Be One of the Few, not One of the Many!!!
I received a resume from a candidate the other day. She had a MS in Molecular biology. Great grade point average – intelligent? Yes. What did she want to be when she grew up? A pharmaceutical sales representative. Why? She wanted to use her science background, communication skills and business acumen. I asked her “Why do you want to be one of the many where you are one of the few?” Not very many sales reps have MS degrees in complicated science areas. Certainly 80% of pharma reps are without that type of advanced degree and there are thousands of pharma reps. My advice: Find another product area where her degree is more of a requirement from the start she will have fewer contenders vying for these positions. And once she has sales experience she will have even less competition for other positions of advancement in these arenas. To summarize: Consider yourself. What is unique about you? Work to identify career areas and where you can differentiate yourself with this uniqueness.
Happy Holidays from the medical sales recruiter….
MBA: Yes or No????
Many candidates ask me whether or not they should pursue an MBA. Will they make more money in their next position? Will they be promoted more rapidly? Many will not like my answers here but they are just based on my experiences. I, myself, have an MBA. So I can, also, speak from my personal journey. First, should I get an MBA? The answer is yes! More education is always best. If you use that education to excel at your job, if you truly learn something in those courses and apply that to your job for greater productivity or a better thought process. But I would say that I met many MBA’s that just check the box. In either case, the MBA on the resume may get you in the interview process because it may be a gating factor. Also, some hiring managers buy into its value and give candidates with the degree more credence than candidates without the degree. Will you make more money? In my area of expertise (sales and marketing), the answer is that you will not be compensated higher just because of the degree. However, again, if you use the education to be better at what you do then invariably you will make more money. As a sales representative, the financial experience I got in my MBA courses gave me tools to position my company and products for greater success. It follows that if you are more successful at your job you will be promoted faster! So, to summarize, yes you should get an MBA if you aspire to be more. If you will use it! Or if you want to avoid being passed over because you have a manager that uses education as a gating factor. One exception – I do not see the value if you already have a business degree.
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