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To be fair, I started my career at general market agencies, then moved into pharma, regretted it, and eventually made my way back to general market—it wasn’t easy. My advice: team up with art directors and build spec work (you can find free briefs through D&AD and other platforms), enter competitions like Cannes The Brief, and network like crazy. Also consider wellness brands instead of traditional pharma—the difference is night and day. Just know, the higher your title, the tougher the pivot. I’ve been there, so I’m rooting for you. Wishing you the best.
Get out if you can. If you can get a CPG job, go for it. Not easy, I know. You will always be able to get back into pharma.
I think it depends on the place… I first went into pharma after 4 years on the general side because the agency was specifically looking for highly creative non-pharma backgrounds. Not that I ever did anything highly creative when I got there, but 😂
Has to be through your network in my case.
1) Do not have pharma in your book. Fresh up your student work, any killed proactive ideas you at retrofitted to a non pharma client, and even consider taking up student show briefs for new spec work. Your portfolio should show the kind of work you want to be doing, not showing that you can do the day-to-day.
2) Reach out to people with your portfolio. Dig through LinkedIn and see who handles creative hiring at the places you want to work at. Ask CDs whose work you dig if they’d be willing to give your feedback on your portfolio. Most will not respond, but some do. And if you implement any feedback you agree with, send them a follow up. Show up to portfolio reviews near you.
3) Accept a demotion and pay cut. Assuming you’re mid level, you may actually be fine though be open to junior roles. Anything higher than that will likely need to accept a lower position. Especially supervisor, which simply isn’t a thing anymore. If you don’t want to throw away years of experience, understand that you are competing with creatives who have worked on general market brands longer than you and have produced work to boot. Which leads me to my final bit of advice.
4) Do a full career reset or find a transition. Delete your pharma experience, if it makes sense. This is easier if you started working at a general market agency, just working on pharma, because then you can still be mid level. If you haven’t worked at a general market ad agency, that might be an option for you too while you redo your portfolio. Bonus if you land at a shop that also lets the pharma creatives work on other brands, though they are rare. You may also have a shot working on health care or finance brands at a regular ad agency, which will help you by getting you out of the pharma typecast hole, but you will then need to figure out a way to work on fun brands before becoming senior. It’s a lot easier to do than trying to get out of pharma, though.
Rising Star
Do a big brand building spec campaign for a CPG or gaming brand.
It’s also about how you sell yourself/phrase your experiences and skills. You can do spec work but it’s also about your transferable skills. Example: Pharma is very clinical but also detailed, you gotta think inside a very small box so it requires you to think of more creative ways to send a message, and you’re constantly working on tight deadlines.
Check out workhap on instagram. He has great tips on how to rework your resume to show that whatever you know can be applicable to the position you want to get.
Also, just connect with recruiters in that industry (even if they’re not looking for someone at that time), and just introduce yourself and try to understand what they’re looking for.
Lastly, remember that there are people out there who are wayyy less qualified and are in way higher positions. If they can do it, so can you.
Lots of great advice in here already so I’ll just add my personal experience:
Anywhere you’re applying by submitting an AI-read resume is already a dead end. Get a referral or talk to a recruiter directly.
I switched from pharma to CPG by:
—Only including killer creative in my book and no pharma (I freelanced on the side while working in pharma and made a cool personal project too via a workshop)
—Connecting directly with recruiters and creatives at the agencies where I wanted to work
—Addressing my pharma background in the interview as experience navigating challenging regulatory environments with ease (translated into finance and telecom clients at the time)
—Taking any foot in the door and raising my hand for pitches and extra work to get recognized. Then, working my way to the clients and projects I wanted
—Accepting that work/life balance will never be the same as pharma, but if you love the work, you make it work
Also fun fact, but while interviewing at agencies I also interviewed for a freelance writer role at EA games. Didn’t get the role obviously, but the only reason I even got through multiple interviews with them is by networking HARD.
It’s a journey, but doable! Good luck!
Rising Star
Pharma is really tough to get out of, especially in this market. I got out of it by going back to school and feeding into CPG via the school internships.
Maybe freelance first?
Wow thank you everyone for these responses. Incredibly helpful and i appreciate the honesty. ❤️
Through someone I went to school with. But big tech had even bigger layoffs, so I’m back at an agency again.