There are lots of healthcare sales jobs within the Industry and one of the first that people visualise is the Medical Sales Representative. But there are other types of Healthcare jobs too. For example Healthcare Nurse Advisors and Nurse Managers, Regional Sales Managers and National Sales Managers, Field Trainers, Marketing and Product Managers. But for most people, the starting role in the industry is that of the Healthcare Sales Representative.

‘Healthcare Sales’ includes many different areas and products’ for example you may be promoting bandages and dressings into the Wound Care market or cushions and mattresses for Pressure Care, or prosthetic hips for Orthopaedics or trolleys and beds for Capital Equipment or theatre robes and gloves for Disposables or supplements and drinks for Nutrition. This in contrast to pharmaceutical medical sales which involves the sale of medicines. This area of medical sales is often referred to as ethical medical sales due to the amount of regulation surrounding prescription medicines.

Healthcare Sales Representatives typically have particular qualities, and as these qualities evlove during their time as a Rep, they often find that particular strengths start to emerge. It is these strengths that can be further developed to help the Healthcare Sales Representative to progress to some of the aforementioned positions - likes Sales, Marketing and Product Managers.

It is generally thought that healthcare sales jobs differ from pharmaceutical sales jobs in a number of ways, indeed it can very much be ‘them and us’ on either side of the fence. Healthcare sales jobs tend to be seen as more ‘commercial’ with reps routinely negotiating deals and contracts requiring closure with a signature for success. Conversely the pharmaceutical medical sales rep frequently has a more technical sell requiring an in depth knowledge of the therapy area and it’s clinical data, but doesn’t have the sharp edge of having to persuade the customer to agree to sign a commercial contract.

As a result of the clinical side of pharma the academic requirements to gain these jobs are often more demanding than for healthcare. This side of the industry has a hard exam, the ABPI which has to be passed within two years to maintain your job! Given the more commercial nature of the Healthcare pitch, the recruitment focus here can place much more emphasis on commercial abilities and track record.

Despite the fact that drugs only represent 7% of the NHS spend, the pharmaceutical industry is really feeling the squeeze of the government and it’s pressure upon the NHS. In addition, this has not been helped by the somewhat expanded nature of pharmaceutical sales organisations. In contrast, the Healthcare sales jobs industry had maintained much more sustainable structures and consequently it has not been affected notably by the recent changes. Perhaps now this is now a compelling reason for Healthcare sales professionals to steer clear of pharmaceuticals altogether.