Some of the easiest interviews are with candidates who turn out to be wrong for the job. They're warm, confident and quick. Within minutes you've decided, and you spend the rest of the hour confirming it.
The rep you hire is someone you'll manage for years. Few decisions shape a district for longer.
Step 7 of the Pharma Career Ladder for first-line managers is hiring and onboarding.
Interview for what they've done
Charm is useful in this job. Doctors respond to it. But charm doesn't plan a territory, go back to a doctor who said no, or stay honest when the month is tight. Hire for behaviour, not charm. Research on selection, most often cited from Schmidt and Hunter, has long found that structured interviews predict job performance better than unstructured ones.
Structure means 4 things: the same core questions for every candidate, real examples of what they did, each answer rated against criteria agreed beforehand, and 2 interviewers who rate alone first, then compare.
The questions that predict are in the past tense. "What would you do if a doctor refused to see you?" gets a perfect, prepared answer. "Tell me about a time a doctor stopped seeing you" gets a story. Then keep going: "What did you do next? What exactly did you say?" This is where "we usually" turns into "I did", or the story goes vague, which is also an answer. A fresh graduate can answer these too: a time they persuaded someone, or kept a hard promise.
See them in the field, and hire them clean
An interview room is the easiest place in the world to look good. Where possible, take final candidates on a field ride before the offer. Agree it with HR first, and give every final candidate the same half day. The candidate goes with a senior rep and only observes, never presenting a product or speaking for the company. Ask each doctor before the candidate enters, and respect a no. Watch the small moments, like how they speak to the receptionist. Then ask: "What would you have done differently in that last call?"
Hiring from a competitor can work very well. Call skills and therapy knowledge transfer. The old company's messages don't, and neither does "my doctors will follow me". The old company's information never comes: no doctor lists, targeting files, sales data or plans, on any device or from memory. Say it at the interview and again on day 1: bring your skills, leave their data. Never ask a candidate what a competitor is planning.
The first month
On day 1, a new rep learns whether anyone expected them. The first day should leave them with 4 things: a real welcome with a tablet that works, an hour with you on how you work, a named buddy, and a clear first week on 1 screen.
Don't hand over a full target in week 1. Michael Watkins' The First 90 Days makes the point that the early weeks in a new role shape how quickly someone becomes effective. I think of the first 30 days in 4 steps. Week 1, the product: core messages and the questions doctors actually ask. Week 2, the territory: ride with the buddy and meet the key doctors, the pharmacies and the distributor contact. Week 3, 1 real call with a friendly doctor and you watching. Week 4, agree the first development goal. Only then talk seriously about the target.
A new rep will copy someone, so choose the buddy. Pick for habits, not seniority: the colleague whose calls you'd be happy to see copied. Give the buddy a brief: 2 field days together, a weekly call, questions any time. Thank them openly, because it takes time from their own territory.
Ready to go solo, or not working
Finishing induction and being ready are different things. Kirkpatrick's model of training evaluation separates how people felt about a course from what they learned, and its second level asks whether they can show it. Before certifying a new rep, I want to see 4 things: accurate product answers in their own words, 1 full call with me watching, a hard question on a side effect or a competitor answered honestly, and the compliance basics, including how to report a side effect. Agree the checklist on day 1. The hardest part is resisting the pressure of an empty territory.
Sometimes a new hire isn't working. The signs usually show early, and the manager hopes they'll pass. Check yourself first: did they get the induction, field days and support you promised? Name the gap in the first month, not the fourth. Separate skill from fit. Agree goals, real support and a review date, and follow the probation process with HR from early on. If it's not the right fit, end it privately and with respect. Deciding late only costs the new rep more of their time.
Before anyone leaves
Most vacancies start with a resignation and a blank search. Build a bench instead: 2 names you'd be glad to hire if a seat opened tomorrow. Stay in touch with strong candidates you couldn't hire last time, and ask your best reps who they'd want on the team. A bench is a list of names and never a promise. Every vacancy still goes through HR.
Retaining your best rep means asking before the resignation meeting. Some call it a stay interview. Ask what keeps them and what would make them think of leaving. Ask where they want to be in 2 years. Then act on 1 thing. I have this conversation twice a year with every rep. Restless is already late.
Exit interviews often say "a better package elsewhere". Why reps really resign usually sits underneath: no growth, feedback only at appraisal time, the same territory and calls year after year. It started months earlier, in a cancelled one-to-one or a question nobody asked. When a good rep leaves, ask yourself when you last talked about their future, when you last gave them something new to learn, and whether they'd have told you they were unhappy.
Your checklist for this week
- Write the same past-behaviour questions for every candidate in your next interview round, with rating criteria agreed beforehand
- Ask a second interviewer to rate alone before you compare
- Plan a new joiner's first day and first week before they arrive
- Choose a buddy for their habits, and give them a clear brief
- Agree the certification checklist with every new rep on day 1
- Write down 2 names you'd hire if a seat opened tomorrow
- Book a stay conversation with your best rep this month
That's Step 7. Next week Step 8 begins: managing up and growing.