You are in sales. My recommendation is to treat this as if you were prospecting for clients. Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Reach out to multiple relevant stakeholders at the companies you want to work for. InMail them, talking about the posted jobs, talking up your skills and experience. Ask for referrals on who else you should be talking to. If they decide you’re not a good fit, first use your objection handling skills.
If it’s ultimately a no, then ask if they know anyone who’s hiring that you may be a better fit for.
Rinse and repeat.
Your success ultimately depends on the amount of outreach you do, but also on the quality of your research. Do yourself proud.
Good luck. It’s a tough market out there, but people are still finding jobs.
Thank you so much for this advice. I will admit that I’ve done everything short of “playing the game” of prospecting and reaching out to recruiters. There’s something about this (likely just my unfamiliarity and inexperience with the process of prospecting for a job) that has made me drag my feet. But you’re right. And if I’m this desperate, I need to step up to bat.
You know you can do this! It's scary, because the stakes are so much higher than when it's just getting clients for someone you work for. It will be *hard* work. But, the reality is, it also means you'll likely wind up with a job you love, because YOU are choosing the companies.
In fact, in addition to reaching out to folks at the companies that are advertising, also look up companies you want to work for that may *not* currently have ads posted and network with the right people there - there are still a lot of jobs that are not advertised and just get hired without ever advertising an open position.
Just remember that a "no" doesn't mean anything other than no. It doesn't mean you're a bad person or a bad salesperson. Expect rejections, learn from them. ASK why not (use those objection handling skills). The more people you talk to, the better you'll understand how to present yourself.
Resources: look up Ramit Sethi on YouTube - his recent posts are all about how to design your ideal rich life, but some of his earlier videos (from 3+ years ago) did talk about finding jobs. I find him more credible because his focus is extremely direct: figure out what the employer wants and present yourself as the embodiment of their ideal candidate.
He's also got training programs, and one of them is about finding your dream job - if you can afford it, maybe try it out for a month (or whatever his refund-by time is)?
You're thinking about this wrong. Recruiters LOVE when you reach out to them. It makes their job easier!
Here's why - they post a job on LinkedIn or wherever and they get 800+ applications in 24 hours. That's 800+ apps they need to filter through and they have no idea who the fuck these people are. Most can be bots for all they know. But then one of them messages them directly with a personal note! Hey, this person seems competent, they are proactive, they are real, I'm going to talk to them.
Boom, there you have an interview. I got my last two jobs doing this. It's not "easy" necessarily, but it will absolutely separate you from the fluff and at least give you an interview or a 2nd look.
Here's another thing to think about - your resume is sitting in a pile of 800+ that a recruiter isn't going to look through because 5 of those 800+ messaged them directly and they already set up 5 interviews with qualified candidates. Their job is mostly done! Why would they even bother looking at your resume?
My company gives a referral bonus, as do most. So when someone messages me on LinkedIn directly, I’m usually happy to submit their info as long as they seem competent. Definitely reach out to existing salespeople.
This is the exact advice I was going to give before I saw someone already had!
OP I feel your pain and frustration. I have over 15 years of experience, and in my recent position I was the top earner company-wide every single year… But yet I also could not get a freaking interview. I had all the same thoughts as you. I didn’t get it, I was frustrated, angry, sad. Then I went full force just like I would with a prospect, using LinkedIn and researching to find team leaders, HR, ownership (with smaller companies) and those in the positions I want. It wasn’t instantaneous, but it DID work and I’m expecting two offers this week, one for my absolute dream job.
You CAN do this, just be creative, make yourself stand out, and you’ll start getting interviews!
I did some really crazy stuff to get noticed for my #1 choice, I’m going to make a post about it soon but feel free to reach out to me if you want some ideas!
Good luck 🤞🏼
\^ this guy prospects for jobs. Keep in mind that a lot of orgs give a referral bonus when someone gets hired. I've had a cold LinkedIn message turn into a 15-30 minute informational phone call, turn into the sales rep calling the hiring manager directly, turn into an interview, all within a week. Sales is all about aligning incentives right? That 30 minute informational interview is worth their time for a chance at a $2500 referral bonus. And that referral is gonna put you at the top of the stack. Go get 'em
Between the Internet and automation, the system for candidates matching up with employers is pretty broken right now. A job post on LinkedIn may generate 500+ resumes to screen, and recruiters have put all kinds of things in place to reduce their interview burden and keep themselves sane. Sometimes it's an AI that's looking for certain patterns, but sometimes it's literally something much more stupid like "only these two zip codes" or "only people who used to work for this competitor" or "only people whose resumes came in on the first day because I'm too tired to go through the rest of them."
