Typical Day

I start around 8 o' clock either on my way to a call or preparing for my appointments unless I have one at the far reaches of my territory, then I am passing the milkman on his rounds.

I start around 8 o' clock either on my way to a call or preparing for my appointments unless I have one at the far reaches of my territory, then I am passing the milkman on his rounds.

I see Practice Nurses, GP's, Practice Managers and patients which could involve demonstrations, monitoring trials or training sessions.

In hospitals I see Diabetes Specialist Nurses ensuring Bayer products are being demonstrated to patients. DSN's are also involved with diabetes clinics in hospitals and community.

Laboratory personnel can have useful information about the progress of point of care in Primary Care so I aim to develop these contacts.

I also visit people who work within the Primary Care Trust involved with strategy decision making to ensure they have the information needed to cascade onto their colleagues.

My other customers are Continence Advisors, Army Health Care Professionals and Prison Service personnel.

Appointments can be cancelled at any time or can overrun and then it's a rush to fit my plans into the day. In between visits I spend time making appointments and keeping up to date with my customers and squeezing in lunch.

I get home anywhere between 5 and 6 sometimes later and then check emails, do general administration and prepare for the next day.

I enjoy the independence of managing my own territory and making decisions about all aspects of my work whilst being part of a team who are very supportive. I also enjoy the variety of customers and locations where I work.

Who Am I? P.A. / Administrator - yes two roles combined into one.

I am PA/Secretary to the Sales and Marketing Director and also the administrator for our department. I first joined as a Temp covering maternity leave almost 10 years ago when the office was based in Basingstoke and my role has definitely changed during this time.

Working for a Senior Director, my role obviously uses all the usual secretarial skills including taking notes at management meetings, diary control, daily correspondence, lots of telephone and e-mail communication with all levels throughout the Bayer organisation and directing customers to the appropriate person. Systems used apart from the usual Word, PowerPoint and Excel are Lotus Notes and SAP. I also find shorthand extremely useful.

As the Administrator for our department, this part of the role means I am their contact for absolutely anything - queries range from supplying posters to booking accommodation both for overnight stays and large national conferences. Recent requests have included arranging travel to one of the Hebrides islands, sorting out a "hit on the head", sending a gift to a customer, solving a bonus query, supplying stationery, obtaining promotional cheques, and answering holiday database queries.

Consequently the role is extremely varied and busy and I can honestly say there's no such thing as a typical day!

I work in marketing therefore every day is different so I do not really have a typical day. With some days in the office doing planning, tender responses and putting together information for the sales force. Other days are spent out in the field on joint visits with the sales team, doing demo's or presentations. A typical day would start with me picking up my e-mails before leaving the house to travel to my meeting with the rep. We would then work to the plan the rep has set up. I would be informed before hand what we wanted to achieve from the call and would plan to that effect, taking with me any documentation (papers or literature ) which may be required. At the end of the day I would once again log on to pick up my e-mails and respond to them and also produce any information required from the calls that day.

During the course of a day I am frequently called by other reps/ staff and need to send them information or book a date to meet with them. I enjoy the variety within my role but find the tender responses, which take me off the road for long periods of time, are tedious and time consuming. However it is very satisfying to see a finished response knowing I have had the major input.

I enjoy working for Bayer because the support is excellent and I can implement my ideas to help the sales team achieve their targets.