This interview with LatPro.com will take you through the ups and downs you can expect as a regional manager, what it takes to land the job, what you can expect to earn and more.

With over eight years in the pharmaceutical industry, I have finally attained the position of regional manager. With this position comes a great deal of responsibility. This position requires that a regional manager be diligent to his or her duties, trustworthy to handle pharmaceutical samples, and patient with his or her sales representatives.

Being Hispanic, I am a minority in this industry. However, this has greatly improved my sales records, which helped me eventually attain the position of regional manager. Because I am bilingual, I have been able to better serve doctors that deal with Hispanic patients. At times, I have served as a translator for my doctors while doing preceptorship, which is when the pharmaceutical sales representative shadows the doctor for a day. Although there have been times where I have felt discriminated against, most of the time my bilingual skills, along with my relation to minorities, has created a positive atmosphere within my daily working environment.

The pharmaceutical industry is very competitive, and the position of regional manager is a job of numbers. In order for myself to be successful, my sales representatives must perform far above standard, which requires me to provide them with the skills to persuade doctors to prescribe my products. The pharmaceutical industry has gotten a bad reputation over the last few years concerning the honesty and salesmanship of its workers although we only employ educated and intelligent individuals who provide their doctors with the highest quality details within my company.

I find my job very satisfying and would rate it an eight out of ten. I enjoy working with others, a competitive environment, and the ability to set my own salary with a base and commission. I also enjoy the fact that I am helping others treat or even cure their disease state. This gives meet complete job satisfaction and is good for my heart as well. I believe this was my calling in life as my desire to help others while earning a comfortable living reigns supreme.

My accomplishments thus far have been nothing short of amazing as I led the company in sales for the last three years up until my promotion. My accomplishments, however, must be chalked up to sheer persistence and hard work. Also, the fact that I am bilingual has greatly helped me effectively communicate with some of my doctors.

I began my sales career early where I started in the rental car industry. I quickly gained experience managing others while also learning the sales industry as well. I rapidly moved up the ladder, and because of my sales ability, I was recruited into the pharmaceutical industry. From the get go, I realized that the pharmaceutical industry was nothing like the rental car industry and learned the hard lesson of rejection. This lesson would lead me to also learn the skill of consistent persistence. I never took no for an answer and would never change the roads taken in the past that have lead me to this industry.

One thing one may find about this industry is that other sales positions are constantly attempting to recruit you into their industry. This seemed strange to me at first because this was the only job I had ever been recruited for. The industry of sales, however,  is always looking for solid representatives. Interestingly, there are not many sales positions, even in the position of regional manager that pay over $150,000 per year.

Along with a six figure base salary and the ability to make commission, I enjoy going to work each day due to the fact that I’m changing people’s lives. When I, or my sales representatives, convince a doctor to prescribe my particular line of drugs, I know that their patients will receive the pain relief that they need. This makes my job very rewarding both intrinsically as well as extrinsically.

However, there are days when my job is very stressful although I never feel like quitting. Quitting is not an option for those of us who have learned the lessons of persistence and perseverance. Some stressful aspects of my job revolve around my own sales representatives and their performance. On a rare occasion, I will have a representative that performs below standard. This may be due to a number of factors, which is why I must drop whatever I am doing at that time to address these concerns. This may cause lost time with my family even on some of the most important dates.

Although there are very stressful times during my working life, I am afforded four weeks of vacation time per year. I rarely spend that much time away from my job because of the sheer enjoyment as well as the fact that I get paid for those days that I do not take. I believe four weeks of vacation per year is ample time for any job, especially in the pharmaceutical industry.

During my undergraduate degree, I would have never believed I would have been in the field of sales. The pharmaceutical industry, however, does not accept anyone with anything less than a four year degree. The potential employee does not have to have the degree in a specific area, but he or she must have a baccalaureate in some field. For my friends who want to enter the industry, I tell them the best way to gain entry is by having a successful track record within the sales industry. Starting in an entry level position such as a management trainee program that focuses on sales is a great way to get your feet wet.

Now that I have attained the position of regional manager, I will focus my time on moving into the administrative position as director of sales or marketing. That is my goal!