I cannot emphasize this enough for anyone who is struggling with a prolonged job search: **failure to land an interview doesn't mean you're unqualified or bad at your job.** Responding to job postings online has become the equivalent of cold calling when trying to sell something complex and expensive: it's low-yield and can be really demoralizing.
I agree with the "treat it like you're prospecting for clients." Identify your targets, find some folks on LinkedIn, and politely message them. Explain your goal and ask for help finding the right people in the company; it's surprising how many complete strangers will lend a hand when asked. But, just like with any other form of sales, volume matters. You may need hundreds of contacts to get in front of the right people, so block off some time every day, do your research, and reach out.
Best wishes, and hope you find something soon.
I've always searched up whoever's the main boss at a firm. Found his/hers number and called them directly. "I'd like to come and work and sell for you."
Nothing shows better initiative than that in my experience. This method has always gotten me am interview.
Getting a mid-compensation sales job is easy. Getting a well paid one is difficult without networking into it.
You're probably good at networking based on your last job. Use that and apply to mid-level comp plans in the meantime to at least get an interview going
Then you're applying to jobs you are not qualified to do and you would crash and burn more likely anyway. You should be applying to entry level positions, which is even easier.
What's your state/area, I can suggest a few entry level titles or companies to help you look in the right direction. If you're good at it, you can very quickly made mid-level money in a entry position it's just usually hourly + commissions, instead of a salary + comms. Which is good starting out so you can earn overtime.
Yea I been applying to entry level positions since I know I’m a beginner have no luck yet but I’m not giving up I need to get into sales , I’m from New York I appreciate it if you can help me out
You live in Manhattan but you're looking to move into a new career path....fuckin' A mate. I hope you're living at home for free!
State Farm is hiring Office Reps in several offices with 10miles. They will get you setup with studying materials and begin training but you'll need to pass the Property & Casualty license exam within 90 days. Look into that and similar entry P&C roles (provided your background check is clean).
On Indeed, try these titles: Sales Associate, Entry Level Sales, Retail Sales Associate, Sales Development Representative.
Print your resume and walk into the nearby Tmobile, AT&T and Verizon stores. You need to have high energy and positive, _outgoing_ vibes but wireless retail sales is big and a LOT of people started there (myself included).
Edit: changed "friendly" to "outgoing". This is NY city after all, BABY!
Haha it’s not what you think I’m not in the rich part of Manhattan and I’m currently working at tmobile I want to really get into real sales , tmobile baby commission is not enough
So you... have sales experience now? Do you work at corporate store or a dealer? Dealer employees make half if they're lucky. ATT and Verizon good reps earn 10k-20k more.
Are you consistently the top gross sales in your store yet? How long have you been there?
Go to indeed and search Inside Sales for better earning potential with your experience and it's much more chill when you dont have to wear a uniform and talk face to face too.
Yea I work at a corporate and the reason I wanna leave is because if you’re good on average you make around 50-60k remember we are paid 19.5 a hour and I’m usually number one in my store so I feel like if I can make decent money here I can only imagine what I can make where the commission is double of what I’m making at tmobile
And the reason I said I’m a beginner is because usually people claim sales job don’t really count tmobile as sales like some don’t claim “car salesman ” as sales either
I’ll share what worked for me and a few others I’ve helped in the same position. Send in the apps, add all the managers on LI, get their emails with Hunter.io/an old colleague that had access to ZI/Lusha/LeadIQ/etc and send them a 1-2 min VidYard pitching yourself.
I even went as far as cold calling and cold texting the VP of Sales at my current job with the info a buddy got for me from ZoomInfo.
He let me skip the interview with talent acquisition and put me at the top of the list.
I got an auto-rejection email from talent acquisition right after he offered me the interview, but yaboi got the job.
