Medical Device Sales Explained: Salary, Lifestyle & How to Break In

0:00All right, guys. So, if you clicked on

0:01this video, it's probably because you're

0:02wondering what is medical device sales?

0:04What is it like day-to-day? What's the

0:06job actually like? Is it a good career

0:07path to pursue in 2026 and beyond? And

0:09how much can I actually make? And

0:11finally, can I even break in given my

0:13level of experience? So, we're going to

0:14dive into these five topics so you know

0:16everything you need to know for pursuing

0:18medical device sales. So, first, what is

0:20medical device sales? So, for context, I

0:22broke into medical device sales out of

0:24college and it completely changed my

0:26life. I was making multiple six figures

0:27by age 24. I was able to afford multiple

0:29properties, multiple sports cars, have

0:31more than the average person set up for

0:33retirement by the age 30. I did it for 7

0:34years. I was among one of the fastest

0:36reps to ever get promoted to a senior

0:37role in just 10 months. And by the time

0:39I left the industry, I was number one

0:41rep nationally. I'm not saying this to

0:42boast, you guys. I'm telling you this

0:43because I have a lot of context to bring

0:45to this conversation. So, let's talk

0:47about what medical device sales is. So,

0:48medical device companies are companies

0:50that create technology typically for

0:52surgical application. Now, the medical

0:54device umbrella can be very broad, but

0:56most of the time it has to do with

0:58technology that is used in surgery. Now,

1:00it's either used in the hospital setting

1:02or a clinic setting. So, by clinic, you

1:04can think a dentist office, those are

1:06technically medical devices. Or like a

1:08dermatology office where they may use

1:09skin cancer removal, the tools that are

1:11used there, those are medical devices as

1:12well. But, most of the time when we're

1:14talking medical device, we're talking

1:15something that's used in the hospital

1:17operating room or a surgical center. And

1:19we could get really into the weeds on

1:20the different types of medical devices,

1:22the different types of medical device

1:23companies and positions. But, for the

1:24most part, you represent a company that

1:26provides a medical device and you sell

1:28to hospitals and doctors. So, here's a

1:30good example. I used to work for a

1:31company called Olympus. And one of the

1:33product categories that they had were

1:34scopes that were used in laparoscopy.

1:37So, you would be a representative of the

1:38company and your goal is to sell or

1:41scopes. And you would do this by meeting

1:43with surgeons, introducing the

1:44technology to them, getting them

1:45interested in the technology, and then

1:47ultimately going to the hospital or the

1:48surgery center where they would then

1:50purchase the equipment. Sometimes that

1:51means going to a place that doesn't buy

1:53anything from you and they start

1:54ordering stuff. And sometimes that means

1:56that you go to a hospital that already

1:57orders stuff from you and you're just

1:59getting them to order more of it. Either

2:00way, it's a very relationship-based

2:03sale. And it's actually a plus. This

2:04isn't one of those sales environments

2:06where it's very transactional like car

2:07sales or solar sales or any of that

2:09stuff. You actually sell by building

2:11relationships and being a valuable

2:13partner to the hospital. And that's

2:14actually a really nice way to be a sales

2:16rep is you're more of a valuable

2:17technology partner that helps educate

2:20the doctors, the nurses, the staff on

2:22how to use it and integrate it. This

2:24means there's less pressure on you to

2:25try to like sell people and it's less

2:27like salesy and gimmicky. It's actually

2:29really cool. You really just build

2:30relationships with these people. I don't

2:32care what anyone says, man. The best

2:33medical device sales reps are the ones

2:35that are just really good relationship

2:36builders and problem solvers. This isn't

2:38some environment where you have to have

2:39a sleazy talk track. You are basically

2:41just an educator on the technology and

2:43you help to strategically make it a fit

2:45for the hospital or clinic. And this is

2:47really cool for a lot of reasons. I

2:48mean, first off, it's recession-proof.

