How do I arrange to 'shadow' a Medical Representative?

Every week we receive requests for us to organise field visits. Whilst it would be easy for us to do so, if you're asking this question, you are probably missing the point. 80% of the time, shadowing is considered to be a vital step in the recruitment process and you would be well advised not to miss it.

If you have already been in contact with pharmaceutical recruitment agencies, you may have already discovered that in their initial telephone screening of you - their potential candidate - that they will ask you if you have shadowed. Many will not invite you for an agency interview if you answer no and you may well have missed an important opportunity.

Take a moment to consider this step from the eyes of the Recruitment Consultant. Your relationship with them is one of mutual gain i.e. they are your ticket to your chosen career and their ability to earn a salary is directly linked to you gaining a job offer. Therefore, it is logical that any Recruitment Consultant is looking for the best-prepared, motivated and qualified candidates. Can they take you seriously if you have not experienced, first-hand, elements of your chosen career? In view of the overwhelming competition to secure jobs within the pharmaceutical industry, the answer is...probably not!

One also has to consider that the role of a Medical Sales Professional is not a soft option. You will need levels of business acumen, resilience, flexibility and drive that are well above those required in other sales professions. Many would-be candidates, having spent a few days on the road, decide that a career in medical sales is not the glamorous role that they had imagined and is not suited to them!

Taking the time to shadow an existing Medical Representative demonstrates that you are serious and perhaps, more importantly, offers you the chance to be sure that you have made a well-informed decision.

As with your future sales role, it is highly likely that you will face a number of challenges in attempting to secure some time on the road with a Medical Representative. For example, many pharmaceutical companies do not allow their representatives to take non-employees on the road! Your ability to overcome these minor hurdles will further serve as evidence that you have the necessary tenacity to excel in the medical sales arena.

Unless you have the luxury of personally knowing an accommodating Medical Representative, without doubt, you will face some obstacles.

Below, you will find a number of ways to gain contact with a helpful Medical Representative:

• Via your local Doctors Surgery
  
  You may wish to approach your own GP or talk with the Practice Manager at your local surgery. Explain that you are planning a career in the Pharmaceutical Industry and that you need to shadow a Medical Representative. Ask them for some personal introductions or for some contact details of the representatives that they know.
  
  Another approach would be to ask the Practice Manager for work experience. Offer your services, free of charge, for a few days. In doing so, it is likely that you will have several opportunities to meet with Medical Representatives as well as the opportunity to talk with your future NHS customers. Look for the opportunity to converse with everyone and to learn about their views on the Pharmaceutical Industry and its sales representatives. Create opportunities to witness the interaction that takes place between Medical Representatives and Practice Staff. By doing so you can begin to form your own opinions, as well as establishing knowledge of the skills required to 'open doors'. This level of 'go the extra mile' research will pay dividends and to a certain extent will allow you to stand out from the crowd when you are dealing with recruitment agencies and subsequently at interview.

• Via your local Retail Pharmacy
  
  All Pharmacists know Medical Representatives. Why not adopt a similar approach as discussed above? Ask for personal introductions and consider a days work experience.

• Via your local Post Graduate Education Centre
  
  Most hospitals have educational facilities for their resident NHS staff. These are usually termed 'Post Graduate Educational Centres' and are always frequented by Medical representatives, per the educational timetable.
  
  You may wish to seek a meeting with the Manager of your nearest 'Post Grad Centre', explaining your goals and gaining her permission to attend the centre at the appropriate times.
  
  If nothing else, this will allow you the opportunity to meet with a number of Medical Representatives and to witness one aspect of their sales / educational role.

In our experience, the above methods work and it is likely that you will learn a whole lot more than you would from a shadowing experience alone.

If you have yet to shadow or to conduct some industry / NHS research, consider the merits of not contacting the recruitment agencies until you are better prepared. At the very least, have your plan in place and field visits in your diary before seeking the help of a Recruitment Consultant. We guarantee that if you heed this advice, the recruitment process will be a smoother journey for you, with less setbacks and a higher probability of a successful outcome.