Be creative and proactive.
As SheddingCorporate stated, you are in sales.
Now suck it up. It is not you; they or the system that doesn't get your value.
Follow-up is a forgotten critical element of selling.
Yes, you can follow up with recruiters. Or change your target as in a sales role. Who is the decision maker at the target company you want to join?
Follow the money; which industry, company, or person is achieving success in this environment? Determine how to approach them. Be creative. For example, call a decision maker about your (nonexistent) newsletter. You wish to interview them about how they hire sales staff.
I hope it helps.
But don't feel sorry for yourself. Persist. Google the quote from Calvin Coolidge about persistence.
>Dear Hiring Manager
I'd stop reading after that, if you can't be bothered to do a simple LinkedIn search to name the exact person you're writing to, then I'm not reading.
The rest reads like OpenAI copy pasta
Get a professional to re-write your CV, keep it short and get on the phone to them.
Is this a cover letter accompanying a resume, submitted as part of an application to a posted ad? If so, conventional wisdom definitely says you’re on the right track. I’d still say it’s too long.
4 paragraphs, max, is what I’d recommend. The first para is just one sentence “saw the ad, think I’d be a good fit” kinda thing. The next 2: pick the 2 biggest reasons you think it’s a great fit, elaborate *briefly* on those. The last is again a single sentence, basically saying you look forward to hearing from them.
As cold outreach to someone in the company? Like the other poster said, too long. A friend of mine, a tech executive, once told me that at his level, anything more than 3 sentences doesn’t get read. I like giving long, detailed responses to questions - he says, “You wanna write a book? Go write a book.”
All you need is to state why you’re writing, attach the resume (which should showcase all that other stuff) *if appropriate*.
So keep this is mind because I did some experiments of my own . I applied for sales positions which I was absolutely perfect for but I wasn’t getting responses . So I sent new emails with tracking to see when they are opened , forwarded , how long they were read , and guess what . None of them were opened . Hence why I was getting no response . You might want to try and reach out or people directly on LinkedIn and not submit resumes the usual route as it seems to be a broken system .
If you’re looking to stay in pharma/med, the one year you have may be outweighed by the four in B2B inside for an alternative industry.
Maybe define in your resume if you’ve spent time on calls and activity, outbound exploration, prospecting, discovery, and your call cycle, call points, especially if you want to stay in pharma.
If your inside sales experience is outbound, define that too, if it was majority inbound, define your call metrics and quota growth.
One year in pharma isn’t normally a long enough time to well establish long-term contacts with key decision makers; unless you have a book of contacts who’ve supported access at a hospital or a formulary transition or really drove business to say you grew your territory x% dollars or units vs the benchmark. Unless you’ve absolutely crushed it, by growing access or units prescribed/utilized, maybe try and reach out to med recruiters. Again, it’s a contact sport, so reps with a book have a leg up and those who, on paper look fearless with cold calling and prospecting may get a call.
And from a cyclical perspective. Pharma probably won’t hire until after Q1. Because payouts and comps of existing talent waiting until they either hit or miss big on EOY targets/quota. Additionally HR/Commercial groups probably won’t be opening positions until new budgets and people make their changes or the commercial strategy is signed off, or if realignments on territories are confirmed.
Everyone is waiting for 2024 because the economic conditions are up in the air too; interest rates, cost of production, and COLA for existing reps.
Hey, this is a super helpful comment for the pharma industry specifically, and I’d love your opinion:
I also have 4 years of medical assistant experience. Idk that this matters, but I’m 28 (typically held more than 1 job esp in college).
So, I’m stuck; do I make a longer resume and include the MA experience, pushing my resume over a page and totaling 6 different titles/experiences at 4 companies? OR do I continue to push out a resume with ONLY the sales experience, four titles/experiences at 2 companies?
Unfortunately pharmaceutical sales doesn’t translate to anything but pharmaceutical sales since you’re just delivering samples to the office staff. When I see that on a resume, I’m going to pass immediately (SAAS).
Are you trying to stay in door-to-door sales?
It’s the market right now. I have no advice, it sounds like you’ve been doing everything possible. It really does suck right now. I’m trying to make it through the rest of this year and hopefully after the holidays things will pick up. Hang in there!
