Alumni Spotlight: Todd Carroll
Hometown: Ringgold, GA (The Marriage Capital of the South)
Degree/Minor from Auburn: Bachelor's of Science in Business Administration, Marketing
Family Life: I'm married with three kids, one is currently at Auburn now and my youngest two also plan on going to Auburn. So I'll be spending weekends in Auburn for the next few years.
Current Occupation: Sales Management for Novartis Pharmaceuticals
Current Location: Woodstock, GA
What was your favorite marketing course offered at Auburn and why?
Marketing 101, I guess Principles now, with Ford Lamer. He was fun and that class was what drew me into marketing and made me realize that it was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.
Are you currently involved with Auburn?
To some degree. I have one child at Auburn now, hold season football tickets. I was just recently in Auburn for the basketball game against Florida...I guess you know the outcome of that game. I was a Farmhouse while at Auburn and am still involved as an alumni.
Do you still keep in touch with any of your graduating classmates?
Yes.
As a college student, did Auburn prepare you for the "real world"?
Yes, it did. Not as much as coursework goes, but the life lessons you learn while at college did.
When you were a student and applying for jobs, what did you do to set yourself apart?
Well, I didn't start out in the College of Business. I co-oped in Engineering for two years...worked a quarter, took classes for a quarter. I guess now it's on semesters. This gave me a technical background. Once I transferred to the College of Business, I got a job as a campus rep with Balfour. Actually, I think I sold your dad his ring. I did that job for two years to get a sales background.
Where did you first start off after graduation?
I can say that there are not many like me. I started off with the company I work with now. When I interviewed with them, they didn't really hire college grads, but they took in my sales and technical background and decided to take a try with me. This will be 24 years that I've been with the company. At that time, the company's name was Sandoz, they merged with Ciba Ciegy (the contact manufacturer for Ciba Vision) in 1996 and came up with the name Novartis; so it was two medium sized companies at the time coming together to make one mega pharmaceutical company. Most had never heard of Sandoz or pharmaceutical medicine when I got the job so I just told everyone that they were the makers of Ex-Lax when they asked.
Did you think the merger was a good idea at the time?
At the time? No. Now that I look back, I think it was a good move.
Can you give us a day-to-day description of your job?
It has changed with technology, I deal more with e-mails now-a-days whereas it used to be voice mails. I have 10 sales representatives that work under me that control a two and a half state territory, that includes South Carolina, Georgia, and the Florida panhandle. I go out into the field with my sales representatives Monday through Thursdays and on Fridays I work from home doing teleconferences. When I started, I was in general medicine, now I sell oncology medicine. My ten representatives and I meet at the start of the day to analyze sales trends and use these and other factors to plan and strategize when to visit and sell to our clients. In oncology, you don't have to make appointments with the physicians, you can see the nurse or other personnel in the oncology division. Each day is different, there's no set routine. The representatives under me set up appointments with the physician or a chemo nurse. I observe and give advice to them. After our meetings, we'll talk and strategize on ways to expand our business.
So you would definitely say it's not a 9:00-5:00 job?
Our "normal" hours are 8:30-5:30, some days are longer, some seem shorter. However, there aren't many physicians in their office at 8:30 in the morning. Often times we will make 10:00 appointments and spend time in between prepping for the appointment. If we're done with appointments for that day, we spend the rest of it cold-calling.
Do you have any advice for current Auburn students on finding employment?
It's hard to get into the healthcare field at this time because of Obamacare. Medical and pharmaceutical companies are worried about the future, especially with the shortage of doctors and nurses right now. It has been fun, but I wouldn't advise entering the healthcare field right now.
Out side of the medical field, I would advise to get as much experience as possible, be successful in what you're doing and be able to relate that back in any interview you do. An interviewer's favorite question is "why should I hire you?" A friend of mine got this question and told the interviewer flat out, "because I can make you lots of money." The interviewer laughed and said no one had given him that answer yet and since it was a good one, he gave my friend the job.
What does your company offer as far as internships and/or positions after graduation?
