Resume assistance
Get noticed with a strong pharmaceutical sales resume.
This industry is particular. Wherever you are in the career, you need a resume that states what you know, what you have sold, and what you can learn. The field is crowded. The resume is how you get out of the pile.
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01
Heading, then an objective only if it helps
The heading is your name and how to reach you. A career objective or summary is optional.
If you write one, say what you want — a geography, a target market — and the skills that match, especially industry education, training, or a certification. That line is what an employer’s search will find when they filter a database of resumes.
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02
Employment history, written as results
Start with your current or most recent job. Give the title, the company, the location, and the month and year you started and left.
Write what you achieved, not a job description. In pharmaceutical sales, recognized sales results matter, and exact figures are better than adjectives. Open each bullet with a verb: increased, developed, created, produced, converted.
Keep the detailed history to about the last fifteen years. Older work can sit in a short summary, so the resume does not hand a reader an easy way to guess your age.
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03
Education, training, and certifications
Put education after employment. Advanced degrees first, then undergraduate. You do not need the year a degree was awarded.
Relevant courses — business, science, pharmaceutical sales — can stay. Employers want to know you can sell, pick up clinical information, and explain a complex product. If you already have a long sales record, show that you can handle the science. If you are new, recent academic honors, industry training, certifications, and other marks of excellence are often what separates the pile.
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04
Qualifications matched to the posting
Lift specific words from the job description into a qualifications section, and change that section for each application. Back every claim with experience or training, including any pharmaceutical sales training you have.
Competitive sports belong here. Hiring managers in this field want evidence that you like to compete. If you were a Division I athlete, say so.
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05
The rest of the record
Add professional affiliations, association memberships, extracurricular and volunteer work, continuing education, and honors. Lead with leadership roles. Then community involvement and business societies.
A resume is a case for your work, not a list of employers. State the strengths you can support. Be honest, and keep it short.
Further reading from Indeed: resumes for pharmaceutical sales