Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I was wondering how different Pharmaceutical Consulting, Pharmaceutical Sales, and working your way up a large corporation in the pharma sector were. For graduates with pharmacy degrees, I would imagine either consulting or sales in the Pharma industry would be pretty easy to break into. But how different are their lifestyles, compensation, etc.? Is Consulting more stressful than Sales in the Pharma sector and which one offers the best opportunities? Finally, what about financial consulting for large corporations? Does it beat out pharma consulting in terms of compensation and lifestyle? Lastly, I'd imagine making it up the ladder in one of those giants such as Merck, Pfizer, or GSK, Novartis, etc. would be more interesting. Which one of these 3 career trajectories would you suggest for the best lifestyle or compensation? Are they all very difficult to "make it"?
I have no direct personal experience, but FIL spent his entire career in pharma sales. He never moved up, always a sales rep. But (and all this may have changed), he had outstanding pay (what he was earning when he retired 20 years ago would still be considered outstanding to most people today); company car; great benefits; 5-6 weeks annual vacation; and unbelievable retirement plan. Don't know if they still pay that well today.
oh wow. Yeah sales guys definitely have it made in terms of pay. But I was wondering about in terms of lifestyle and how satisfied they were with their lives and how each of the 3 career trajectories compare to each other, etc. But thanks for the response.
I worked in Big Pharma for 10 years (for the biggest of the big!)...while never in sales, by the time I left for good in 2012, it was downhill for the salesforce. They were all being laid off and replaced with consultants. The gravy days were over.
Hmmm one of the reasons I'm posting this is because I feel like the standard retail pharmacist position is limited nowadays. With student loan debt limiting me, I kind of want the highest bang for my effort lol. I guess I could work my way up to director if I'm lucky...but I was hoping for someone with industry specific experience.
Pharma sales have changed a tremendous amount over the years, the Sunshine Act being one big reason. Much like being a flight attendant, the glamorous days are long gone.
Retail pharmacy is not the only option for direct care. I have a buddy with her PharmD who works in the ER of a hospital, for example.
If you want to work corporate pharma, you absolutely need your PharmD to make good money. The directors I know working big pharma make some pretty good coin.
Yeah I knew that those directors at big pharma make pretty good money. But I always thought that you had to have at least an MD or a Phd to get those types of roles. I know for sure that the doctors working in big Pharma make very fat paychecks...b/w 500k and a million, I'd guess for most. But I was wondering if the pharmacists who work in those roles are as highly compensated? I thought there was fierce competition for those limited spots and always figured that the Phds and MD's...were more qualified and generally "smarter"...at least that's how it is when I gauge my intelligence with my doctor friends. Any idea how the hours are for these jobs? I always wonder why most of my classmates head into retail when they could go into corp instead. Also, are the business/finance guys ever in these positions?
PharmDs will do just fine in corporate but no, they will not make what the corporate MDs do. At the director/VP level, unless its in NYC, 500K is grossly overestimating. C level, sure, but that's not what we're talking... Depending on area, with a PharmD you might be around 250K-300K at director level, 350K-400K at VP - check the glassdoor site.
As with ANY industry, the higher you get, the more the company owns you / 60 hours a week minimum.
I went to pharmacy school and to be honest, the classmates going into retail were the ones who barely graduated or had zero ambition. The phrase "pathetic excuse for a 6 figure salary comes to mind" Just my experience... that was many years ago.
Business/finance guys will get the business roles. PharmDs get the "clinical lead" type of jobs.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
