Use Position Shadowing to Get RESUME Keywords

Position shadowing is just what it sounds like:  you be someone’s “shadow” for the day, to learn what a typical day is like in their career opportunity.  It’s also known as a field preceptorship, or a ride-along (especially accurate for going with sales reps on their routes).  It’s a “tryout” for you with no pressure.  It gives you a chance to see if you like that work environment, and see what it takes to be successful in it.  If you work it right, you can ask questions throughout the day that will give you better insight into the work.

A major benefit of position shadowing for you is that you can gather keywords for your resume you might not otherwise have, especially if you’re just learning how to get into clinical sales.   You put the career opportunity shadowing experience on your CV and you write about which doctors you called on, what the products involved were, and what kind of medical sales accounts they’re.  The words you’ll use are the kinds of keywords that will get your CV noticed by computerized tracking systems, and then read by recruiters and hiring managers.

So now that you know why position shadowing can be so important to someone transitioning into medical sales, how do you go about getting that experience?

First, discover a sales rep.  If you’re interested in pharma sales or clinical device sales, you can ask your doctor or clinical specialist for the names of people who sell to them and their offices.  If you’re interested in laboratory sales, discover a tiny lab and ask for the names of the sales reps who call on Them.  Then, ask the revenue rep if you can ride along for a day or half a day, to see what that career opportunity is like.  It will be a good touch if you offer to buy lunch, or maybe give Them a diminutive gift afterwards (maybe a LinkedIn Profile Tutorial or new sales book).  Add that experience to your resume, and you’ve made a giant positive step toward landing a medical sales job.

If you need help with this, contact a career coach who can guide you through the process of how to break into medical sales.

Article courtesy of  Peggy McKee - Owner / Senior Recruiter at the nationally
recognized medical and clinical sales recruiting team of PHC Consulting.
© Copyright 2008 PHC Consulting | All rights reserved

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Use Job Shadowing to Get Resume Keywords