Our home office is in Hanover, New Jersey and our world headquarters is in Switzerland. Internships are offered through the New Jersey or Switzerland offices, mostly as pharmacy technicians and research internships, none in sales. As for full time positions after graduation? Because of the downturn in the pharmacy industry, there's not a lot. If there are openings, we post them on Monster.com or have our recruiters go out and look for people. However, due to the downturn, there are a lot of people out there with pharmacy experience and people who already have relationships with some clients that we want.
Are you currently involved with Auburn?
To some degree. I have one child at Auburn now, hold season football tickets. I was just recently in Auburn for the basketball game against Florida...I guess you know the outcome of that game. I was a Farmhouse while at Auburn and am still involved as an alumni.
Do you still keep in touch with any of your graduating classmates?
Yes.
As a college student, did Auburn prepare you for the "real world"?
Yes, it did. Not as much as coursework goes, but the life lessons you learn while at college did.
When you were a student and applying for jobs, what did you do to set yourself apart?
Well, I didn't start out in the College of Business. I co-oped in Engineering for two years...worked a quarter, took classes for a quarter. I guess now it's on semesters. This gave me a technical background. Once I transferred to the College of Business, I got a job as a campus rep with Balfour. Actually, I think I sold your dad his ring. I did that job for two years to get a sales background.
Where did you first start off after graduation?
I can say that there are not many like me. I started off with the company I work with now. When I interviewed with them, they didn't really hire college grads, but they took in my sales and technical background and decided to take a try with me. This will be 24 years that I've been with the company. At that time, the company's name was Sandoz, they merged with Ciba Ciegy (the contact manufacturer for Ciba Vision) in 1996 and came up with the name Novartis; so it was two medium sized companies at the time coming together to make one mega pharmaceutical company. Most had never heard of Sandoz or pharmaceutical medicine when I got the job so I just told everyone that they were the makers of Ex-Lax when they asked.
Did you think the merger was a good idea at the time?
At the time? No. Now that I look back, I think it was a good move.
Can you give us a day-to-day description of your job?
It has changed with technology, I deal more with e-mails now-a-days whereas it used to be voice mails. I have 10 sales representatives that work under me that control a two and a half state territory, that includes South Carolina, Georgia, and the Florida panhandle. I go out into the field with my sales representatives Monday through Thursdays and on Fridays I work from home doing teleconferences. When I started, I was in general medicine, now I sell oncology medicine. My ten representatives and I meet at the start of the day to analyze sales trends and use these and other factors to plan and strategize when to visit and sell to our clients. In oncology, you don't have to make appointments with the physicians, you can see the nurse or other personnel in the oncology division. Each day is different, there's no set routine. The representatives under me set up appointments with the physician or a chemo nurse. I observe and give advice to them. After our meetings, we'll talk and strategize on ways to expand our business.
So you would definitely say it's not a 9:00-5:00 job?
Our "normal" hours are 8:30-5:30, some days are longer, some seem shorter. However, there aren't many physicians in their office at 8:30 in the morning. Often times we will make 10:00 appointments and spend time in between prepping for the appointment. If we're done with appointments for that day, we spend the rest of it cold-calling.
Do you have any advice for current Auburn students on finding employment?
It's hard to get into the healthcare field at this time because of Obamacare. Medical and pharmaceutical companies are worried about the future, especially with the shortage of doctors and nurses right now. It has been fun, but I wouldn't advise entering the healthcare field right now.
Out side of the medical field, I would advise to get as much experience as possible, be successful in what you're doing and be able to relate that back in any interview you do. An interviewer's favorite question is "why should I hire you?" A friend of mine got this question and told the interviewer flat out, "because I can make you lots of money." The interviewer laughed and said no one had given him that answer yet and since it was a good one, he gave my friend the job.
What does your company offer as far as internships and/or positions after graduation?
Our home office is in Hanover, New Jersey and our world headquarters is in Switzerland. Internships are offered through the New Jersey or Switzerland offices, mostly as pharmacy technicians and research internships, none in sales. As for full time positions after graduation? Because of the downturn in the pharmacy industry, there's not a lot. If there are openings, we post them on Monster.com or have our recruiters go out and look for people. However, due to the downturn, there are a lot of people out there with pharmacy experience and people who already have relationships with some clients that we want.
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