Now, as a reader looking at the subtitle to this article, you may be asking yourself, “obtain non-industry B2B experience… why would I do that? I want to break into medical device!”. However, what I can tell you is that almost every medical device company (aside from a few exceptions) does not hire entry level positions even if the position is listed as “entry level” on their website. Entry level in medical device typically means that sales recruiters and hiring managers are looking for candidates with 1-2 years of B2B sales experience, in any other industry. This could be software sales (companies like ADP), pharmaceutical sales, selling services to businesses (think Cintas or Fastenal), or any other industry is which you are selling to other businesses.
As I stated above, there are a few exceptions here. Some medical device companies do hire truly entry level candidates either out of college or candidates with a non-sales related background. However, these are often either distributors or companies within the orthopedics and trauma realm, where your job is more dedicated to service activities rather than selling.
There are two reasons why I would recommend a candidate looking to break into a true medical device sales position should steer clear (or at the very least, be wary) of starting their med device sales journey with a distributor or service-oriented ortho trauma job. First, I want to be clear that these are not true sales positions, even if the word “sales” is in the job title. Job responsibilities as an associate for a distributor or associate for entry level orthopedics/trauma positions are often cleaning instruments, building procedure trays, and (in some cases) supporting procedures. You get very little, if any, experience actually selling equipment to the physician, and you likely will have no involvement in the contracts and negotiating process done with hospital purchasing teams. Second, you will receive very little training and sales development from the leaders of these distributorships and orthopedic companies. I have interviewed hundreds of candidates that come with this type of background, with sometimes years of experience in that role, and am always left bewildered with how little they know about their own sales process and how to build a pipeline of physician targets.
Instead, I would highly recommend starting with a B2B sales position in a non-medical device industry. Companies like ADP, Enterprise, and most pharmaceutical companies put their entry level employees through rigorous sales training. You will get to cut your teeth and learn the fundamentals of selling, which include prospecting, learning how to ask discovery questions, learning how to influence a customer, and how to contract and close a deal. In my tenure, I have hired dozens of entry level sales professionals that come with this background, and they almost always outshine the candidates that come from a service-oriented background in the medical device space.
So, how do you get hired for a non-industry B2B sales position? Keep reading the rest of this series to find out.
Sincerely,
S.M.K., The Sales Mentor’s Playbook
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