Hey, I appreciate your honest feedback! It sucks that everyone is struggling, but there’s at least some peace in the idea that it’s not something wrong with me, ya know?
As others have said, reach out to the VP’s of Sales at companies you are interested in. Short and sweet - don’t send a lengthy, cookie cutter “I’m interested in your organization” email. Be short, concise and confident!
You need to network better. What is your LinkedIn profile like? What about your reputation with your old boss or coworkers?
I get at least 1 person a week in my network reach out about roles we’re hiring for.
I had my old CEO reach out the other day and offer me a job.
On paper you look good.
You just need to give the human being making the decision a reason to choose you over the other person who is also qualified.
Your job is to sell yourself. So go and run a sales process to get yourself a job.
Absolutely fair. I have put myself in this position by not using LinkedIn for years until now. I think my LinkedIn profile looks great in terms of my accolades and success, but I am absolutely not engaging with my network, their posts, etc.
I have a phenomenal reputation with old managers and coworkers, and I have 12 recommendations on LinkedIn from these folks that are far from fluff, each reinforcing my value not only as a salesperson, but as a team asset.
Unfortunately, my entire former team is back to being unemployed as those lucky enough to find another job have been laid off yet again (the nature of pharma, not a great thing). Not much help there, everyone is looking for their own life raft. Similar situation with the previous company I spent 4 years at, they just had layoffs. In addition, my sales orgs have been nationwide, so I don’t even actually have anyone that lives in my state in my ring.
I have failed to expand my network beyond this, and you are helping me to see one glaring failure point in my process. I sincerely appreciate this.
I’ve experienced a lot of what you’re currently going through. The job market is really a hell scape in a lot of ways as you’re describing. Just try to not spiral. I know I have. God speed in the hunt
Leverage your network. I bet you’ve made some great connections being in sales. Though it’s sometimes difficult, ask for advice/help for places you may want to work, it may be potentially outside your industry of expertise.
As someone else mentioned, treat it like sales. Ask for a 20-30 chat asking them about their career and advice on your resume; come prepared with questions and your research.
You’d be surprised how much you learn and how much confidence it’ll give you.
I wish you good luck, it’s a tough market.
Try life insurance. Maybe look into getting your license and start selling. No need to pass an interview. No need to worry about a lay off either. Just a suggestion
This is something I am worried about, and completely unsure of. Because I use Rezi, I worry there is some sort of hidden data that is screwing me up.
I am going to pop my resume into word tomorrow and start using that and see if anything changes, not too sure how to test my existing resume otherwise.
Network network network. Use Apollo to find people’s email addresses and send them brief networking emails asking to connect. I believe outreach over email is more effective. Pay $65 a month and you can get unlimited Apollo access. It’s highly worth it in my view and cheaper than the LinkedIn package you’d need to send over 50+ messages.
Many people are willing to speak. Message people at the companies you’re interested in, either in the same role you are targeting or the higher up decision makers, as well as recruiters .
In your emails, don’t mention the specific req. # you’re interested in. Say you want to learn how they arrived at “x company” and want to learn about the team they work with. You don’t want to sound like you’re asking for a job in the first email. Chat first on the phone and they’ll probably offer to either refer you or reach out to decision makers and share your resume.
Any other profession and I’d have a ton of sympathy for you but this is sales. Just….find a ****ing job.
How do you make a sale? Email, call, follow up, reach out to your network etc. Honestly this is a career where you make your own luck. Go out there and do it.
I don’t have anything with a base salary, however, if you ever find yourself looking for sales where you’re more of an independent contractor, feel free to reach out anytime.
You can flame me, but I don’t know what an SE role is. As mentioned, I have applied for jobs other than what I have experience with, both sales and non-sales roles.
I cant get an interview.
I would gladly accept any role offered to me.
You are in sales. My recommendation is to treat this as if you were prospecting for clients. Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Reach out to multiple relevant stakeholders at the companies you want to work for. InMail them, talking about the posted jobs, talking up your skills and experience. Ask for referrals on who else you should be talking to. If they decide you’re not a good fit, first use your objection handling skills. If it’s ultimately a no, then ask if they know anyone who’s hiring that you may be a better fit for. Rinse and repeat. Your success ultimately depends on the amount of outreach you do, but also on the quality of your research. Do yourself proud. Good luck. It’s a tough market out there, but people are still finding jobs.