2:49The technology is advancing so often, so

2:52rapidly, so quickly that there will

2:54always be a need for people to explain

2:56and implement it into the healthcare

2:58setting. Healthcare's not going

3:00anywhere, guy. And then the other really

3:01cool component of this is it's I mean,

3:02it's truthfully life-saving. You are

3:04providing technology that is more often

3:06than not used in a therapeutic surgical

3:08setting, which means you are directly

3:10impacting the lives of patients. There

3:12are very few people that sell anything

3:14that actually is making a huge impact on

3:16the world in a positive way. You

3:18genuinely are. And not only are you

3:20impacting the patient that's on the

3:21table being operated on using your

3:23technology, I but I can't tell you how

3:24many times you'd provide technology to a

3:26surgeon and then after that surgery, the

3:27doctor would say, "Dude, I couldn't have

3:29done that without you there, without you

3:31guiding me through that." So, it's very

3:32rewarding. Now, there are lots of other

3:33reasons why this is an incredible place

3:35to work, the income potential which

3:36we're going to talk about, as well as

3:37the day-to-day autonomy and freedom of

3:39construct your own schedule. It's very

3:41entrepreneurial. The skills you develop

3:42here are also so invaluable to you in

3:44every aspect of life. Because again,

3:46you're learning to educate and speak

3:48with surgeons, high-level people on a

3:49day-to-day basis. And you learn how to

3:51be a problem solver and navigate complex

3:53sales environments, translatable skills

3:55for literally anything in life, any

3:57company, any job, especially if you want

3:58to be an entrepreneur. You develop

4:00interpersonal skills, contracts,

4:01numbers, financial justifications. You

4:03interact with CFOs. You interact with

4:05purchasing folk. The list goes on. Now,

4:06that's med device sales in a nutshell.

4:08But, what is it actually like

4:09day-to-day? Now, this varies a lot based

4:11on the company and the product that you

4:12provide. But, most of the time it boils

4:14down to this. You are on the road

4:16bouncing from account to account. So,

4:17this will be either hospitals or surgery

4:19centers depending on your place of

4:20business. You will typically be in

4:21surgeries, like literally in the OR, 5

4:24ft from the table. And this would be

4:25either to support surgeries where the

4:27technology is being used so you can help

4:29the nurses and the scrub techs and the

4:30doctors. Or sometimes this is literally

4:31just to pop into a hospital to engage in

4:34some sort of business discussion. Or

4:35you're doing an education session and

4:37in-service. Really, all of your

4:38activities day-to-day boil down to these

4:40two things, spreading the word of your

4:42technology and supporting your

4:43technology. And everything in between is

4:45usually you bouncing around and/or doing

4:46some administrative work. And this is

4:48really cool because again, you get to

4:49construct your schedule every single

4:51day. You get to choose what's the most

4:52productive thing to do for yourself.

4:54You're not in the same place every day.

4:55You're not stuck behind a desk. It's

4:56kind of like you get the stability of a

4:58W-2 of a job with the freedom,

5:00creativity, and flexibility of being an

5:01entrepreneur with your own business. And

5:03the income potential which we're going

5:04to talk about. Now, your days will start

5:06early because typically you're on the

5:07clock of the hospital and they start

5:09surgery at 7:00 in the morning. And

5:10you're going to be on the road for a bit

5:11bouncing from account to account.

5:13Depending on the job, sometimes this is

5:14a lot less intense. You have a much

5:16smaller geography. You're not spending

5:17that much time on the road. And some

5:18days you probably won't even leave your

5:19house. You'll actually be at home doing

5:21administrative work. Although, top reps

5:22keep that to an absolute minimum. Top

5:25reps are always out in the field. But,

5:26that's typically what it's like.

