I’m close to graduating (from an undergrad in Biomed Eng) and have had multiple internships at medical device companies. I’ve been in technical roles ranging from Quality, Software, Mechanical and Electronics and have dabbled in Marketing and Regulatory Affairs.
Note: >80% cumulative average
I have always liked the idea of moving into a business or management role and have heard that medical device sales can be very financially rewarding. I don’t have any real sales experience… but I DO have a lot of charisma, good knowledge of the medical device industry, and the ability to read people very well (in social settings - not sure if this is critical or even very helpful). I plan on focussing some of my fourth-year electives on management, entrepreneurship or sales courses.
I have three questions:
(1) Would I have a hard time finding an entry-level medical device sales position after college with a strong technical resume and good interview skills?
(2) I have one internship remaining before I graduate and was thinking of taking a stab at marketing, sales or a management role in order to make my resume more attractive for this sort of position. Is this a good move? What sort of position would help me most?
(3) Can anyone recommend good next-steps for me? Are there books I should read, courses I should take, specific jobs I should look into? Any and all assistance is appreciated!
If you even think about entering the Pharma & Biomedical areas, no matter what your specialty, the management, entrepreneurship, and sales courses will be valuable.
Entry level positions are just that - they’re going to look at your academics, and how well you interview. Profession presentation is, of course, manditory. That said, most companies are going to be looking for experienced candidates. Not being on the sales side, I can’t say for sure where the balance lies.
Marketing is different from Sales. Management shows you ow all the parts fit together. I’d suggest the management internship, for teh overview you’d get. But any of them would be good.
Network. Contact the sales organization, and inquire who would be a hiring manager if anyone was hiring. Get in touch with this person, not for an interview, but to learn about the kinds of things they’d want to see if it were an interview. Get plugged into the internet social media associated with sales, and lurk. Do the same with Marketing and Management. Learn the social cues and environment. Scour the trade pubs and sites for names, and learn what you can about them, and then see if you can trace their career paths to where they are now. Yes, that’s Private Investigator work (don’t hire one - that would be creepy), but the idea is to know as much as you can about the industry, so when you do interview, you come across prepared, knowledgeable, and alert to the needs ot the hiring managers.
Oh, and Linked In.
There are scads of professional groups on that site, and you can join the groups and lurk the conversations. Read the articles posted, listen to the opinion pieces. You don’t have to have an opinion. You don’t have to agree. What you’re doing is soaking up the social styles and learing teh hot-button issues. There’s VASTLY more there than you’d going to be able to cover, ubt you can likely find a few areas that you find intersting - when you do, dig deeper.
You could apply to the same companies and express an interest in both areas.
I recommend talking to the career center at your college. And when I worked for a software company, the sales teams consisted of a salesperson and a sales engineer. Assuming that’s how biomed sales teams operate, I would think your engineering degree would make you well-suited for the sales engineering role.
LinkedIn, definitely. Build your network. I’ve been in medical devices for 20+ years, here are my suggestions, hope they help.
>> (1) Would I have a hard time finding an entry-level medical device sales position after college with a strong technical resume and good interview skills?
Entry level sales is possible to find, but often med device companies look for clinical knowledge and industry experience. You can try that, or a more likely approach is to get an entry level customer support position. That would be easier to find. Start there, build your clinical scenarios knowledge, build your company connection, build your technical knowledge of the product and your clinical knowledge of the device(s), and then in a year or three transition to a sales position. Sales can be lucrative, yes.
>> (2) I have one internship remaining before I graduate and was thinking of taking a stab at marketing, sales or a management role in order to make my resume more attractive for this sort of position. Is this a good move? What sort of position would help me most?
I suggest sales. Find out now about the sales processes. Might help you land that entry level sales position too. Good luck.