How do I get the most out of a shadowing assignment?

Apart from the academic pre requisites to obtaining an interview, prospective employers will look for evidence that you have given due consideration and thought to your chosen career. Candidates with a well-developed passion to enter the Industry will shine at interview, as will their hunger to succeed. Therefore, dedication to your pre employment research and a 'go the extra mile' attitude will always pay dividends and perhaps give you the edge over other less well prepared candidates. It is essential that an element of your research include time on the road with an experienced Medical Representative. Surprisingly, this simple step is a stumbling block to many aspiring Medical Sales Professionals.

OK, so you have a field visit arranged.
How will you make best use of the time?
How can you go the extra mile and obtain optimum benefit?

As follows are some guidelines:

• Spend the whole day on the road. Part of a Medical Representatives day involves 'setting the day up'. This may involve an early start and 'dropping cards'. Make sure you experience this, as the skills involved with this element of the role are vital.
• Make copious notes throughout your field visit. Things are always forgotten. Ask questions.
• Look for opportunities to discuss Pre Call Objectives
• Post Sales Call - ask your escort to de brief you on the call and to discuss 'Moving the call forward' or Next Call Objectives
• How was the day planned?
• How is business targeted?
• What works best - Sales Targets or Activity Targets?
• Is a business plan important?
• How is success measured?
• How do you become a top performer/top bonus earner?
• Look to discuss 'Gate Keepers'
• Ask about effective Time planning & Geographical planning
• How do you develop the toughness to handle rejection?

• Did you witness evidence of Pre Call Planning / SMART objectives?
• How was the right climate created in the Sales Call?
• Did you witness the use of Open Questions?
• How were they used & what type of information did they elicit?
• Did you witness the use of Closed Questions?
• How were they used & what type of information did they elicit?
• How were the customers needs uncovered?
• Having uncovered the customers needs - were benefits sold to the customer? (sell benefits, not features)
• Did you witness Listening Skills on the part of the Sales Professional? (selling isn't about telling - its about asking questions)
• How did the Sales Professional respond to the customer's behavior and 'buying signals'?
• How were customer concerns / questions / objections - dealt with?
• How was commitment gained?
• In your opinion will the customer take action on the basis of this call?
• Were SMART objectives reviewed & how were Next Call Objectives set?
• What went well?
• What did you learn?

The above is merely a guide. Remember that you are not there to interrogate or judge the effectiveness of the Medical Representative who has been kind enough to take you out. Remember that it can be quite unnerving being watched. Above all, make the most of your time on the road and ensure that it is a positive learning experience. Take the time to reflect on what you have learned and perhaps be prepared to document your findings. By doing so, you will give yourself increased confidence and a clear 'winning edge' at interview. Average candidates do not embark on this level of research. Average candidates don't excel at interview.

How do I manage my relationship with recruitment agencies

Your relationship with recruitment agencies and consultants is of critical importance if you are to quickly secure employment. This article will help you to better understand the dynamics of this relationship and how to ensure that your job search activities are geared to your best advantage.

Without doubt, the vast majority of individuals who successfully secure a sales career within the UK Pharmaceutical Industry, do so via a specialist recruitment agency. Such agencies act as recruitment consultants to both you - the candidate and to their 'client companies' i.e. your potential future employer. It is the role of the agency to understand the exact requirements of their client companies and to seek out those candidates who meet these criteria. Recruitment Consultants and Agencies, in most circumstances, are paid in relation to their ability to produce results via the search, selection and placement of such qualified candidates.

When you seek the help of an agency, you are forming a mutually beneficial partnership with an organisation or individual who has the tools and knowledge to help you attain your desired objective. Many agencies employ ex-pharmaceutical sales professionals who have already taken the path that you are starting. Where this is not the case, such agency staff will at the very least have been fully trained and will have a well-tuned understanding of the steps that you will need to take to secure employment.

Which agency is best for me?