5:27Sometimes you have lunches with doctors

5:29to promote your product. Sometimes

5:30you'll have dinners with doctors to

5:31promote your product. Every product that

5:32you support or company that you work for

5:33is going to have a slight variation with

5:35the day-to-day looks like just based on

5:37how intense the clinical support of the

5:38product's going to be. So, if you're in

5:39like orthopedic sales, that's a very

5:42OR-case-heavy, clinical-heavy place to

5:44be. Whereas, if you're in capital sales,

5:46selling really big-ticket items like the

5:48robot, that's more business, a little

5:50bit less case support, and so on and so

5:51forth. So, either way, you're going to

5:53have some case support, you're going to

5:54have some business tasks. Now, the cool

5:55thing of it being a field-based sales

5:57position and you being out on the road

5:58day-to-day is more often than not your

6:00car is paid for and your mileage is paid

6:02for. When I worked in medical device

6:03sales, I worked for a large company and

6:05they gave me a car. I didn't have to pay

6:06for the car. I could use it as my

6:08personal vehicle, didn't have to pay for

6:09mileage, didn't have to pay for

6:10maintenance. That alone factored in an

6:12additional five figures in income I was

6:14saving. It was like the greatest thing

6:15ever to help accelerate my wealth. And

6:17that leads us into point number three,

6:18which is like, is it a good career path?

6:19I mean, up to this point, based on

6:20everything that I've said, you're

6:21probably nodding your head saying,

6:22"Yeah, this sounds pretty good." And I

6:24guess it's important to define what a

6:25good career path is. In my mind, a good

6:27career path is high income potential,

6:29long-term growth potential, upward and

6:31lateral mobility, meaning I could pivot

6:32into different industries or companies

6:33pretty easily, autonomy, work-life

6:35balance, and skill development. This

6:37literally is a 10 out of 10 on every

6:38single one of these. Every single one of

6:40these categories. You can make multiple

6:41six figures literally right out of the

6:42gate, which we'll talk about. There is a

6:44clear progression path. You go from

6:45junior rep to senior rep to sales

6:47management, which you can then laterally

6:49move into so many other positions in the

6:50company, all pay six figures. Marketing,

6:53training, product development. And all

6:54of these skills are so translatable into

6:56literally any industry. You could pivot

6:58into software sales if you really wanted

6:59to. You could pivot into other areas of

7:01tech sales, so on and so forth. And yes,

7:02I would argue that the work-life balance

7:04is actually really great. Now, again, I

7:06say this with a grain of salt cuz I am

7:08strongly against going into things with

7:10the expectation that you have to work

7:11very little and you are seeking the

7:13least amount of work, guys. Like, you're

7:15going to work hard in medical device

7:16sales, especially if you want to be

7:17successful. But, with that comes the

7:18freedom and autonomy of creating your

7:20schedule day-to-day. And sometimes

7:21you're going to be in the field way less

7:23and not working like an absolute dog all

7:24the time. Not only that, if your

7:26long-term ambition is to not even be in

7:28corporate and be an entrepreneur and be

7:29a business owner, you are quite

7:31literally in the most entrepreneurial

7:32position on the planet. Each day you

7:34wake up and you are responsible for your

7:36book of business. So, you get to

7:37construct the relationships how you

7:39like. You get to build your days how you

7:40like. You get to learn how to navigate

7:42sales environments and grow business and

7:44market yourself. It's so, so

7:46entrepreneurial. So, so entrepreneurial.

7:48But, you get the stability of a

7:49full-time job. And you get the income

7:50potential of entrepreneurs. So, that

7:51leads me into point number four, which

7:53is, how much can I actually make? So,

7:54again, this will greatly depend on what

7:56product you sell, what company you work

7:58for, and what your position is, and your

7:59performance. But, with that being said,

8:01the average medical device sales rep

8:02make 150 to 250,000 dollars a year. The

8:05average. Now, most of you watching this

8:07video are likely going to be coming in

8:08as a complete beginner, which is you're

8:10a junior rep, you're an associate rep.

8:11And they typically start out making

8:13anywhere from 60 to 100,000 dollars a

8:15year. But, the path to progression is

8:16very quick. Like I said, I got promoted

8:18in 10 months from junior to senior rep.

8:19So, not only do you start out making

8:21great money right out of the gate,

8:22sometimes literally hired at six

8:24figures, but in just one to two years

8:26time max, you are making 150 plus. Now,

8:28here's the cool thing. That 150 plus is

8:30your on-target earning. That is how much

8:32you are expected to make by just doing

8:33your job. And if you overachieve, you

8:35can very easily trickle into 200,

8:37300,000 dollars. Guys, I am not kidding.