I have been busy updating the 10^th edition of my text book and thought I would share with you several print and video references that influence the Trends section  (Chapter 6) of The Career Fitness Program , Exercising Your Options:

1. The Economist (1-6-11) reviewed that fact based book on the Millenials:

Not Quite Adults: Why 20-Somethings Are Choosing  Slower Path to Adulthood, and Why It’s Good for Everyone. By Richard Settersten and Barbara Ray. Bantam; 272 pages; $15.

2. Go to http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/66796/joseph-s-nye-jr/the-future-of-american-power for excerpts from Joseph Nye’s (Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor )  new book. … Read more

 A new CA Career Café website has been launched.  This is a web-based resource for students, developed by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.  The CA Career Cafe is ready to share with students in counseling sessions and in counseling classes.

This website has a very user friendly visual layout. Many of the materials include links to careers centers at UCLA, UC Berkeley and Stanford.  Here is a brief overview:

Section 1: GET STARTED (http://www.cacareercafe.com/get-started/) to uncover who they are and where they want to be. Self assessments cover  the following areas:

• Identify your strengths, talents and passions.
• Define and match your personality to careers.
• Capitalize on your learning style.
• Focus on your goals.

Section 2:  GET A PATHWAY (http://www.cacareercafe.com/pathways/)  helps students to explore California’s 15 industry sectors.

Section 3:  GET EXPERIENCE (http://www.cacareercafe.com/get-experience/) is to practice and build workplace skills.  If they need to solve problems that get in the way, they can choose GET HELP (http://www.cacareercafe.com/get-help/). 

Section 4:  GET HIRED (http://www.cacareercafe.com/get-hired/) includes specific steps to find a job.

There are also HOT CAREER TIPS (http://www.cacareercafe.com/hot-tips/) to encourage students do little things to make a big difference (There are a total of short120 tips ) and COOL CONNECTIONS (http://www.cacareercafe.com/cool-connections/) to make helpful career contacts.

 I look forward to hearing what you think about this resource!

Have you heard about iStartStrong? It’s a new report, based on the Strong Interest Inventory® from Consulting Psychologist Press. The purpose of this assessment is to guide people into careers that best fits their personality and interests.

The 8-page iStartStrong report identifies one’s top two general themes with links to detailed definitions. And, it provides one’s top five specific interests along with the related areas of study, career fields, activities, and related occupations. The related occupations link directly to the O*Net Online Summary Reports.

Although the report appears to focus on students who are selecting their college major and future career, I also think it is beneficial to people at any stage of their career. I give this assessment and report a “Thumbs-Up.”

The cost for this assessment is $9.99. To purchase and administer this report, you need either a master’s degree in an appropriate area or completion of a Strong Interest Inventory® Certification program.

© 2010. Nancy Branton.

It’s Monday morning again! “How do you feel about going into work? Perhaps you’re having a hard time getting started. Write down right now 2-3 job duties that drag you down; you’d prefer to push them aside, and do them later in the day, or tomorrow…or never.”

This is a simple conversation that you can have as a career professional with any client. Many of our clients will present us with a story about a bad jobfit, which is often characterized with negative opinions about the job’s circumstances, such as lousy pay, a bad boss, a long commute, and so on.

But take some time to probe their story for more details about regular or frequent job duties.  Here’s a simple exercise you can use to bring more clarity into the situation.  Ask them, what are the 5-10 job duties that they are expected to perform each day or week as critical job requirements? Get them to identify which  job duties they enjoy and don’t enjoy.

Ask them if they can remember a time when they looked forward to Monday mornings, in their current job, or in another job.  If you have their resume handy, ask them to highlight  the critical job requirements that they enjoyed performing on a regular basis in their previous jobs.

Perhaps they procrastinate with starting or completing certain job duties.  Get them to identify the job duties in their current and previous jobs where they procrastinated.

Identify items (both positive and negative) that seem to recur in their performance evaluations, regardless of who does the assessment.

Make a list with two columns: one of job duties that energized them, duties that they enjoyed performing consistently; and, another column, of job duties that drain them, duties that they push aside or procrastinate on.

Then take their current job description and estimate how much time is spent each day or week performing job duties that drain them. If they are spending 40% or more of their time performing job duties that drain them, or duties that they chronically delay doing, they may be suffering from a job misfit in terms of their critical job requirements.