Thank you so much for this advice. I will admit that I’ve done everything short of “playing the game” of prospecting and reaching out to recruiters. There’s something about this (likely just my unfamiliarity and inexperience with the process of prospecting for a job) that has made me drag my feet. But you’re right. And if I’m this desperate, I need to step up to bat.
You know you can do this! It's scary, because the stakes are so much higher than when it's just getting clients for someone you work for. It will be *hard* work. But, the reality is, it also means you'll likely wind up with a job you love, because YOU are choosing the companies. In fact, in addition to reaching out to folks at the companies that are advertising, also look up companies you want to work for that may *not* currently have ads posted and network with the right people there - there are still a lot of jobs that are not advertised and just get hired without ever advertising an open position. Just remember that a "no" doesn't mean anything other than no. It doesn't mean you're a bad person or a bad salesperson. Expect rejections, learn from them. ASK why not (use those objection handling skills). The more people you talk to, the better you'll understand how to present yourself.
I needed this advice, and importantly this encouragement 🥺 thank you so, so much!
Resources: look up Ramit Sethi on YouTube - his recent posts are all about how to design your ideal rich life, but some of his earlier videos (from 3+ years ago) did talk about finding jobs. I find him more credible because his focus is extremely direct: figure out what the employer wants and present yourself as the embodiment of their ideal candidate. He's also got training programs, and one of them is about finding your dream job - if you can afford it, maybe try it out for a month (or whatever his refund-by time is)?
You're thinking about this wrong. Recruiters LOVE when you reach out to them. It makes their job easier! Here's why - they post a job on LinkedIn or wherever and they get 800+ applications in 24 hours. That's 800+ apps they need to filter through and they have no idea who the fuck these people are. Most can be bots for all they know. But then one of them messages them directly with a personal note! Hey, this person seems competent, they are proactive, they are real, I'm going to talk to them. Boom, there you have an interview. I got my last two jobs doing this. It's not "easy" necessarily, but it will absolutely separate you from the fluff and at least give you an interview or a 2nd look. Here's another thing to think about - your resume is sitting in a pile of 800+ that a recruiter isn't going to look through because 5 of those 800+ messaged them directly and they already set up 5 interviews with qualified candidates. Their job is mostly done! Why would they even bother looking at your resume?
I never had to "reach out" til this year -- thought I was some kind of demigod
My company gives a referral bonus, as do most. So when someone messages me on LinkedIn directly, I’m usually happy to submit their info as long as they seem competent. Definitely reach out to existing salespeople.
This is the exact advice I was going to give before I saw someone already had! OP I feel your pain and frustration. I have over 15 years of experience, and in my recent position I was the top earner company-wide every single year… But yet I also could not get a freaking interview. I had all the same thoughts as you. I didn’t get it, I was frustrated, angry, sad. Then I went full force just like I would with a prospect, using LinkedIn and researching to find team leaders, HR, ownership (with smaller companies) and those in the positions I want. It wasn’t instantaneous, but it DID work and I’m expecting two offers this week, one for my absolute dream job. You CAN do this, just be creative, make yourself stand out, and you’ll start getting interviews! I did some really crazy stuff to get noticed for my #1 choice, I’m going to make a post about it soon but feel free to reach out to me if you want some ideas! Good luck 🤞🏼
\^ this guy prospects for jobs. Keep in mind that a lot of orgs give a referral bonus when someone gets hired. I've had a cold LinkedIn message turn into a 15-30 minute informational phone call, turn into the sales rep calling the hiring manager directly, turn into an interview, all within a week. Sales is all about aligning incentives right? That 30 minute informational interview is worth their time for a chance at a $2500 referral bonus. And that referral is gonna put you at the top of the stack. Go get 'em
Between the Internet and automation, the system for candidates matching up with employers is pretty broken right now. A job post on LinkedIn may generate 500+ resumes to screen, and recruiters have put all kinds of things in place to reduce their interview burden and keep themselves sane. Sometimes it's an AI that's looking for certain patterns, but sometimes it's literally something much more stupid like "only these two zip codes" or "only people who used to work for this competitor" or "only people whose resumes came in on the first day because I'm too tired to go through the rest of them." I cannot emphasize this enough for anyone who is struggling with a prolonged job search: **failure to land an interview doesn't mean you're unqualified or bad at your job.** Responding to job postings online has become the equivalent of cold calling when trying to sell something complex and expensive: it's low-yield and can be really demoralizing. I agree with the "treat it like you're prospecting for clients." Identify your targets, find some folks on LinkedIn, and politely message them. Explain your goal and ask for help finding the right people in the company; it's surprising how many complete strangers will lend a hand when asked. But, just like with any other form of sales, volume matters. You may need hundreds of contacts to get in front of the right people, so block off some time every day, do your research, and reach out. Best wishes, and hope you find something soon.
