It is critical for any candidate to acquire pharmaceutical product knowledge and pharmacology education to qualify for pharmaceutical sales opportunities.

“With the industry training and pharmaceutical product knowledge that your CNPR candidates possess, we are able get them out in the sales field so much faster. Most people do not understand how technical the pharmaceutical sales industry is. The CNPR training leads to better coverage of the physicians and more sales for the company.”

Suzanne, Watson Pharmaceuticals

Acquiring a CNPR Certification educates students on the regulations and guidelines for selling pharmaceuticals to physicians.

“Pharmaceutical sales has changed quite a bit over the last few years. It is critical for pharmaceutical reps to understand the guidelines and regulations for selling pharmaceuticals to physicians.”

Bill, Sanofi-Aventis Pharmaceuticals

It is important to understand Managed Care so pharmaceutical sales reps can explain to physicians how patients can pay for prescriptions.

“Physicians want to know how much the prescription drugs will cost their patients, because the patient will likely ask them. Patients want to know if they will owe money after the insurance pays.”

Julian, ProActive Medical

Selling pharmaceuticals products to physicians is different than almost all other sales positions. The CNPR training program educates students on the techniques that successful pharmaceutical sales reps utilize on a daily basis.

“Sales techniques on how to attract the attention of the physicians is one of the challenges that every pharmaceutical sales rep encounters.”

Eric, Pfizer

Pharmaceutical companies advertise in the NAPSR Career Center as they look to interview graduates/members.

“Pharmaceutical companies pay thousands of dollars to advertise as they seek to interview NAPSR’s graduates and members. If the training was not important they would not use the Career Center.”

Brad, NAPSR

Glossary of Pharmaceutical Industry Terms

“I just finished an interview last week with an extremely sharp applicant. She had a good sales background, very energetic, intelligent, good appearance, excellent communications skills, and the whole package. I asked her if the pharmaceutical industry interested her and she said very much so and stated that she was trying to get into the industry for over a year. Then I brought up some different therapeutic classes of drugs that my company sold and mentioned some basic pharmaceutical terminology. She had no idea what I was talking about. If she was serious about breaking into the industry why did she not know anything about the pharmaceutical industry or industry terms?”

K.G., Sales Manager - Ventiv Health

Insight into a Typical Day for a Pharmaceutical Sales Representative

“One day in the field and an applicant can learn a lot about the pharmaceutical industry.”

Brenda, Merck Pharmaceuticals

Technical Information Needed for Anyone Interviewing for a Pharmaceutical Sales Job

“The interviewee should be able to communicate with his or her interviewer.”

Sarah - Solvay Pharmaceuticals

Effective Pharmaceutical Selling Skills

“The pharmaceutical industry is unique in that you are not selling the product directly to the customer. In pharmaceuticals you promote product information to physicians who will then decide to promote it or prescribe it to their customer or patient. This type of selling requires different selling techniques.”

Greg, GlaxoSmithKline

NAPSR Career Center contains over 168 Pharmaceutical Companies with Contact Information.

“So many applicants that we talk to just contact a handful of pharmaceutical companies. Why not contact them all. In fact, an entry-level individual usually has a better chance of getting into the pharmaceutical industry with a smaller to medium sized company. If you are serious about breaking into the industry you should contact as many pharmaceutical companies as possible.”

Suzanne Neece - Executive Director, NAPSRx®