One thing that is always unfortunate to see during pharmaceutical sales interviews with candidates is just how nervous many of them are. Although being nervous is very common among many job seekers during any job interview situation, it is a definite liability when interviewing for pharmaceutical sales positions or any type of sales job for that matter.

As a former hiring sales manager in the pharmaceutical industry, I along with my other sales manager colleagues used interviews to predict whether candidates would be able to do the sales job in a real customer situation. The interviews would be the best device we have to assess a candidate's suitability for a sales position.

If a candidate is nervous in front of us, many sales managers unfortunately would think that the person being interviewed would also be nervous in front of actual customers. As sales managers, we want confident individuals in our sales forces, not those who would be anxious during sales calls with our customers. Nervous candidates would probably not progress much past first interviews.

If you tend to get nervous during job interviews, it is highly recommended that you find ways to get rid of this nervousness. One must display a certain level of confidence in order to come across as a top candidate for a pharmaceutical sales position. Being nervous would just become too distractive for both a sales representative and the customer during a real sales call.

Practicing interviewing with friends would be a great way to start in gaining comfort during interviews. Then move on to informal networking with people you meet in the industry such as working pharmaceutical sales reps. It gives you experience in interacting with pharmaceutical professionals without being in a job interview situation. Recruiting agencies or headhunters can also be good outlets to rehearse your interviews.

Another great way to help get rid of nervous habits is to get more experience speaking in front of people. Participating at your local Toastmasters club which develops public speaking skills in a friendly group atmosphere would do wonders for improving self confidence in front of people.

Just remember, even though one might have good qualifications on paper, if one shows any nervousness in an interview situation, then one really isn't ready for pharmaceutical sales or other types of sales positions. Work on getting comfortable first before pursuing a sales career.