Bill Miller

After pursuing a career in clinical medicine and then working in the craft brewing industry for several years, I decided to utilize my background in healthcare and begin a career in medical device sales

It was a career that allowed me to both use my education background and still be in healthcare, as well as give myself the opportunity to support the type of lifestyle I would like to have.

Searching online for programs or just ways to break into medical device sales

Talking with the admissions department and Kim really gave me a good feeling of what to expect from the training. Additionally, seeing alumni profiles and testimonials showed that MSC was preparing well educated workers.

I loved the fact that we were able to be hands on with our learning, especially in the saw bone labs. Being able to handle the tools and equipment that we will ultimately be selling really helped me understand just how it works, and knowing your product will ultimately make it easier for you to sell.

I feel that MSC is great for anyone looking to get into the industry (or maybe already is) because of how thorough their programs are. My class had group of people with a pretty diverse background (sales experience, no sales experience, healthcare, career changers, fresh out of college). However, the approach and curriculum that MSC provided made it so everyone was able to benefit from what was being taught and presented.

2 months

It was combination of looking at posting online, having hiring managers or recruiters reach out to me via my Zero Fee profile, and just cold calling/messaging people I found mostly through LinkedIn (which is how I ultimately landed the job I currently am in). For the most part, all of the initial contact was via phone. By the second meetings though, all were in-person. I?m not sure how it is for others, but as someone coming from a non-sales background, it was definitely a different experience than what I had gone through compared to grad school and jobs in clinical medicine.

My current title is Associate Sales Rep. However, since I am working for a younger independent distributor with several brands being pushed, I?m definitely doing a lot of different things (thankfully, that?s where having gone to MSC definitely gives me a head start). My day can involve anything from restocking and moving instrument trays to case coverage or running labs for residents. Since I haven?t even been in for 2 months yet, I haven?t really been involved with the sales side yet, but I am slowly starting to transition into that role as well.

If anything, I wish I had maybe done a little more research on the types of jobs that were available in the areas I was looking to work, instead of just seeing if there were jobs available. I say that because while I took the ORT class and my role within in my company should eventually include that demographic, I?m currently doing a lot of extremities work (which is also what a lot of the other jobs I interviewed with were for). Had I known that, I may have considered taking an extremities class instead. That?s just me being nitpicky though, everything I learned during my time at MSC has done more then I could have imagined in preparing me for a career in medical device sales, even if it isn?t in the area I trained.

Just be yourself. Even though we will be working with very well-educated individuals (doctors, hospital executives, etc.), at the end of the day they are still people and a sale should always boil down to being a conversation. If you?re pushy or sound like you?re just reading a white-sheet, they?re going to lose interest. Fast. Instead, engage them, ask them questions, make it a two-way discussion that actively involves them. We all want to make the sale, but you have to lay the foundation first. The work you do today may not payoff until 6, maybe even 12 months from now. But when it does, it will payoff well, and chances are you will have that client for a long time.