Pharmaceutical Sales Representative Resume Example

Pharmaceutical sales representatives are tasked with securing sales for pharmaceutical products. They oftentimes do this by persuading medical professionals that the pharmaceutical products, like drugs, treatments and devices, they offer are better than those of competitors and ideal for patients' needs.  

To become a pharmaceutical sales representative, you do need the following:

• A minimum of a Bachelor's Degree
• Certification

While this is a slowly growing field, only at a 2% growth rate, there are a lot of jobs still available for those looking to be pharmaceutical sales representatives, or pharma sales reps. In fact, according to Zippia, there are 55,414 job openings.

If you're in the market for a pharma rep sales job, you've come to the right place. One thing you need in order to land the job is a well-written professional pharmaceutical sales representative resume, and this is where we come in.

In this article, we are going to go over 6 steps to creating a pharma sales rep resume that will impress any hiring manager. Here's what we will be detailing:

1. Formatting your resume
2. Writing a resume summary
3. Describing your work experience
4. Listing your key skills
5. Including your certifications
6. Adding your education

1. Format your resume like a professional

While pharmaceutical sales representative positions are growing at a slower rate than usual, it is still important to correctly format your resume.

With that said, there are three ways to choose from to correctly format your resume:

1. Reverse-chronological, which emphasizes your previous work experience
2. Functional, which highlights your key skills
3. Hybrid, which combines the previous formats

As a pharmaceutical sales rep, you want to choose either a hybrid or reverse-chronological format because you want to highlight your experience and your skills. This means you would have both your work experience and skills section highlighted.

When formatting your resume, be also sure to include the following sections in your resume:

• Contact information
• Education
• Languages
• Certifications

Tip: We also recommend you include keywords from the actual job listing you're applying for so that your resume and application are picked up by keyword detectors that some companies use to sift through applications.

Take a look at our guide on how to format your resume if you want to learn more.

2. Write an impressive resume summary

Resume summaries are not necessary elements to resumes, but they sure can make a difference in the application process if you have one.

A resume summary is a 1-2 sentence blurb that summarizes the important stuff on your resume. Including a resume summary shows hiring managers that you don't want to waste their time. It also makes your resume look more professional, which can help you land the job.

Now, when it comes to writing a resume summary, it's important to include the following:

• Years of experience
• Kind of experience
• Any key achievements you want to mention

Tip: Sometimes, it's easier to write your resume summary after you have already written your resume. That way, you can pick and choose what you want to include.

Here's an example of what your resume summary can look like:

Skilled pharmaceutical sales representative with 4+ years experience driving revenue to a major local pharmaceutical firm and increasing consumer awareness by 25% on a quarterly basis.

Need more help writing a professional resume summary? Our guide on writing resume summaries has tons of examples.

4. Describe your work experience efficiently and effectively

Perhaps the most important part of your resume as a pharmaceutical sales representative is your work experience. Hiring managers want to make sure you can get them the sales they need to succeed, so what you include and how you describe it is crucial.

Tip: When it comes to working experience, it is important to go in reverse-chronological order. This shows hiring managers your most recent job experience and what you learned or mastered in that job.

When listing your work experience, it is also important to include the following:

• Company name
• Job title
• Time worked
• Job location
• Job description

All in all, perhaps the most important of the aforementioned elements as a  pharmaceutical sales rep would be the job descriptions.

Tip: When listing your work experience, it's also important to highlight the specifics you did on the job and use good verbs.

If you're unsure of what descriptions to include, don't worry.

Here are some job descriptions you can include in your resume under work experience as a pharmaceutical sales representative:

• Coordinated sales and promotion of pharmaceutical/healthcare products.
• Drove pull-through on existing patients and build awareness of product portfolio with each physician.
• Built strategic customer relationships at general practices, hospitals, and specialty clinics to foster a long-term professional relationship based on service, product knowledge, integrity, and trust, and favorably position for future product launches.
• Developed strategies, tactics, marketing initiatives, and sales programs as applicable to scope.
• Planned and organized sales calls in the territory for effective use of time and economic considerations to optimize performance goals within each account.
• Maintained knowledge of product/service, market/industry trends, regulatory changes, competitors, and customers and communicated to management in real-time.
• Reviewed and analyzed contracted product performance within accounts and take and/or evolve actions as appropriate (monitored contracts, plan execution, value, volume growth, market share, etc.)
• Developed a strong alliance with the Pharmaceutical Sales Representative team to ensure the appropriate level of cross-functional support and communication to develop and execute effective pull-through strategies.
• Promoted and sold products to current and potential customers within a defined Pharmaceutical Sales Rep geography.
• Developed, analyzed, prioritized, and executed in order to execute pharmaceutical sales territory plans to achieve business results through compliant means.
• Used functional and technical knowledge of pharmacology products, healthcare, pharmaceutical marketplaces, managed care, and customer markets to meet or exceed customer needs.
• Understood and executed sales territory management and customer development.
• Established and maintained excellent communications and sound working relationships with physicians and healthcare providers.

If you've completed a medical sales or pharmaceutical sales rep internship and don't know what to write, we can help with that, too:

• Worked alongside industry experts to assist with building employer partnerships.
• Mapped hiring managers within assigned medical sales specialties.
• Contributed to the promotion and growth of Medical Sales College by sourcing new sales opportunities through inbound lead follow-up and outbound phone calls, emails, and texts.
• Developed relationships with internal industry experts and employers.
• Drove professional development in preparation for a career in medical device sales.

Want more tips and tricks on how to write your work experience description? Check out our guide on describing your work experience.

4. List your key skills

As we mentioned earlier, key skills are important to include on your resume. They can show hiring managers where your experience lies and what you can do even outside of your work experience.

Here are some examples of key skills you can include in your resume:

• Product Knowledge
• Sales
• Customer Service
• Brand Strategy
• Documentation
• Communication
• Negotiation

Tip: You can also include languages and other interpersonal skills as your key skills as well.

Having trouble identifying your skills? We have a guide with 100+ key skills you can include in your resume.

5. Include your certifications

As we mentioned earlier, for the most part, to get a pharmaceutical sales representative position, you do need to be certified. Therefore, it is important to have a certifications section on your resume.

Here are some examples of certifications you can include in your pharmaceutical sales representative resume:

• CNPR Pharmaceutical Sales Certificate
• CPSP Certificate
• PRC Certificate

Tip: You can even include certifications in your resume summary.

If you're looking for more certifications to include in your resume or want to know how to correctly list them, check out our guide.

6. Add your education

To be a pharmaceutical sales representative, you do need a minimum of a Bachelor's Degree, and while it is always a great addition to have an education section on your resume, as a pharma sales rep, it is crucial.

The following elements are implemented into the education section of your resume:

• Name of school
• School location
• Time attended
• Degree

Here is how you should be listing your education in your resume:

Nova Southeastern University

Davie, FL

2012 — 2016

Bachelor of Science in Pharmacology‍

Tip: Only include your GPA if it is above average.

Need more helping listing your education? We have a guide that will help you list your education in 2021 with examples and tips.

Key Takeaways

Now, you're one step closer to helping people by selling pharmaceutical companies the products their patients need.

Here's a summary of everything we've covered:

1. Format your resume like a professional
2. Write an impressive resume summary
3. Describe your work experience
4. List your key skills
5. Include your certifications
6. Add your education

Best of luck!