Pros and cons of working on pharma accounts? I'm relatively new, and this is the only industry I know. Dead end?

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Pros: historically has had better compensation, work/life balance, and job security - however, the future could be different

Cons: you probably won’t see your work in a Super Bowl and you’re unlikely to do a lot of “really cool” stuff (there will be exceptions, but the regulation is tough)

The account/strategy aspect is quite specialized, so most likely you’ll be in higher demand - I’d recommend getting product launch experience in both healthcare professional and consumer as quickly as you can, as that is the most sought after experience.

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Definitely agree with this. More boring and guardrails with pharma, but more lucrative salary and job security. Growing industry.

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Pro: if you exit agency to client side, it’s a high-paying industry.

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DAM1 who are you directing that question to? Myself?

I've worked exclusively in pharma for over 10 years. It's not a dead end. There are plenty of jobs within healthcare comms and you can very easily move client side and have a more relaxed and well paid life.

It can be boring in some agencies, but like every industry, you will find companies that are constantly trying to innovate. So you just have to find what you like and then find those who do that.

I've never been bored and we've done pretty cool stuff. I'm in the UK, where we don't advertise to patients and our regulations are more intense than the US.

So definitely not a dead end!

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Definitely not a dead end, but some might feel that pharma roles force you to trade personal ethics for a pay check.

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I think this used to be very true (look at Publicis and the opioid settlement), but I think depending on the account and agency it is getting less true. Part of that will be holding cos not wanting to end up like Publicis and part of that will be independents who want to do better.

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I definitely think Pharma account folks tend to be a little more in demand right now. Likely due to needing to know all the regulations. My company had layoffs across all roles. The account folk, at every level, were the fastest to land new roles.

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