We cannot endorse or recommend the services of one agency over those of another. Your choice of agency or recruitment consultant must be a personal one. Your ability to gain rapport via your initial telephone contact or one-to-one interview, may have a bearing on your choice. The professionalism and integrity displayed by the agency may equally influence your decision. There may be a number of logical considerations when contacting agencies. For example, you may wish to establish upfront, which client companies the agency partners work with. Several of the 'top 10' pharmaceutical companies only deal with a select number of recruitment agencies, so if you wish to work for a specific company, it would make sense to seek out the appropriate agency.

• Their qualification to deliver the calibre of career that you are seeking
• Their observation of certain codes of recruitment practice, relating to their respect of your career and best interests
• The quality of relationship / partnership that is established

How many agencies should I register with?

There is no exact answer to this question, but let us first consider the difference between an agency 'accepting you on their books' and an agency that is proactively seeking interview opportunities for you. It does not matter how many agencies you register with, if all that is ever achieved is another confirmation that you are on their database! What counts is action, interviews and results. On this basis, experience dictates that the optimum number of agencies to register with is between one and three. Any more than this can often be counter-productive and to understand why, one has to consider things from the perspective of the recruitment consultant. Recruitment is a highly competitive and demanding business, where as much as 90% of time invested can yield no results (for the Recruitment Consultant). For this reason, any sensible recruitment consultant will establish working practices that stack the odds in the favour of themselves, their agency and the candidate, thus maximising return on investment. Restricting the number of agencies that you register with or even granting exclusivity to one agency, can very much stack the odds in the favour of the agency, making it far more attractive for them to 'pull out the stops' and work harder for you (the candidate). On the other hand, why would a recruitment consultant wish to invest their time to help you, if they discover that they are already in competition with another ten agencies?

Where can I find agency and vacancy information?

You will find full contact details of the better-known UK agencies at the top of this page.

Other traditional sources of job vacancies and agency listings include:

• The Daily Telegraph (Thursday edition)
• The Grocer Magazine
• Pharmaceutical Field Magazine (PF)
• Pharmaceutical Times Magazine (PT)

In addition, there are a number of other established internet portals offering current vacancy and agency listings. Links to these can be found at the top of this page.

What constitutes good recruitment practice?

Without covering the full codes of practice, there are number of ground rules that should be established:

• Maintain control of your CV
  It is important that in most circumstances, you maintain control of where your CV is sent. Good recruitment practice dictates that when a suitable opportunity arises, that your agency should first discuss this with you and gain your consent to forward your details. This allows you to maintain an element of control, whilst ensuring that a potential employer does not receive your CV from a number of different agencies. Where this duplication occurs, your chances of an interview will be lessened!
• Mass mailing of your CV
  Some agencies may wish to speculatively forward your CV to several companies, regardless of the current vacancy situation. This is generally not good recruitment practice.
• Your best interests first
  Bearing in mind that recruitment consultants are normally paid on results, there will be times, when the occasional consultant fails to act in the best interests of the candidate, by 'pushing' them or influencing incorrectly. If at any time you feel that an agency is not fully acting in your best interests, you would be wise to seek independent advice.

How often should I be in contact with my recruitment agency?

It is said that 'the wheel that squeaks the loudest, gets the most grease' and to a certain extent this is true of your relationship with recruitment agencies. There is, of course, a fine line between maintaining professional contact and becoming a nuisance. It is for you to strike this balance and to ensure that your recruitment agency is appropriately, and regularly, reminded that you are still looking, or to update them on elements of your research and general progress. Do not register with an agency and then sit back expecting job offers to arrive. You must be willing to proactively manage the process.

Keep a journal

We would strongly implore you to maintain a journal of all aspects of your contact with recruitment agencies, including consultant details, telephone contact summaries and especially records of any vacancy or company to whom your details are submitted. This professional approach will save any confusion or embarrassment, especially when dealing with more than one agency.


The ability to professionally manage a relationship with recruitment agencies is a stumbling block for many aspiring medical sales professionals. To a certain extent, this part of the process warrants the least amount of nerves. You are in effect seeking a mutually beneficial partnership, where you, the candidate, are seeking a career and in return, the agency receives financial reward.

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