Are pharmaceutical sales representatives happy?

At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, pharmaceutical sales representatives rate their career happiness 2.8 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 17% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy pharmaceutical sales representatives are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:

Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

• Salary: Are pharmaceutical sales representatives happy with their salary?
• Meaning: Do pharmaceutical sales representatives find their jobs meaningful?
• Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as pharmaceutical sales representatives?
• Work environment: How enjoyable are pharmaceutical sales representative’s work environments?
• Skills utilization: Are pharmaceutical sales representatives making the best use of their abilities?

Are pharmaceutical sales representatives happy with their salary?

Pharmaceutical sales representatives rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.6/5. The majority of pharmaceutical sales representatives are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.

Do pharmaceutical sales representatives find their jobs meaningful?

On average, pharmaceutical sales representatives rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.6/5. The majority of pharmaceutical sales representatives struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as pharmaceutical sales representatives?

Pharmaceutical sales representatives rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.7/5. The majority of pharmaceutical sales representatives find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

How enjoyable is a pharmaceutical sales representative’s work environment?

As a whole, pharmaceutical sales representatives rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.6/5. A solid majority of pharmaceutical sales representatives enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a pharmaceutical sales representative.

Are pharmaceutical sales representatives making the best use of their abilities?

Former pharmaceutical sales representatives on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.9/5. Pharmaceutical sales representatives tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.