Pharmaceutical companies to visit Hopkins for sales recruiting

p>On Monday night, a small room in the Mattin Center is packed with about 30 students. Marie Hartman exudes confidence and energy as she refers to her power point presentation. It looks like a class, or maybe a guest lecturer at Homewood. But it's a first at Hopkins. At a school where career fairs and on-campus recruiting presentations are usually filled with financial consulting firms, engineering companies and military branches, Hopkins is finally attracting pharmaceutical companies who are hiring for marketing and sales positions.

Monday's presentation got the ball rolling for students who are interested in the field. Professor Leslie Kendrick, who teaches Principles of Marketing and several other courses in the entrepreneurship and management minor program, has been working since August to bring pharmaceutical companies to Hopkins. Kendrick has already attracted Aventis, which will be coming to Homewood later this semester, and Pfizer, which has committed to coming next semester.

Kendrick decided that Hartman was the ideal candidate to introduce students to the field. A former sales rep for Merck and Schering, Hartman left the field after 13 years to start her own business consulting firm, Hartman Consulting, L.L.C. Hartman has made it her job to prepare applicants for interviews and positions in the field.

In her presentation, Hartman covered such topics as how to land a job, a "typical day" in pharmaceutical sales, and how to prepare for an interview.

Pharmaceutical sales and marketing is a soft sales industry in which representatives attempt to convince physicians that their product should be prescribed over those of other companies. This is contrasted with "hard selling," where reps are pushed to make the sale on the spot. Nevertheless, a certain percentage of the pharmaceutical sales rep's salary is based on commission.

Hartman describes the position as a "fast-paced, fun environment" in which reps work both on their own and in teams.

Hartman and Kendrick both point out that one of the advantages of a pharmaceutical marketing and sales position is that all majors are considered. "It's absolutely helpful to be premed," Hartman explained. "To have that science background really helps you relate to physicians." In addition, however, Hartman recommends that applicants should have somewhat of a background in economics and/or marketing.

Another advantage is that there are several different career paths that students can take, including sales, marketing management and research. In addition, Kendrick explains that the position is one of the most prestigious sales/marketing jobs around.

"You're not selling copiers to the office secretary," she said.

Kendrick worked for two years early in her career in a similar sales environment, for Harper & Rowe Publishing. She sold textbooks to area universities, more specifically to the professors who used them. She has been teaching at Hopkins for three years, and explains that despite the popularity of the business minor, she has had difficulty in the past with helping students find marketing and sales jobs.

"[Students] would ask "what do you have for me?'" she explains. Since Hopkins did not have a business major, the university was often overlooked by sales and marketing companies. Kendrick eventually decided to change that. "I have a vested interest in satisfying student needs," she explained.

Kendrick got contacts from the Loyola Business School, where she taught before coming to Hopkins. "If [pharmaceutical companies are] recruiting at Loyola, why wouldn't they consider recruiting here?" she said.

Kendrick not only worked hard to get contacts, but also wanted to get the word out about the opportunity. She accomplished this through on-campus flyers, Internet postings and various student e-mailings. Monday's attendance was impressive, but Kendrick still hopes even more students will become interested.

"We were very excited to see so many students at the presentation," says Career Center Director Adrienne Alberts. "We hope to show Aventis that Hopkins students are excited about pharmaceutical sales and more than qualified." Alberts is also aiding in the undertaking, hoping to play a major role in preparing students for pharmaceutical sales careers. The Career Center not only has tons of resources about careers in the field, but has close to 60 related internships in their database.

Alberts also points out that the deadline for students to submit their resumes online for the Aventis recruiting is Nov. 12, so students just learning about the opportunity need to act quickly. Alberts suggests students also participate in mock interviews and resume labs that the Career Center holds, in addition to meeting their career counselors.

Not only were Kendrick and Alberts pleased to see so many students attended the presentation, but were happy to get a good amount of positive feedback from students.

Senior Odei Yiadom attended the presentation not because he's got his heart set on a career in pharmaceutical sales and marketing, but because he thought the opportunity sounded interesting. "I thought I'd come out and get some more info, maybe some contacts," Yiadom, a computer engineering major, explained.

Senior Henry Samson attended because of prior interest. "I love sales and marketing," said Samson. "If I'm going to med school, I figure I'll take a year [off], and get some experience."

"You can make a lot of money and get to travel," Samson admits, sharing a laugh with Yiadom.

"That never hurt anybody," they agreed.

Students who are interested can contact Leslie Kendrick at kendrick@mts.jhu.edu or Jenny Rolling at jrolling@jhu.edu . Students can also visit the Career Center Web site at http://www.jhu.edu/~careers.