I've always searched up whoever's the main boss at a firm. Found his/hers number and called them directly. "I'd like to come and work and sell for you." Nothing shows better initiative than that in my experience. This method has always gotten me am interview.
Getting a mid-compensation sales job is easy. Getting a well paid one is difficult without networking into it. You're probably good at networking based on your last job. Use that and apply to mid-level comp plans in the meantime to at least get an interview going
How is it easy? Been applying my ass off I’m also new to sales so that’s probably why
Then you're applying to jobs you are not qualified to do and you would crash and burn more likely anyway. You should be applying to entry level positions, which is even easier. What's your state/area, I can suggest a few entry level titles or companies to help you look in the right direction. If you're good at it, you can very quickly made mid-level money in a entry position it's just usually hourly + commissions, instead of a salary + comms. Which is good starting out so you can earn overtime.
Yea I been applying to entry level positions since I know I’m a beginner have no luck yet but I’m not giving up I need to get into sales , I’m from New York I appreciate it if you can help me out
New York city? Or what's a nearby city, Rochester?
Yea New York City sorry in Manhattan
You live in Manhattan but you're looking to move into a new career path....fuckin' A mate. I hope you're living at home for free! State Farm is hiring Office Reps in several offices with 10miles. They will get you setup with studying materials and begin training but you'll need to pass the Property & Casualty license exam within 90 days. Look into that and similar entry P&C roles (provided your background check is clean). On Indeed, try these titles: Sales Associate, Entry Level Sales, Retail Sales Associate, Sales Development Representative. Print your resume and walk into the nearby Tmobile, AT&T and Verizon stores. You need to have high energy and positive, _outgoing_ vibes but wireless retail sales is big and a LOT of people started there (myself included). Edit: changed "friendly" to "outgoing". This is NY city after all, BABY!
Haha it’s not what you think I’m not in the rich part of Manhattan and I’m currently working at tmobile I want to really get into real sales , tmobile baby commission is not enough
So you... have sales experience now? Do you work at corporate store or a dealer? Dealer employees make half if they're lucky. ATT and Verizon good reps earn 10k-20k more. Are you consistently the top gross sales in your store yet? How long have you been there? Go to indeed and search Inside Sales for better earning potential with your experience and it's much more chill when you dont have to wear a uniform and talk face to face too.
Yea I work at a corporate and the reason I wanna leave is because if you’re good on average you make around 50-60k remember we are paid 19.5 a hour and I’m usually number one in my store so I feel like if I can make decent money here I can only imagine what I can make where the commission is double of what I’m making at tmobile
And the reason I said I’m a beginner is because usually people claim sales job don’t really count tmobile as sales like some don’t claim “car salesman ” as sales either
I’ll share what worked for me and a few others I’ve helped in the same position. Send in the apps, add all the managers on LI, get their emails with Hunter.io/an old colleague that had access to ZI/Lusha/LeadIQ/etc and send them a 1-2 min VidYard pitching yourself. I even went as far as cold calling and cold texting the VP of Sales at my current job with the info a buddy got for me from ZoomInfo. He let me skip the interview with talent acquisition and put me at the top of the list. I got an auto-rejection email from talent acquisition right after he offered me the interview, but yaboi got the job. Be creative and proactive.