What is a good jobfit?

It may be helpful to remind your client that there is no such thing as a perfect job where one is 100% happy and satisfied all the time with their core job duties. The world is just not organized that way! However, many studies show that the key to career success is to limit the downside of a job to 40% of job duties.

The remaining 60% of job duties should be organized around your client’s natural strengths, especially how well their talents and motivations correlate with their core job duties. In general, if we spend about 60% of work hours in a jobfit, then our work will be challenging and will provide a sense of growth and fulfillment.

Try to correlate your client’s natural strengths with specific job duties. Help them develop a job description aligned with what makes them happy and productive in the workplace, so that they can operate 60% of the time in a mode that comes naturally and effortlessly to them. This 60/40 split will energize them. This is jobfit.

However, we may also need to remind them of the likelihood that many times this 60/40 ratio may slip to 40/60 or worse, in which case they may feel drained by brief periods of routine work. This is nothing to be alarmed about as long as the ratio returns to 60/40 in due course; if it doesn’t, they’ll need to take action.

In performing this simple exercise with your client, you may discover that they do, indeed, have a good jobfit. You can then turn your attention to the frustrating factors of their job circumstances. I will deal with those factors in my next article.

But if you and your client agree that there is a serious misalignment between their natural strengths and the critical requirements of their current job, you can then discuss opportunities for refashioning their current job into a better jobfit, or finding a better fit with their current employer, or identifying other careers/jobs that will recognize and reward them for the job duties that energize them.

At that point, an assessment may be in order, one that can match them to good jobfits–specific jobs in specific work settings with the right combination of extrinsic and intrinsic factors to bring out the best in them and reward you for their strengths. A good career assessment can provide such matches with clarity. The information may be valuable in terms of developing options with their current employer or with a new career target.

If how you feel about going to work on a Monday morning is an accurate “thermometer” for measuring your jobfit, then you can raise the temperature by helping your clients wake up excited about the coming day’s activities.

Although employers use ability assessments for employee selection, few career coaches offer ability assessments to their candidates. Below is information about four ability assessments which will raise your candidates’ awareness of their job related abilities.

1. Battery of ability assessments in Test Your Own Job Aptitude: Exploring Your Career Potential

In addition to exploring one’s personality, motivation, and interests, this handbook includes these short, paper-and-pencil ability assessments that measure the following areas:

• Verbal reasoning
• Numerical reasoning
• Perceptual reasoning
• Spatial ability
• Technical ability
• Acuity skills
• Analytical ability

After they complete the assessments, have them note their two highest scoring abilities and review typical occupations for their unique combination of abilities. (E.g., the verbal/numerical combination links to Commercial Managers, Senior Administrators, Insurance Agents and Head Teachers).

2. O*NET® Ability Profiler (AP)™

The AP helps candidates identify occupations that fit their abilities. The nine job related abilities measured are:

• Verbal Ability
• Arithmetic Reasoning
• Computation
• Spatial Ability
• Form Perception
• Clerical Perception
• Motor Coordination
• Finger Dexterity
• Manual Dexterity

Typically the AP is provided by workforce development professionals who have been trained to administer it. Ability results link to over 800 occupations in O*NET OnLine. Click here for further details on the administration of the AP.

3. The CALL: A Vocational and Life Purpose Guide

This Christian-based, online assessment measures 27 distinct dimensions and shows occupations that best match the candidates’ results. The six abilities are measured in this assessment are:

• Cognitive ability
• Learning Pace
• Verbal Skill
• Verbal Reasoning
• Numerical ability
• Numeric reasoning

Candidates may purchase this assessment at The Call http://www.thecallonline.com or take it through a coach who has completed The CALL assessment certification training. A detailed report is provided to the candidate which highlights occupations that best match their profile.

4. The Highlands Ability Battery

This online, three-hour battery of tests includes nineteen different work samples. It measures candidates’ natural strengths, along with personal style that cluster results into these four broad areas:

• Personal style, e.g., generalist, introvert
• Driving abilities, e.g., classification, idea productivity, spatial relations visualization;
• Specialized abilities (design memory, verbal memory, number memory, visual speed, etc.
• Vocabulary

A 30-page report is generated from the battery of tests. A trained facilitator interprets the candidates’ results and guides them into careers that best fit their natural strengths. A list of affiliates who are trained to administer this assessment can be found at Follow Your Calling.

