A CASE STUDY: THE SUCCESSFUL CAREER CHANGE FOR A DOCTOR

By Ms. Jean Zhang, Researcher, Onpress Beijing

Ms. Zhang is a medical graduate and has worked as a physician in Beijing and in the marketing field in the pharmaceutical business.

Julia is employed by a substantial multinational company in the pharmaceutical industry. She is the Beijing Area Sales Manager, managing a number of Sales Representatives and the promotion of the Company’s products to the hospitals.  For the past three consecutive years, her annual sales volume had been the top one in the Company.  Both her boss and colleagues have admired her for her outstanding performance.

Three years ago, Julia was working in a Beijing hospital as a physician; the work, though very satisfying, was tough and she had to take on a lot of responsibilities. She was somewhat perplexed about her career: whether to give up the physician’s job, which she loved, or take the plunge to become a sales representative in a multinational company.   Somehow, she met a professional consultant and recruiter, who were able to advise Julia on a successful career change.  And this is her story!

The consultant asked Julia a lot of questions! First of all, what’s Julia’s educational background and working experience in details; knowing that Julia was a diligent, progress-oriented person with good communication and people skills, and had worked for over 3 years as a young doctor. Then the consultant probed Julia further on her expectations of the future: the sacrifice between a professional life as a doctor and a commercial one. What about the future employer and its profile if indeed Julia wishes to pursue a commercial career?  At this point, the consultant was told that Julia had been approached by a multinational company, with a clear commitment and substantial investment in the Chinese market, to become their Sales Representative in Beijing.

From the talks with Julia, the consultant had concluded that Julia was a young lady who was open, good at dealing with people, diligent, business-oriented and was ready to face the many difficulties and challenges within a corporate environment.  Julia was therefore suitable in a sales function, because in this function, you need to be good in dealing with people and be able “to think on your feet”. Given her 3-year experience in the hospital, it would help her tremendously with the pharmaceutical products quickly; she can also handle the different attitudes from the doctors well. So, the consultant encouraged Julia to face these challenges directly, confirmed the position of sales representative, and developed herself in the commercial world.

Having worked in this multinational pharmaceutical company for 3 years, Julia proved that she had made the correct decision in the beginning. If and when you’re faced with a decision for a career development, you should get professional advice from a reputable organization, such that your strengths, weaknesses, skills and other core competencies, as well as your personality traits can be evaluated critically and professionally.

Onpress International aims to providing professional career planning for the various level of management in many industries. We will, and can, help you find the most appropriate and suitable career path.