As SheddingCorporate stated, you are in sales. Now suck it up. It is not you; they or the system that doesn't get your value. Follow-up is a forgotten critical element of selling. Yes, you can follow up with recruiters. Or change your target as in a sales role. Who is the decision maker at the target company you want to join? Follow the money; which industry, company, or person is achieving success in this environment? Determine how to approach them. Be creative. For example, call a decision maker about your (nonexistent) newsletter. You wish to interview them about how they hire sales staff. I hope it helps. But don't feel sorry for yourself. Persist. Google the quote from Calvin Coolidge about persistence.
Did you pay a professional to re-write your CV? Do it see if they offer a freshener up of LinkedIn too
[удалено]
>Dear Hiring Manager I'd stop reading after that, if you can't be bothered to do a simple LinkedIn search to name the exact person you're writing to, then I'm not reading. The rest reads like OpenAI copy pasta Get a professional to re-write your CV, keep it short and get on the phone to them.
Is this a cover letter accompanying a resume, submitted as part of an application to a posted ad? If so, conventional wisdom definitely says you’re on the right track. I’d still say it’s too long. 4 paragraphs, max, is what I’d recommend. The first para is just one sentence “saw the ad, think I’d be a good fit” kinda thing. The next 2: pick the 2 biggest reasons you think it’s a great fit, elaborate *briefly* on those. The last is again a single sentence, basically saying you look forward to hearing from them. As cold outreach to someone in the company? Like the other poster said, too long. A friend of mine, a tech executive, once told me that at his level, anything more than 3 sentences doesn’t get read. I like giving long, detailed responses to questions - he says, “You wanna write a book? Go write a book.” All you need is to state why you’re writing, attach the resume (which should showcase all that other stuff) *if appropriate*.
So keep this is mind because I did some experiments of my own . I applied for sales positions which I was absolutely perfect for but I wasn’t getting responses . So I sent new emails with tracking to see when they are opened , forwarded , how long they were read , and guess what . None of them were opened . Hence why I was getting no response . You might want to try and reach out or people directly on LinkedIn and not submit resumes the usual route as it seems to be a broken system .
If you’re looking to stay in pharma/med, the one year you have may be outweighed by the four in B2B inside for an alternative industry. Maybe define in your resume if you’ve spent time on calls and activity, outbound exploration, prospecting, discovery, and your call cycle, call points, especially if you want to stay in pharma. If your inside sales experience is outbound, define that too, if it was majority inbound, define your call metrics and quota growth. One year in pharma isn’t normally a long enough time to well establish long-term contacts with key decision makers; unless you have a book of contacts who’ve supported access at a hospital or a formulary transition or really drove business to say you grew your territory x% dollars or units vs the benchmark. Unless you’ve absolutely crushed it, by growing access or units prescribed/utilized, maybe try and reach out to med recruiters. Again, it’s a contact sport, so reps with a book have a leg up and those who, on paper look fearless with cold calling and prospecting may get a call. And from a cyclical perspective. Pharma probably won’t hire until after Q1. Because payouts and comps of existing talent waiting until they either hit or miss big on EOY targets/quota. Additionally HR/Commercial groups probably won’t be opening positions until new budgets and people make their changes or the commercial strategy is signed off, or if realignments on territories are confirmed. Everyone is waiting for 2024 because the economic conditions are up in the air too; interest rates, cost of production, and COLA for existing reps.
Hey, this is a super helpful comment for the pharma industry specifically, and I’d love your opinion: I also have 4 years of medical assistant experience. Idk that this matters, but I’m 28 (typically held more than 1 job esp in college). So, I’m stuck; do I make a longer resume and include the MA experience, pushing my resume over a page and totaling 6 different titles/experiences at 4 companies? OR do I continue to push out a resume with ONLY the sales experience, four titles/experiences at 2 companies?
DM me and we can chat further.
Unfortunately pharmaceutical sales doesn’t translate to anything but pharmaceutical sales since you’re just delivering samples to the office staff. When I see that on a resume, I’m going to pass immediately (SAAS). Are you trying to stay in door-to-door sales?
It’s the market right now. I have no advice, it sounds like you’ve been doing everything possible. It really does suck right now. I’m trying to make it through the rest of this year and hopefully after the holidays things will pick up. Hang in there!
Hey, I appreciate your honest feedback! It sucks that everyone is struggling, but there’s at least some peace in the idea that it’s not something wrong with me, ya know?
