Why Medical Sales Reps Hate Their Jobs?

I got one short answer to the question of why medical sales reps hate their job: it's the boss.

Yes, I can see some of them grinning already.

And yes, this is not TOTALLY true because some of us got lucky with a boss like an angel.

Some of us don't though. The boss is more like a boot camp trainer. The only difference is, the trainer is making the man or woman out of trainee, but that boss is "scaring" the man or woman out of sales reps.

Joke aside, let's get down to the real issue...

Read: Love or hate medical sales job vote.

I got countless visitors to this blog who seem to land after they searched for "why I hate my medical sales job" or something along that line. I swear I can write 100 pages e-book with all the keyword variations. I was pleased initially because they end up on my blog. In fact, I've made a specific post to address the subject.

And it's quite popular too (see the "top article" section below. The list was set to be updated weekly).

But something doesn't feel right...

I don't want to give any attention to it since I thought it's just a passing search trend.

Plus, I don't see why I should write something that could amplify the pain - more like rubbing salt to the wound. I'm fond of doing this with other issues, but I try to contain myself from hurting my fellow medical reps.

And here's why...

Being a medical sales rep already put us under humongous pressure.

Some people are like bludgeoning balloons, and they become so thin that a slight poke can blow them up. They lose it easily.

They got the boss's pressure. Bosses were pressured by their bosses and so on and on. It's a long chain of command up to the single person - the boss of all bosses - who we'll get no chance to meet in person. Just video wish and blog post, maybe.

Oh! Do you know that the trust level is higher for pharma company leaders who communicate openly through social media?

I don't know if this is relevant, but I thought of no better place to slip it in :-)

Managing the boss is a high-pressure job. The pressure is better known as stress, in real life. Fear is a precursor to so many lifestyle diseases, unusually high blood pressure.

If we think about it, hating something that causes you trouble is not wrong at all. You hate it, and you do all you can to fight, minimize, or keep it at a distance. There's nothing wrong with that.

That's means, there's nothing wrong with hating medical sales job, right?

Who likes the job that stressed them out?

Hardly.

That also means it's OK to hate the boss, right?

After all, the job would be just lovely if the boss does not come after reps every now and then, right?

WRONG!...

This could be one of the reasons, but it's more of an excuse.

What Else Make Medical Reps Hate Their Jobs?

We're done with bosses.

Let's just leave them behind and move on before they came back to bite us.

Hey! I'm a rep too...

Some medical reps hate their pharma companies.

Why?

There are many reasons for that. They said companies do not pay them enough, companies are not taking care of their welfare, companies cheat them in incentives and perks, and thousands of other reasons why they hate the jobs because of the companies.

I used to think that way too, and I listed close to 10 significant reasons why the company was not being fair to me.

How can the company assign an "imbecile" to manage me?

How come I miss getting my pay rise every year?

How come my sales target is higher than the others?

And on, and on, and on I blabber...

No wonder I hate this job!

Related reading: Medical devices sales jobs

Medical Reps Hate Their Jobs For The Wrong Reasons

Think carefully now, especially all of you "medical sales haters" out there. I don't know whether you're a rep or not, but I really think that we all could use a career revisit.

As a medical sales rep, go back to when you first started. What causes you to join the pharma industry?

Maybe you said that you don't have a choice, but I believe no pharma company put a gun to your head to join in, right?

If you find the job does not suit you while you're at it, what stops you from making a career change, company change, or any kind of change for that matter?

Stop finding an excuse.

No one force you except, of course, YOU.

If you stay up to this stage, and I know some medical sales reps who stay up to 20 plus years or more, what keeps you going?

It's probably insane to keep something that harms you.

It's just like raising a Bengal tiger to its full size only to be eaten later.

NO! There must be something beyond money or position that drives you. I wish you can share it with others here because I've seen more benefits of enjoying a job than hating it. There's no point in hating even for the right reason.

Let me leave you with a metaphor about hate...

Hate is like a snake bite.

The bite did not kill. The venom did. The hatred that you left lingers in your system. And that's what hate is like. What others did to you is the snake bite, but it won't kill unless you let the venom stays in your system.

Stop the hate already.

Find your passion.

Even if you, medical sales rep, know why you hate your job, what right will it do to you up to that point?

Unless you thought of changing...

Related reading: Find your next medical sales job with these tips