8:39I have worked alongside people that have

8:40made 400,000, 500,000, even a million

8:43dollars in take-home income. I'm not

8:45kidding. The income potential is there

8:46because the dollar amount is so high of

8:48the transactions that you're doing and

8:49you get a piece of that. Not only that,

8:51it's a performance-based position. So,

8:53if you work in the same role in the same

8:54company for two, three, four years at a

8:56time, your customer base just compounds

8:58and compounds and compounds and grows

9:00and grows and grows theoretically for

9:01doing your job. But, with that being

9:02said, you make more money when that

9:04happens. So, the realistic expectation

9:06is as a complete beginner, I would

9:07anticipate you to be walking in making

9:1080,000 dollars a year at a minimum. Plus

9:12the great benefits, the 401k, the

9:14healthcare, car being paid for. I mean,

9:15that in and of itself equates to you

9:17making over six figures versus the

9:18average person. But, with that being

9:20said, in just one to two years time, you

9:22could be making 150,000 dollars just

9:23like that, just like I did. Now, that

9:25leads us nicely into our last question.

9:27Can I even break in? So, there's nuances

9:29here, there's exceptions to here. But,

9:30let me boil it down as simple as

9:31possible. If you have no experience, you

9:33can absolutely break in. If you have a

9:34bachelor's degree with no experience,

9:35you can absolutely break in. If you

9:37don't have a bachelor's degree and you

9:38don't have experience, it will be

9:39tougher to break in, but you can break

9:41in. You just have to pursue the right

9:42roles in the right company. You're

9:43probably wondering why. You're probably

9:45wondering how it's even possible that

9:47you can break into this industry with

9:48little experience. And the reality is is

9:50this is a sales position. Most people

9:52don't want to do sales. And most people

9:54are not good at sales. It takes a

9:55certain type of person to go into an

9:57industry like this. Now, you will not

9:59get hired right out of the gate as a

10:01senior-level sales position. They are

10:02looking for experience in those roles.

10:04You will have to get hired as a junior

10:06rep. But, here's the thing is when you

10:07are a junior rep, the sole purpose of

10:09that role is to support the senior reps,

10:12which means you don't have to be a very

10:14sales-oriented person to do that. You

10:16need to be a sales-oriented person to

10:17get promoted. As a junior rep, they want

10:19to see that you're coachable, that you

10:20have grit, that you're enthusiastic,

10:22that you're humble and persistent. And

10:23that's the beautiful thing is you just

10:25need to embody these traits. Now, of

10:26course, your resume needs to be dialed,

10:28your LinkedIn needs to be dialed, and

10:29this is a very, very competitive

10:31industry to break into. The interview

10:32process is not easy. Your resume's got

10:34to be good, your LinkedIn's got to be

10:35polished, and you've got to network your

10:36way in the right way. It is extremely

10:39rare that people just apply to these

10:40jobs and get them. It does not happen

10:42like that. You need to know people, you

10:43need to network your way in. So, if you

10:44want some tips for landing your first

10:45medical device sales job, I've got a

10:47video like this. I recommend you check

10:48that out. But, we've founded Medical

10:50Device Sales Academy specifically for

10:52this. So, we help new college graduates,

10:54healthcare workers, and career shifters

10:55land their first six-figure med sales

10:58job and as little as 90 days by working

10:59with them one-on-one to make them

11:01recruitment-ready, dialing in their

11:02personal brand, giving them the

11:03networking blueprint, giving them the

11:05exact playbook of the interview process,

11:06and having them stand out. And when you

11:08get in, becoming a top-performing rep

11:10just like I was. Now, we do this because

11:12we also run a recruiting company and

11:13we're actively building relationships

11:14with med device companies. So, if I help

11:16you to become a desirable candidate and

11:17break into the industry, you do me a

11:19favor because I get to place you at a

11:20company. So, if you're interested in

11:21applying to Med Device Sales Academy

11:23because you want to be coached

11:24one-on-one and fast-track your way into

11:25the industry to land your very first job

11:27in med device sales, just click the link

11:28in the description of this podcast or

11:30this YouTube video and apply. Otherwise,

11:32if you just want some free content, this

11:33YouTube channel, this podcast, is the

11:34best place to be. Peace.