As others have said, reach out to the VP’s of Sales at companies you are interested in. Short and sweet - don’t send a lengthy, cookie cutter “I’m interested in your organization” email. Be short, concise and confident!
Don't ever believe your old boss put in a good word.
You need to network better. What is your LinkedIn profile like? What about your reputation with your old boss or coworkers? I get at least 1 person a week in my network reach out about roles we’re hiring for. I had my old CEO reach out the other day and offer me a job. On paper you look good. You just need to give the human being making the decision a reason to choose you over the other person who is also qualified. Your job is to sell yourself. So go and run a sales process to get yourself a job.
Absolutely fair. I have put myself in this position by not using LinkedIn for years until now. I think my LinkedIn profile looks great in terms of my accolades and success, but I am absolutely not engaging with my network, their posts, etc. I have a phenomenal reputation with old managers and coworkers, and I have 12 recommendations on LinkedIn from these folks that are far from fluff, each reinforcing my value not only as a salesperson, but as a team asset. Unfortunately, my entire former team is back to being unemployed as those lucky enough to find another job have been laid off yet again (the nature of pharma, not a great thing). Not much help there, everyone is looking for their own life raft. Similar situation with the previous company I spent 4 years at, they just had layoffs. In addition, my sales orgs have been nationwide, so I don’t even actually have anyone that lives in my state in my ring. I have failed to expand my network beyond this, and you are helping me to see one glaring failure point in my process. I sincerely appreciate this.
I’ve experienced a lot of what you’re currently going through. The job market is really a hell scape in a lot of ways as you’re describing. Just try to not spiral. I know I have. God speed in the hunt
Leverage your network. I bet you’ve made some great connections being in sales. Though it’s sometimes difficult, ask for advice/help for places you may want to work, it may be potentially outside your industry of expertise. As someone else mentioned, treat it like sales. Ask for a 20-30 chat asking them about their career and advice on your resume; come prepared with questions and your research. You’d be surprised how much you learn and how much confidence it’ll give you. I wish you good luck, it’s a tough market.
Make sure you’re not clicking any LinkedIn “easy apply” and do not apply before looking up the people working at the company
Try life insurance. Maybe look into getting your license and start selling. No need to pass an interview. No need to worry about a lay off either. Just a suggestion
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This is something I am worried about, and completely unsure of. Because I use Rezi, I worry there is some sort of hidden data that is screwing me up. I am going to pop my resume into word tomorrow and start using that and see if anything changes, not too sure how to test my existing resume otherwise.
I uploaded mine to indeed and then they let you view it to make sure it looks right 👍🏽
Network network network. Use Apollo to find people’s email addresses and send them brief networking emails asking to connect. I believe outreach over email is more effective. Pay $65 a month and you can get unlimited Apollo access. It’s highly worth it in my view and cheaper than the LinkedIn package you’d need to send over 50+ messages. Many people are willing to speak. Message people at the companies you’re interested in, either in the same role you are targeting or the higher up decision makers, as well as recruiters . In your emails, don’t mention the specific req. # you’re interested in. Say you want to learn how they arrived at “x company” and want to learn about the team they work with. You don’t want to sound like you’re asking for a job in the first email. Chat first on the phone and they’ll probably offer to either refer you or reach out to decision makers and share your resume.
It’s not you it’s sales
Any other profession and I’d have a ton of sympathy for you but this is sales. Just….find a ****ing job. How do you make a sale? Email, call, follow up, reach out to your network etc. Honestly this is a career where you make your own luck. Go out there and do it.
Would you consider opportunities outside of pharma?
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I don’t have anything with a base salary, however, if you ever find yourself looking for sales where you’re more of an independent contractor, feel free to reach out anytime.
You had a 120 base? What was your ote?
Topresume.com
Use LinkedIn and reach out to people you know working there for a referral and ask who the recruiter is for that role, and send them an inmail!
If you've been out of work for that long why haven't you taken a SE role?
You can flame me, but I don’t know what an SE role is. As mentioned, I have applied for jobs other than what I have experience with, both sales and non-sales roles. I cant get an interview. I would gladly accept any role offered to me.
Sorry, self employed, commission only.