Healthy Skepticism Library item: 13222

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

Immen W.
Wanted: one contract at a time
The Globe and Mail 2008 Mar 19
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080319.CAPROJECT19/TPStory//?pageRequested=3

Full text:

SAMANTHA GEEN, 50,

Burlington, Ont.

Position: Pharmaceutical detailer

Working on contract since: 1998

LAST FULL-TIME JOB

Sales rep for medical equipment company J.W. Westman Inc.

REASON FOR THE SWITCH

She wanted to escape the hidebound corporate world. “I found companies didn’t want people on staff to be creative. They want you to walk and talk like the other people in the organization.”

HOW SHE DOES IT

Through Pro Pharma Contract Selling Services, Ms. Geen is assigned on one-year contracts as a pharmaceutical products detailer – somebody who pitches drugs to doctors. To see doctors quickly, she will take a coffee cart loaded with homemade cookies: “That makes me the friend of the receptionist and gets me in the door immediately.”

ADVANTAGES

She loves the variety: Each contract is with a new employer with different products to represent. She finds clients more willing to hear her presentations now than when she was selling the same things year after year. “And if I’m efficient and finish my calls early, I can take the rest of the day off, rather than having to check in with the office.” There’s also a financial advantage: More of what she makes stays in her pocket. “Even with the taxes you have to pay as a small business, it’s nothing compared to what taxes as an employee take out of your paycheque.”

DRAWBACKS

Uncertainty; you could be left without income if you can’t get a new contract immediately after the previous contract runs out, she says. And there is no safety net. As an independent contractor, a lost day because of weather or illness means you don’t make anything for the day.

ADVICE

“Being a contractor lets you break free of the corporate mould, so be creative and develop a style that is uniquely yours.”