Since people’s abilities influence their career success, it is wise for career coaches to incorporate ability assessments as part of the overall career assessment process for candidates. If you know of other good ability assessments, I invite you to share them.

Copyright 2010. Nancy Branton.

As career professionals, we know that the number one reason an employee leaves a job is because of a bad relationship with their immediate supervisor.  This story comes in many shapes and forms.  Undoubtedly, there are bad bosses out there.  And, some workplaces are structurally dysfunctional.

But each relationship is a two-way street, and most relationships break down due to poor communications which, in itself, is often a symptom of deeply rooted misunderstandings about what truly motivates us.

Old  School

For example, if a particular manager has a directorial management style, they might conflict with an employee who functions best with ‘hands-off’ style management.  The manager prefers to get the work done through the efforts of others–subordinates, assistants, associates– in the manner they, as the boss, determine is correct, appropriate, or effective.  This is often referred to as an “old school” management style, or the familiar “command-and control” management style adopted from the military, from which, of course, many post-WWII managers were sourced.  The employee, on the other hand, operates best under a manager who allows them to exercise independent control over their specific area of responsibility.  They prefer a manager who lays out the goals and objectives for a project, then leaves them to get the desired result in their own way.  The manager’s preferred style clashes directly with the employees preference for being managed!  This is a recipe for workplace conflict.

Unless both manager and employee have a vocabulary for communicating how they best function and what kind of situations motivate them, their attempts to communicate can quickly deteriorate into negative interactions, involving resentments, misunderstandings, petty squabbles, accusations, silent resistance, passive aggressive behavior, harrassment, discrimination, and other common forms of unproductive workplace behaviors.

As professional career guides, we can help our clients navigate the choppy waters of on-the-job relations by helping them focus on how they work best as managers or employees.  The key to doing so is to help them step out of the volatile on-the-job circumstances, and tell stories about enjoyable projects at home or in the community.

How do they manage projects outside of work?

When listening to your client stories, listen to managers describe situations outside of work where they took responsibility for accomplishing a goal or getting something done by actively managing the efforts of others, such as in volunteer projects through a social service club, a sports team, a church or synagogue, or a professional association.  Do they actually step into such situations outside of work?

If they do, they may have a natural managerial talent that they enjoy using. Are they equally “old school” in those situations?   Or, do they adopt a different style of managing, perhaps as a team captain, where they act as an example to a team or put the team into action?  Or, do they take on more of a coordinator role, where their interactions with subordinates is participatory rather than authoratative in nature?  Or, do they tend to act and speak in a forthright manner as a leader causing others to follow them, or their cause, program, or mission?  Or, are they adept at determining what sort of work people are suited for, and encourage them, and how their abilities can best be used in that situation?

Some managers feel obliged to operate in a certain managerial style due to the corporate culture in which they work, but will gravitate to their more natural style during times when they are doing something they truly enjoy outside of work.

How do they prefer to be managed?

Similarly, employees can learn what kind of management sttyle they prefer by paying attention to the way they are managed in activities outside of their 9-5 job.  Some individuals prefer continuous support from someone who touches bases frequently and offers directions and advice as needed.  Others prefer oversight from someone who provides direction and support only at key points of a project, usually when a critical decision needs to be made.  I know that I prefer a manager who provides me with direction and support at the outset of a new assignment or responsibility, then leaves me pretty much alone to carry it out.  Some people are truly independent and thrive without any managerial direction.  Still others function best with a manager who treats them as an equal, who works with them as though they were involved in a “collaborative effort (from co-labor).

Vocabulary for harmony

The next step is to help them build a vocabulary from those positive experiences that will assist them to communicate to their colleagues how they best work, in order to mitigate the often destructive misunderstandings that arise when people do not know how they best operate with their natural talents and motivations.  This kind of informed communication is a key element for resolving many workplace disputes.

Based on two North American studies, it is clear that many executives are still opting to follow templates rather than creating a distinctive, strategic resume. Historically, professionals have been told to list their career history in a chronological format, presenting their career progression in reverse sequential order. Functional resumes, on the other hand, have been used to disguise career issues by categorizing the career history under competency headings. There are other strategic options. Executives rarely choose to implement those.

