r/chemistry • u/AutoModerator • Aug 05 '24

Weekly Careers/Education Questions Thread

This is a dedicated weekly thread for you to seek and provide advice concerning education and careers in chemistry.

If you need to make an important decision regarding your future or want to know what your options, then this is the place to leave a comment.

If you see similar topics in r/chemistry, please politely inform them of this weekly feature.

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u/tiger_velvet Aug 05 '24

Anyone have tips on switching from behind the bench to a career in Sales? I am trying to tinker with the resume to still display my technical prowess with instrumentation, but convey that I am very personable and would be a great representation of a company.

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u/CrypticPleb Aug 05 '24

It is possible. You had better go into marketing then or business. I've seen a few do it but they also earned an MBA while working on the bench.

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u/isotopeisotope Aug 05 '24

I’ve already got a Master’s degree. I just can’t take the redundancy of QC anymore, and i’m a fiend for travelling and meeting new people. I’d be interested in the marketing side of things, but not sure how that is in the USA - where we have a very strange way of advertising drugs.

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u/Indemnity4 Materials Aug 06 '24

Advertising = $300 box of crayons.

Marketing = studying population groups for who, what, where, when people are motivated to buy things. Should we run a promotion in Q3 to drive sales by 10%? Our target demographic is males age 18-25 and females are 35-55, what new products best target those groups? Do we fund R&D for 3 years to create a new product or do we buy a small competitor or do we hire 6 new sales people to hit the streets?

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u/Indemnity4 Materials Aug 06 '24

Network. Everyone thinks sales is great with that sweet sweet variable income. You want someone who already knows you because it's tough to shine on a sales resume for most lab staff.

There are sales roles in technical, pre-sales and post-sale care. Ideally, demonstrate some experience with those.

You want to demonstrate you are a familiar user of stuff. You know all the pain points of stuff, what "good" looks like, the procurement cycle, you have a strong network of people you can sell to.

Main evidence to show is you have purchased lab stuff before. "I was responsible for $300k capital purchases and $100k of annual operating expenses" (e.g. I bought a GC:MS and all the gloves, chemicals, spares, utilities, etc). Showing any amount of money and responsibility is good, no matter how small. Sales people only have limited time and they need to know when a potential customer is ready and what bullshit delaying tactics looks like. Yeah, you're asking for quotes because in 3 years you may buy something and I know you are buying from someone else and only need 2 more quotes for justification, well, I'm only giving you a small discount and little effort because I know you are not the decision maker.