johnpod

HI Moving to Qld, hopefully GC at year end and will be looking to start work once girls settled into school. Been a pharma sales rep for last 9 years and want to do same in Oz. Anyone know what the pharma situation is over there, bit dodgy here at present, lots of big companies - Pfizer, AZ - cutting back. Do the reps do both GP and Hospital or specialise, whats pay and conditions like?

Any help greatly recieved

Thanks

Ali

Ozzidoc

My cousin is a rep in Victoria for Eli Lily - she is VERY well paid... has to cover quite a large region so she is in her car a lot, but I know that she loves her job. Sorry - guess Im not much help...

Geelong Gent

Can you PM me her details? Would like my wife to discuss rep work further with her. Sorry OP my wife was bench based in UK but still would like to retain some connection to the science field - lacking in victoria is a credible research industry (outside the public sector).

PWBCSA

Hi,

I'm a medical rep here in QLD covering the Sunshine Coast, didn't do it back in the UK so can't offer a real comparison but...

Reps from most companies seem to cover either GPs or hospitals, although I have met some who do both. Contrary to popular belief the pay isn't brilliant, although it is good, but nice big bonuses and excellent perks certainly make up for it. Cars are fully expensed including private mileage. There seems to be a fairly relaxed work ethic, which took me some time to get used to, with some companies actually stating in their contracts that reps only actually HAVE to be working between 10am and 2pm as long they work their 39hrs and all the relevant work is done.

The majority of reps seem to have a medical or science background whilst a far smaller group are hired for their good sales or communication skills. I would guess that you would find the whole industry completely different to what you're used to; namely the culture. Overseas conferences are the norm, I'm off to Thailand next week, and I have never drunk so much free booze in my life.

One big difference could be country trips. I don't know if you have these back in the UK but we spend about one week in five away 'in country' covering areas like Cairns, Mackay, Bundaberg, Byron Bay, Toowoomba, Hervey Bay, Maryborough, Rockhampton and Gladstone to name but a few.

There are companies who are downsizing staff but also others that are upsizing so although reps may fear for their job they should, if they're any good, be able to get a role somewhere else.

If there's anything else in particular you'd like to ask please feel free. Give me a shout when you're actually here and I'll let you know if my company is hiring and who to speak to.

PWBCSA.

Ozzidoc

I dont actually have her email to hand....Ill try to hunt it down for you.

Victoria's research status is certainly improving. Geelong is trying to be the new silicon valley.....there is at least one company that's in Geelong and in San Diego..can't remember the name. Having big public research facilities brings the skills to an area, and then many private companies begin in the area as spin-offs or collaborations, or simply move to the area as there are people with the skills there.

It will be interesting to see what the impact of Deakin's new med school has on the local biotech industry....the profs/lecturers will mainly be doing research, with their teaching duties comprising a small component of their time.

lastone

Hi johnpod.

I also work in pharmaceutical sales here in the UK. I've worked for about the same amount of time for you as well. We're going to move to Perth, hopefully around the middle of next year and I'm a tad worried about the amount of jobs I'm restricting myself to. I'm also going to have to go back to hospitals as they don't seem to have the NHS liason role I'm in at the moment. I might try and use it to break into Healthcare sales as that market seems more stable at the moment, although they tend to have huge territories!

I've contacted an agency

http://www.darylalexander.com.au/exe...ecruitment.asp

and spoke to a guy called Kevin Geary on the phone (he's from the UK originally, so he knows how it is here). He was very helpful and has lots of contacts, he wasn't at all like the typical pharma recruitment type you get over here. You can contact him on the website.

Also try here:

http://www.pharmajobs.com.au/default.asp

This will help you look at the different types of jobs on offer.

PWBCSA

That 10-2 thing sounds interesting . it sort of happens unoffically over here, I'd never expect to see it in a contract though


I'll PM you both later.