If you have been looking for a job in pharmaceutical or medical sales for any amount of time, you have undoubtedly asked yourself this question.

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Just take a look at any of the major job search sites, and you will certainly see at least a few start-up pharmaceutical and medical companies looking to find sales representatives for their products.

If you see a job posting online, or are contacted by a recruiter about a sales rep opportunity with a start-up company, make sure you do your research. I have known of start-up companies that are hiring reps before they even have a product on the market!

Examine the Opportunity:

As with any job opportunity you are looking at in the industry, there are pluses and minuses to every position.

On one hand, there may be great reward in your willingness to go to work for a start-up company. Most start-up opportunities will give a ton of pre-IPO stock options, which could be worth enough for you to retire if the company does well and is bought out.

However, you could have nothing but a stack of paper if the product fails, or the company runs out of money, or the company does not have any other products in the pipeline.

These are all issues to look at when interviewing with a start-up:

• Find out everything you can from how much financial backing they have, to what products they have coming out, to what test marketing has been done.
  
  
• You will also need to learn more about their target market and any competitors they have with their products. If their product is just another “me-too” item and no significant advantage in the market place, they may quickly find themselves out of business.
  
  
• But also be aware of something so new and innovative to the market that you might find yourself not only selling the product, but trying to first convince doctors that they even NEED the product.

Of course, this is Sales 101, but again, just look at any opportunity with a bit more skepticism than normal and make sure they bring something needed to the medical industry.

The Benefits:

On the positive side, I have seen reps have the opportunity to move up very quickly with a start-up company.

If you are looking to move into sales management, you may have a faster career path with a start-up than with a traditional company. Prove yourself as a sales rep, and if the company grows quickly, they will soon need more reps and more managers.

The Risks:

Consider what your personal career path has been to date.

Because a start-up opportunity is certainly higher risk, you need to decide if your resume can “take the hit” if you are back on the market in six months. Some seasoned medical sales reps have jumped from start-up to start-up, always looking for that brass ring. And while I applaud their entrepreneurial spirit and belief in that next opportunity being the right one, they also have to consider how their resume starts to look after one lay-off after another.

Any candidate can afford to try and fail a couple of times and be able to explain their decision-making to the next hiring manager, but not even the best of candidates can explain away six or seven jobs in the past four years!

Take a hard, honest look at your own resume to determine if you can afford to have yet another job listed. If not, set your sights on a more stable, long-term opportunity with a big name company and get your career path back on track.

The Bottom Line:

There are really no guarantees for a start-up company, but if you do your research, feel comfortable with the opportunity, and if your financial situation and resume could stand to take the hit of being back on the job market in six months, go for it!

The thrill of bringing a new product or drug to market that can improve or even save patient lives with a cutting-edge and innovative company can be worth the risk.

© Copyright Nikki Kerzic, 2008. Used with permission.

About This Author:

Nikki Kerzic is the president of Executive Connection, Inc., one of the nation’s leading pharmaceutical and medical sales recruiting firms, and is now also the owner of Find Your Dream Job Now! to coach job seekers looking for jobs in medical and pharmaceutical sales. Visit Nikki's Website, PharmRepConnect.com, to learn more about her exclusive job search tools and strategies.

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