As a leader and innovator in the Canadian resume writing industry, Graham Management Group (GMG) actively keeps a finger on the pulse of the market. In the largest research study of its kind, we evaluated 1000 randomly selected resumes that we received in 2009. These resumes were sent to us from senior executives, managers, and other six-figure professionals across Canada. The survey found that 25% of resumes were structured in a format that did not position the candidate most effectively. Practitioners often debate which format to use: chronological or functional. However, typically, many completely ignore a third option – a strategic combination resume format that may be a hybrid of the two.

There is a strong argument for applying a reverse chronological strategy whenever possible. A survey recently conducted by an independent research firm on behalf of Accountemps suggests that hiring managers veer away from functional resumes. 150 senior executives from 1000 of the largest North American companies were asked if they prefer a chronological resume versus one organized by job functions and skills. 75% of the respondents interviewed said they prefer the chronological format. Only 17% indicated that they prefer functional and 8% had no preference.

Hiring managers dislike functional resumes because the skills and relevant accomplishments are separated from the employment history. This makes the resume difficult to follow, as the reader cannot connect the candidate’s accomplishments with the position they held at the time.

Career Professionals of Canada, the national Canadian association administering the Certified Resume Strategist Credential, suggests that “while it is true that recruiters prefer the reverse chronological resume, there are occasions that call for other formats. Whenever possible, give preference to the reverse chronological format to keep the individual‘s responsibilities and accomplishments under the respective job titles. If you must, use a hybrid combination of functional and reverse chronological that will strategically minimize your client’s obstacles while meeting the employer’s needs.”

Based on the research, it may be best to avoid the functional or skill-based format. Since most recruiters prefer resumes to be formatted in a reverse chronological format, unless there is a major career barrier to address, there is no reason to veer from this strategy.

In many circumstances, a hybrid combination of functional and reverse chronological will strategically minimize obstacles and meet the prospective employer’s needs. If the candidate is attempting to transition into a new industry or role, or is addressing a major career lapse such as a lengthy sabbatical or career gap, then such a strategic option should be considered. Whichever format you choose, ensure that you mitigate all career barriers and present a compelling and readable story to draw in the hiring manager.

Sharon Graham is Canada’s Career Strategist. You can download the groundbreaking research report from Graham Management Group here >> Research Study: How Does Your Resume Compare?

Often, my clients say, I don’t like my current job and I want to find more enjoyable work.” It’s important for coaches to assist their clients in disentangling work activities that are intrinsically motivating to perform from those that are not.  Mihaly Csiksaentmihalyi’s concept of “flow” is a great one to introduce to your clients. Also, have your clients take one of these two assessments to discover skills they’re motivated to perform: 1) Knowdell™ Motivated Skills Card Sort, and 2) SkillScan™ Career Driver.

Coaching on Flow
Mihaly Csiksaentmihalyi, author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, conducted research on people and discovered that flow—enjoying what you’re doing and losing track of time—occurs when both the skills and challenge are high. Use some or all of the following questions with your clients to help them uncover work activities they most enjoy and the types of challenging situations they want to use them for.

• Think about a time when you were totally absorbed in what you were doing at work (or in life) and lost track of time? What were you doing? What was challenging about this activity and/or situation?
• When else can you remember being absorbed and losing track of time? (Ask this question several times to pull out various experiences.)
• What common threads do you see in these experiences?
• How could you have more of these experiences?
• What work roles include these activities?
• Where in your current company could you perform these activities?
• Where else you could you perform these activities and experience this same challenge?
• What’s your key takeaway about flow?

Knowdell™ Motivated Skills Card Sort

This is one of several card sorts developed by Dick Knowdell. You can order this inexpensive deck of cards and accompanying worksheets at Career Trainer. Or, you can order and administer this assessment online. Each card lists one activity with a brief definition, e.g., “Conceptualize: Conceive and Internally Develop Concepts and Ideas.” Cards are sorted based on two variables: 1) level of enjoyment, and 2) level of skill. The five levels of enjoyment range from ‘Totally Delight in Using’ to ‘Strongly Dislike Using.’ And, the three degrees of skill range from ‘Highly Proficient’ to ‘Lack Desired Skill Level.’

