Holly Miller

I graduated from the University of Virginia in 2019 with concentrations in Global Public Health and Sociology. I was originally interested in pursuing medical school, but decided that route was not for me halfway through college. I was still passionate about healthcare and wanted a similar career, but did not know what that would be until my professor suggested I looked into medical device sales. Due to my interest in healthcare/medicine, combined with my competitive drive to succeed and outgoing personality, he thought it would be a great fit for me and I was immediately interested in learning more about this career. I went home and did more research, and came across MSC.

What I liked about medical device sales was the fact that I would get to go into the operating room and be a part of the procedure. I liked that this role had more value than just making a sale.

I came across the Medical Sales College during my initial Google search about how to get into medical device sales.

I listened to the Webinar with Jim Rogers and took note of an alumni he pointed out who had the same job title as I did (Beverage Cart Attendant) prior to going into medical device sales. I found the graduate on LinkedIn and asked her if I could talk to her about the program. She was more than willing, and convinced me that this program gave her the knowledge and valuable connections she needed to succeed in the industry. With her approval of the program, I decided it would be a good choice for me.

Each week we learned about a procedure, the technology in the industry that applies to that procedure, and then performed it in the mock OR. It was really helpful to learn about the features, benefits, and values of a variety of technology on the market to prepare us for interviews with many different companies, as well as knowing what your competition is out in the field. Performing the procedures in the mock OR made everything come together and make sense for me.

Someone should attend the Medical Sales College to gain a solid foundation of how the industry works, technology on the market, and the anatomy and pathology of the human body. You will also have an advantage knowing the common procedures and what they entail, so you can speak professionally to a surgeon and also better explain how your technology stands out over competitors.

I knew both pharma and medical device sales required some sort of experience or specialty training to stand out and get a job, so I did not attempt. I did not know how or where to begin trying to get in the industry prior to MSC.

As someone who has gone on lots of interviews, I can tell you that the process and interview style varies greatly for each company. Here is a list of my experiences: - I was drilled for an hour on very specific questions (?what material was the hip product you had to present on made of??), and asked how I compared to a classmate who was hired by this company - I met with two guys at a juice café who asked me personal and intimate questions about myself (?what is the hardest thing you?ve ever gone through in life??) - I met a hiring manager at a hospital where he arrived 1.5 hours late for my interview - I was asked to verbally explain how to tie a shoe string around an iPhone in order to demonstrate how good I would be at communicating to a scrub tech - I was asked to teach the interviewer a skill from start to finish I had normal interviews, casual interviews, intense interviews, close interviews, 6 hour away interviews, and everything in between. I never felt like any of the interviews were ever a ?waste? because each better prepared me for the next (or at least gave me a fun story).

?Smile and Close.? Brian Beard always told us to smile during our presentations, and it?s something I reminded myself of during the interview process. Rebecca Camp and Scott Binder taught me to ?always be closing,? and Scott really drilled into our heads to always ask what the next steps are during the interview process.