Greater Chicago Area Medical/Pharma Company Experiences

Hi All,

I know there are at least a few people on here who are working/have worked in corporate finance for big medical/pharama companies in the Chicagoland area. I'd be very interested to hear more about compensation, career path, culture, work/life balance, etc. for some of these companies. Some examples of these companies are Abbvie, Baxter, Abbott, Baxalta, etc. Any info you can share on these companies would be much appreciated! We can take this conversation to PM if need be! I'm currently in another industry and am interested in getting into the medical/pharama industry.

Thanks!

17 Comments
 

accountingbyday snakeoil

What does SFA & Finance Manager comp structure look like at these companies? Hows the upward mobility for high performers? (I would likely lateral into a SFA role)

Work hours for specific companies/culture?

Your overall impression of the specific companies.

Thanks a lot!

 
Best Response

My opinions....

Comp structure is generally within market ranges. Salary can vary quite a bit and bonuses are going to be low (3-5% for SFA, 10% for Mgr).

Upward mobility is pretty good, but it does take some time. These are large organizations, so there are always opportunities, but there's generally some level of having to wait your turn. Both of these dynamics don't always exist at smaller companies. To be clear, you won't have to wait specifically based on Seniority or anything like that, but at all times there are a few others ready for promotion.

Hours are generally decent, 45-50ish is a normal estimate, but always depend upon the position, your boss, cycles (AOP, etc...).

I don't want to get into too many specifics, but unless things have really changed in the last year or two I would avoid Hospira. I know people in Finance and Project Management and it's not good. There has been so much turnover and uncertainty that it was a pretty toxic place. Again, this could have changed in the last year.

I'm not too sure about Abbvie anymore. I know a few people who ran there when it formed, but there have been a number of ups and downs for them so I'm not sure how it is today.

I'd recommend all the other companies on your list

twitter: @CorpFin_Guy
 

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