How to Get Hired in Medical Device Sales With No Experience

This is a question I personally googled, youtube’d, searched on podcasts, and asked all of my friends who were working in the field. How on earth do you land your dream job in medical device sales? Specifically, how do you get hired at Stryker Orthopedics?

I narrowed my strategy down to the following 3 steps when I decided in March of 2019 that I wanted to work for Stryker Trauma. By December 16th, I was covering cases solo.

The winning strategy is:

1. Research & Read
2. Build experience
3. Practice

Step 1: Research & Read

If you’re a crazy person and actually decide that you are committed to a career in medical device sales, then the first step you need to take is research the companies who are doing well in the spaces you are interested in. Why are they successful? Research their CEO and professional history. You want to know everything you can about who is leading an organization you could potentially be dedicating your life to.

I chose Stryker because people who work at Stryker seemed to bleed gold and black. Like it was a sports team and everyone was a die-hard fan. I simply didn’t find that culture anywhere else that I applied or interviewed. Not to mention, Stryker’s associate training program is powerfully built and respected as best in the industry. Another important factor in my decision was that Stryker employees are W-2, which means we have all the benefits that a 1099 rep doesn’t get.

An alternative school of thought is to cast your net wide. That means, setting up e-alerts on job openings for anything with the title “medical device sales representative” and applying to even the ankle-biter companies. I had to be purposeful about how I spent my time, so this was not my strategy. You could always hope that the nobody company could be bought out by a large corporation like Styker, Johnson and Johnson, Synthes, etc. Why spend an hour applying to nobody device company when you could use that time to network with reps where you want to be though?

Your Network is Your Net Worth

This leads me to the next step: research who works there. Connect with employees on Linkedin, especially people who are working in the position you see yourself in and the city you are targeting. Literally open the search bar and plug in “stryker trauma sales associate baltimore”. A list of Stryker employees will magically appear. Send each employee a personal message and ask a few thoughtful questions about why they enjoy working at the company. Do not forget to add your full name, email address, and cell number in the signature.

Try this message template:

“Hi Chelsea! I am applying for a Trauma Sales Associate position with Stryker in Baltimore. I wanted to connect with you to stay up to date with everything happening in your territory and within the Trauma Division. Hope you have a great day!”

OR

OR

“Hi Chelsea, I applied for XYZ position with XYZ company. I see you have been with the company for XYZ amount of time. What do you see as the pros/cons of working in this position? Thank you”

What NOT to Do

Do NOT just hit the “connect” button down the whole page. That kind of lazy mentality will not benefit you in this business. You must start prioritizing and building meaningful relationships right now. Ask your local reps if you can meet them for 15 minutes max and bring them coffee at 6:30am before first case.

Don’t say things like “I’m not sure where to start” or “I haven’t applied yet” or “I’m nervous”. That communicates that you have not done your research. These reps are running million dollar territories and don’t have time to coach you from the start. If you’re lucky, a few may answer back.

Follow up with another message a few weeks later if they did not answer your original message. Show them that you mean business. If you can get a rep talking about themself, what experience they had applying, work experience that helped them, etc. you will build rapport a lot quicker than if you go into the conversation talking about yourself and what you need from them.

Translate your confidence. You want to walk into an OR, direct a world-class traumatologist to the best placement of an implant that will impact that patient’s life forever, right?!

*During this phase you have either applied for a position or you have identified a future opening that you know you are interested in. Never wait until you are “ready” to apply. Hit submit.*

Step 2: Build Your Experience

We all know it isn’t fun to apply for a job and then be ghosted. With no HR number to contact, you aren’t sure what to do but just wait. Stryker has a robust HR department. They are phenomenal with getting to know you and finding you the best fit. You should be doing something every single day to build your experience while you are waiting to hear back from HR.

I started taking my 30 minute lunch break in a supply closet, so that I didn’t have distractions while I was listening to my audio book and messaging reps on Linkedin. Lol it makes me laugh to think back on the nurses walking in on me.

Look at the job description. Can you hone in on any of the required or recommended skills and pick up a part-time job where those can be strengthened?

What I Did for “Experience”

I was denied left and right for entry level med dev jobs because I did not have sales experience. So, I registered my blog as an LLC and started taking it more seriously as a business. I came home from my day job as a Cardiovascular Clinical Research Assistant at 5pm, would draft pitch emails 6-7 and schedule them out at 7:30AM, write blog posts 7-9, and schedule social media posts 9:30-11:30pm. Shot all my outfits on Saturdays and took Sundays off. It was busy, but IT GOT ME HIRED.

Disclaimer: Some male reps and TMs do not value a fashion blog as a business, and that is okay. Put yourself out there and be confident in the hard work you’ve done anyways. Whether it is starting a textbook rental company or candle-making business out of your kitchen, whatever the case may be. They want to see the hustle.

Other reps suggested to me that I should work in B2B sales for 2 years full-time, but I thought “who actually has time for that? I want to start making 300k right now.”

Can you download a book on Audible to learn something? Personally, I listened to 1-2 sales books per week. Find my recommended reads in this blog post. What have your Linkedin connections said their experience was that helped to land them a job at the company?

Step 3: Practice

Don’t wait until you get the call from the recruiter to pace around and google “common interview questions.” Look it up now, and have a plan.

You need to envision your success and be patient. If you are not patient, you need to work on it or find another career path. Medical device sales is an industry built on patience and follow-up. We have to be patient every single day when we wait for case delays, waiting for surgeons to trust us because we are brand new, waiting for a delivery driver with vital implants. The practice of “waiting” is at the center of our lives because very good things are born out of time.

Read my blog post to learn more about My Top 13 Favorite Business Books You Need to Read Right Now and review Stryker’s blog post on what to expect during the interview process here.

Thank you for reading! Connect with me on Instagram here if you have any questions! I’d love to follow along in your journey. 🙂

xx, Chels