Pharmaceutical Sales Mock Interview
Practice 40 Pharmaceutical Sales interview questions covering territory management, clinical knowledge, and relationship building.
Question 28 of 40
Describe a difficult work situation you have faced during your career. What you learned from it that you can bring forward here as a pharmaceutical sales representative?
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Pharmaceutical sales reps face challenges daily on the job. These challenges can include small-scale hiccups like physicians canceling appointments at the last minute and an extra long work day to large-scale challenges like over-aggressive sales goals and maintaining a positive work-life balance in a strenuous job. Your interviewer will expect that their top candidate will come to their company with the mental toughness to overcome any challenges, so they give you a chance to discuss your greatest work challenge you had to overcome.
Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.
"I would have to say that one of the biggest challenges I have faced during my career was early in my career in sales and learning how to balance a huge sales call schedule with success. I really struggled for a year, working over 80 hours per week, spending most weekends following up with administrative tasks. Once I got close to a breaking point, I reached out to my manager to see if I could do some additional shadowing with more experienced reps. In just a few weeks, I learned so much about being efficient with my call schedule and ensuring that my road time was using time wisely. Within about six months, I was back to a normal work schedule and achieving the same high sales results. If I'm fortunate enough to join your team, I'm confident that these organizational skills will help me right from the start as a pharmaceutical sales rep."
Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.
As you think about this prior to your pharmaceutical sales interview, remember that the important part of answering will be telling the interviewer what you learned from the situation. Some great things to discuss are your ability to be resourceful in the face of a challenge and your willingness to seek guidance from your superiors. In the end, make sure to highlight what you learned from the situation that you will bring with you to this job.
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Anonymous Answer
Everyone has a bad day and sometimes a co-worker can become confrontational. I had a co-worker who became very upset about a scheduling conflict at school. I talked with her after school so that we both had an understanding of each other's point of view and so that we could reach a compromise that was fair to both of us and the students. Talking something out is always the best approach.
Amanda's Feedback
You've done well using an applicable example. Consider sharing more about what you learned about the value of compromise, listening to another's point of view, or adapting to changing needs as these are all skills needed when it comes to selling pharmaceutical products.
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