P H A R M ATA L E N T
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hat do you do? I lead QuintilesIMS’ commercial business in the UK and Ireland. This is a general management position with particular focus on business development and operations. I also have responsibility for regional business development and operations for larger multi-country projects across EMEA.
Tim Mills, Head of Regional Business Development and Operations EMEA, QuintilesIMS, on how to build a successful career. INTERVIEW BY
Amy Schofield
How did you get into pharma? I spent time in my early working life in the police, financial accounting, capital equipment sales and marketing. I started my career in pharma 25 years ago as a sales representative with Fisons Pharmaceuticals, joining Hoechst Pharmaceuticals two years later. Following a typical career path through regional and national sales management, I joined the services sector 15 years ago. Which of your traits and talents have contributed most to your success? Persistence and resilience. As in many industries, we are all faced with daily challenges that need to be overcome, sometimes requiring perseverance and patience. Throughout my career, I have developed a set of life skills, and an ability to listen to people, which has been critical in my selling and management roles. Intelligence will take you a long way, but emotional intelligence will take you all the way. What’s the best piece of careers advice you’ve ever had? Many years ago, a colleague said to me, “Talk is cheap, money buys the whiskey.” Over the years I have thought about this many times. I have learned that actual achievements are far more important than words. How is QuintilesIMS embracing the growth of digital? From audit measurement through to strategy development and implementation, across all major markets, QuintilesIMS supports clients in driving digital to multichannel transformation of pharmaceutical customer engagement. Our leading edge Orchestrated Customer Engagement capabilities are designed to create a step-change, moving from multichannel to a fully comprehensive, truly effective, digitallyenabled approach to customer engagement for the entire customer team. What does career success mean to you? Over the past 25 years I have met people for whom success is about being the most professional salesperson in their territory. For others, however, career progression is an
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