After your clients have finished sorting the cards, ask them to record their results on a “Motivated Skills Worksheet.” Next, ask them to review their motivated skills—highly proficient in and totally delight in using; burnout skills—highly proficient in and strongly dislike using; and skills to develop—possess little or no skill and totally delight in using their burnout skills. Then, use some or all of the following coaching questions to heighten your clients’ self-awareness about their skills:

• How frequently are you using these motivated skills at work? How could you increase your opportunity to use them?
• How frequently are you using these burnout skills at work? How could you decrease your use of them?
• How could develop the skills you enjoy using but aren’t skilled in? How else?
• What’s your most empowering insight from this card sort?

Note: Watch for Part II of this article during the week of May 24, 2010.

Copyright 2010. Nancy Branton

As career professionals, we spend a great deal of time listening to client stories.  Mining these stories for value can improve our delivery of services.

For example, what does it mean when a client says, “I am a people person”? (You may have used the same phrase; after all, we work in a helping profession!)  However, this is a general and vague statement until we probe more deeply to determine its real meaning.

Try getting your clients to tell some stories not related to work.  Ask them to talk about times in their lives when they are doing what they enjoy most and doing it well.  Individuals will often gravitate to what they most enjoy when they are free to do so, especially during their discretionary time.

Remember, it’s not what they CAN do; we all acquire competence with skills through training or experience.  A natural strength, as opposed to a can-do skill, is something we do effortlessly; something that energizes us; and something that gives us innate satisfaction–in short, when we do it, we make it look easy; when we use it, we are often in a state of flow.

As they focus on those events and activities, listen actively. By doing so, we learn more about our clients, their priorities and preferences.  This can help us better position and package a client’s value proposition, or better coach them to reach their career goals.

Subject Matter

When a client says they are a people person, are they commenting on a preferred subject matter? That is, are they telling us something important about what they enjoy working with and through on a daily basis?

Listen for specific clues to the configuration of their fascination with people. Do they prefer working with individuals one-on-one? Or, working with or among teams?  Or, are they interested in broader groups of people, such as people of a particular culture or religion? populations with particular needs or interests? Or, are they interested in the traditions, beliefs, languages, and habits of other cultures? Or, are they people watchers, fascinated by human behavior, by what “makes people tick,” by the way people think or feel, and the psychology behind what causes people to say or do something?

Try drilling down into the I-am-a-people-person statement with a few specific questions :  How did you get involved with that? What did you do exactly on your own (or as part of a team)?  What was particularly enjoyable or consistently satisfying about that?  Listen carefully for clues that reveal their natural inclinations, strengths, preferences.

Natural talents

Perhaps it is not people as a subject matter that motivates them; instead, they have a natural helping talent–they enjoy tutoring individuals; or, helping others complete their goals or projects; or,  giving advice to others; or, reassuring and supporting others.  Do they have a knack for stepping into situations where they see shortages to fill or needs to be met? Do they actively seek out situations to be useful or helpful (if not indispensable) as they step in and aid others with assistance, guidance, support or tangible resources–not as a job requirement but in their own time because it energizes them.  This helping talent could be leveraged into certain helping professions, or highlighted in their resume and value proposition.

Perhaps they are using an intuitive talent that is only triggered by contact with people. For example, they might have a knack for discerning people’s character quickly and accurately, and usually read people accurately, or are rarely fooled by anyone.  Again, this could have a bearing on the kind of work they are suited to do (e.g. credit loan officer, immigration official, police detective, recruiter, counselor, probation officer), or the job skills that should be highlighted in their resume or brand.

Conclusion

You may find a reservoir of revelations behind the simple statement: I am a people person.  By using the skills we already have for listening, questioning, analyzing, and synthesizing, we can better position, package and coach our clients for success.  They are more likely to succeed if they are motivated, and they are more likely to be motivated when aligning their key success factors with a job that will recognize and reward them for what comes naturally and easily to them.  Each successful client is our best source of new and growing business.

In my next Blog, I will look at what is revealed through personal stories in terms of  Relationship Building and how that correlates with job choices and job search strategies.