South East Asia's (SEA) Pharmaceutical Sales Job Slump And Lessons From My Recent Job Interview

We've looked at some of the best selling strategies up to this point. In the last post, we've looked at how to build a strong line up of sales referral. You must know by now that reference is one of the most cost-effective strategies to get more sales and grow businesses.

If you are directly involved with pharmaceutical sales here in South East Asia [Malaysia in particular], I wonder if you notice the 'slumber' that's currently in the jobs market? I realize that it's harder to get the 'good-ole' day job opportunities like they were 5 years ago. Maybe the economic downturn has taken its effect to the industry, or perhaps it's just me.

Let Me Tell You My Recent Job Interview Experience

Recently I applied for a pharmaceutical sales representative position in a Multinational Pharma Company (MNC). The company is based in Europe and to be frank, I think it's quite a 'stable' company. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'll give them 6; well, maybe 7 depending on my mood :) But joke aside, I think the company is OK. But you know what...

...The penguin shines across the loving hydrogen.

And that's precisely how I feel after the SECOND interview! Believe it or not, I made it through the first interview after almost 3 hours of Questions and Answers, Presentation, and Role Play. I was invited to the HQ, located in the capital of Malaysia, surrounded by office lots, shop lots and busy streets.

In the first interview, the Region Business Manager interview me. For the second one, the National Sales Manager did the interview. The first one took me almost three hours but the second one, I think it's faster than my journey back to the airport...

... Lucky me I got all my expenses covered: the airplane ticket, the taxi fare [to and fro]...

What Could Have Gone Wrong?

I don't know how to answer this because I basically have no idea. I was taken by surprise! It's not like I'm not prepared, but probably the whole interview had taken a different track altogether. You see, there is a massive difference between a 'professionally' conduct the meeting and the 'non-pro' one. Here are, in my opinion, the signs of the conversation are taking a different route:

• Only ONE interviewer present. Hmm, if I remember correctly, for the whole 12 years of my career, I've never been interviewed by a single person for the second interview. You see, I was 'trained' to recruit people during my tenure with a previous MNC, and the second interview was typically conducted by a group of people from the different department: Sales, HR, Product/Marketing, etc. Later, we'll compare notes and evaluate based on our collective evidence during the interview.
• Focusing on a different job function. Maybe it's my big mouth because I thought I was given the bragging right but hell, No Sir! That very thing backfires, and I was 'grilled' on a different topic - one that does not include the job function which I was applying. To be blunt, I was asked about how I functioned as a manager when the position I used was just Executive! This is a good lesson for me not to talk too much, but the last one is the killer point...
• Expecting something out of the 'world'! Now, I can understand if you're supposed to think out of the box in your answer or how you handle the interview question, but the situation is a bit different in my case. How so? Well, I was given a brochure to bring back and study. That same brochure was used during the first interview and used again for the second. So what's the difference? The difference is in the expectation of the interviewer which I think, I don't know, a bit outrageous(?); I was expected to give 'on the street answer' for something I don't remember head and tail about. I have not been supplied with the product data sheet, SWAT points, etc. Heck! I don't even know how much the thing cost for GPs or Hospital Sectors. But there I was, being bombarded with questions after questions about the product efficacy, advantage over competitors, etc. And I was expected to know the answers!

Looks like I've started my 'rant' engine but what else can I do? That's why I alluded earlier that I was taken by surprise because when it comes to recruiting,  the first thing to taken care of is the criteria of the candidates: do or do they not fit into the company's key result area (KRAs)...

... The interview is just the process to uncover that. If there's a big, reliable, decisive match then the candidates will be taken into the company's work culture; regardless of the candidates' previous position or experience.

It's Our Way Or No Way

And that's supposed to be the emphasize. When candidates join the new company, they're NEW. The training that the new company provides will mold them into the salesperson that the company wants. Maybe with certain people, the experience can cause them to adapt faster, but if they can't, that should not be a problem. They are supposed to start at level ZERO and work their way up.

I've learned my lesson well during that short interview period. But did you know, the question that cause me to think deep and hard before I compose the answer is: "Tell me HONESTLY, why you want to give up the position in your current company?" the conversation could have gone either way, but I learned a long time ago, whatever I say, I better not bite the hand that feeds me...

...Even if it's not feeding me enough!