The pharmaceuticals industry is one of the leading manufacturing sectors in Britain, generating an annual trade surplus of around ?4.3 billion; it is also a major employer with approximately 73,000 people employed directly. The majority of British medical research is still supported by the pharmaceutical industry and as about half of all major medicines sold in the United Kingdom are actually developed within the country itself, the need for employees is a constant one.

Those employed in the pharmaceutical industry fulfil a variety of positions from scientists to researchers and marketers to human resources. If you want to pursue a career in medicine but don't think you have relevant experience then take a second look, as people from all professions have skills that can be transferred into pharmaceutical positions.

The typical journey from the development of a medicine, to making it available for consumer consumption is a varied one that requires the skills and expertise of many different workers.

First of all the pharmaceutical company will decide upon which illness or illnesses they wish to target. Once this is decided, research teams will start work on the drug discovery phase; the main purpose of which is to identify potential compounds that could be used. Clinical trails help greatly with compound development, and it is after this stage that production and manufacturing begin.

Once a new medicine has been successfully created and developed, a different team of employees will then carry out their part, helping to design and implement all related production requirements. This of course needs to be done in a cost-effective manner and on a large scale; therefore, project management skills help greatly here.

Before a pharmaceuticals company can place a new medicine on the market there are various registration and regulatory requirements that need to be adhered to; and input is needed from several employees in order to make this happen.

Now that the medicine has been developed and patented an packaged up and ready to go, sales and marketing staff are required to ensure the relevant medical professionals are informed of the new product. It goes without saying that good communication skills go a long way here and those from non-medical sales or marketing backgrounds should still be able to shift their skills across to the pharmaceutical industry.

As with all businesses, information technology is needed to support various functions and the pharmaceuticals industry is no different. Human resources is another one of the core that supports the ?people? side of the business, dealing with everything from training and development to salary reviews and overall employee relations.

Therefore, whatever your skills and background there may well be a job in the pharmaceuticals industry for you. And before you know it, you could be making your mark in medicine in no time.