Take Charge Of Your Pharma Career — It's Your Choice

By Philip Carrigan, representative director, Morunda Japan

About a year ago, I met Watanabe-san (not his real name), a confident, optimistic, 43-year-old marketing manager. He worked in oncology marketing for a well-respected US pharmaceutical company. His job involved writing strategic marketing plans, developing direct-to-consumer (DTC) campaigns, and coordinating marketing events in cooperation with other departments and a global team. He was on the cusp of achieving great things.

We sat in our office, and he spoke enthusiastically about his achievements. When asked about the future, he said he couldn’t imagine working anywhere else.  However, he confided that he was worried whether he could provide sufficiently for his family and his aging parents.

I explained that most people are optimistic about the future of their company but that we need to plan for change. Our past careers are a mix of good and bad. It is human nature to overestimate the brightness of our futures. I asked him to write down his thoughts about the past 10 months. What did he feel good about? What were the things he was not so thrilled about?  He wrote down the following list:

The months rolled by and we sent Watanabe-san e-mails from time to time with market information, career guidance, and recruiting information on oncology marketing roles that matched his career; we even gave him a few calls. We didn’t hear back from Watanabe-san, and that’s OK by us — it’s our job to provide great information, and what people do with the information is up to them.

After some months, one position grabbed his attention. He wrote, “Philip, this position looks really interesting. Tell me more. Let’s speak on the phone.” We described the position in detail, and when he said he’d be interested, we presented his resume along with four others to our client. Watanabe was interviewed and eventually hired, with a 14 percent increase in salary and the opportunity to launch an exciting new product.

We kept in touch, and after about six months we caught up.  Watanabe told me, “It’s hard to imagine how something so small (our 30-minute meeting) could help with something so important [his career].”

I asked, “What was the turning point?”

He said, “I don’t know exactly, but I do know that I needed to break free from past expectations, to bust out of my comfort zone and become OK with the unfamiliar.”

Once Watanabe-san took charge of his career, he was able to judge opportunities on their merits and to determine if they aligned with his goals.

We all have free choice. The number of choices and the quality of choices that we have are based on the quality and quantity of information available to us. One of the most important things I have learned through recruiting in the past 15 years is that life is all about choices.

At every juncture in life, we make a choice, and it is those choices that shape our lives. Your career never really happens by chance; it happens by choice — your choice. A great career belongs to those who prepare and gather the right information today.

It is easy sometimes to think not much has changed in our lives. This is not the case, and we know this by reflecting on what has changed over the past 10 months. Life is a mix of the good and the bad, but change is always with us.