with very few #s on it, I wonder….do they not understand that their job is to ring the cash register? and that is all I am concerned about? or did they stink? or do they not care that their “brochure” doesn’t really sell them? or do they not really want a sales job?
What type of numbers?
Revenue generated -$$ and %
Growth
Competitor Kills
Customer increases?
Units
Over plan or budget or higher than others?
# of demonstrations or customer VIPs (onsite visits?)
What are your thoughts?
Corporate Website
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Ace Your Sales Interview If you are a sales professional, or want to become one, looking for a new job, you will face one of the toughest interview processes of any job seeker.
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