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It's no surprise that in 2007, CNN/Money selected pharmaceutical sales as one of the Top 20 Best Jobs in America. A sobering fact of life is that disease and old age are inevitable. No matter what the state of the economy, people will always need medicines to cure them and appropriate drugs to maintain their health.

Breaking into pharmaceutical sales is no easy feat, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. A few years ago I got a call from a young woman who wanted us to find her a job in pharmaceutical sales. She was a recent college graduate with no sales experience, but, by the time I put down the receiver I knew that she would succeed. Why? Four things: An extraordinary drive An unshakable self-confidence A willingness to listen to everything I told her A resolve to take action

For three months she walked into doctors offices and requested the business cards of reps that left them behind. She also went to hospitals and talked to reps working their daily beats. She impressed one sales rep so much that he told his manager about this young woman with incredible drive. The company called her in for an interview and subsequently offered her a job. When everyone told her it couldn't be done, she proved them wrong.

I recently wrote a book How to Break Into Pharmaceutical Sales - A Headhunter's Strategy that I hope will give job-seekers an upper-hand over the competition. Here's a crash course on how to get a job as a pharmaceutical sales rep:

o Step One: Set a goal for finding a position in pharmaceutical sales and write it down. Just the act of writing down your goals generates alchemy that will help you in the job hunt.

o Step Two: Write your resume and compile your brag book. Recruiters and pharmaceutical companies spend only seconds (literally) looking at resumes, so it's your job to be short and sweet. I have done interviews with hundreds of district managers who all agree that there is just one basic format that works best for landing a pharmaceutical sales job. Go to this link and copy the format exactly. The brag book is generally a three-ring binder filled with documents like diplomas, letters, stack rankings and emails that support the information in your resume.

o Step Three: Research. People either succeed or fail based on the amount of research and preparation done before the actual interview. Start with the internet. Go on a "ride-along" with a pharmaceutical sales representative. Call the customer service department and ask general questions about the company.

o Step Four: Network. This is a must for anyone looking to break in. In order to get those key interviews, you've got to muster a little creativity and fearlessness.

o Step Five: The Phone Interview. Treat the phone interview like a regular interview because it is. Stand up and walk around when you are talking on the phone. Wear a suit. Ask the same questions you would ask in an in-person interview and don't forget to smile!

o Step Six: The In-Person Interview. One of my friends and a former district manager for Johnson & Johnson tells me he decides within the first two or three minutes whether or not to hire a candidate. Every second counts. Be prepared for the most obvious and usually first question: "Why do you want to get into pharmaceutical sales?" For more examples of frequently used interview questions, .

o Step Seven: Close the Interview. All of the research and preparation you have done up to this point is null and void if you ignore or gloss over 'the close.' You simply MUST close. Not closing the interviewer is like presenting flowers to your spouse and forgetting to say 'Happy Anniversary.'

o Step Eight: Creative Follow-up. Leave a handwritten note thanking your interviewer with the receptionist before getting into your car. After you get home, send the interviewer an email. Leave a voicemail if you feel it's appropriate--but make it brief and don't ask for or expect a return phone call.

All of the above steps are outlined in more detail in my new book and a complete list of interview questions and a sample resume are available at .

Good luck with your job search. I'll leave you with one of my favorite calls to action:

"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."

-Goethe

Tom Ruff is President and CEO of Tom Ruff Company and author of "How to Break into Pharmaceutical Sales: A Headhunter’s Strategy." Tom Ruff Company is the preferred recruiter for over 100 of the nation’s top pharmaceutical companies, including Abbott Laboratories, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson.