Honest Feedback on Pursuing a Career with Stryker

I am interested in pursuing a career with Stryker and I feel the best fit will be an ASR position to get started. I am 38 years old, married, have three daughters and have twelve years sales experience in both the high-tech and healthcare industries.

My question is.... Will this job be a good fit for someone in my position. Is it a reasonable job while raising a family? What are the demands of Strker, an ASR and how much time will I be in the field. I was told that this job may not be a good fit for somebody in my position because the amount of work that is required and that I would not be able to meet the other demands in my life. Just being honest and I want to find out if this is an reasonable assumption.

It seems the job comes first and family comes second. The job may be a better fit for a younger person with no real obligations.

What are your thoughts?

 

I am an ASR with Stryker. Some divisions are tougher than others when it comes to quality of life. Trauma for example is on call 24/7. If you are an ASR you will be the one on call not your rep. Some divisions are better than others but there is no denying the hours are tough. That being said when you are a full time rep you eat what you kill. You can make a ton of coin. The rep I work with makes right around 400k. Family life is all about setting the expectations. If you want to have a laid back job and make 150k then great but that is not easy to live off of when you have a big family. College alone is 200k these days per kid. This is a different America. If you are the sole provider you need to make coin to live comfortably. If your wife understands why you are working as hard ad you are she will support your efforts. I honestly haven't seen any effects of negativity with my family to bring up another point. It all depends on each individual and what their family life is like. Now to be honest it will be extremely tough for a 38 year old to get an ASR role. Stryker is looking to hire 23-30 from what I've seen but that's just me. Good luck regardless. Change what's typical. Sell yourself!

 

Thanks for the awesome response. Good luck with your career. I am sue you will do just fine. Thanks.

 

Another aspect to think of would be pay--most asr's make between 40k-70k. Depending on where someone is in their career and what they are willing to do for long term, it may be a temporary pay cut for long term gain. For somebody in your position, that pay may not be doable depending on your income needs...

As for the position itself, while you are basically the b*tch, there are plenty of times where your schedule can be free and if you have a good relationship with your sales rep, you can work with schedules and expectations.

From somebody who was an ASR and now a sales rep, it was definitely worth all the hours and hard work.

Best of luck

 

ASR depends on the division and the Rep. The pay is negotiable and Stryker does pay their ASR's pretty well. About a year ago I interview for a Recon Direct ASR position with Stryker, they ended up choosing someone with much more experience but offered me a Trauma ASR. Pay was 95k plus YE bonus with expenses, car allowance and benefits. I would just look into Spine, Recon, Sports Med and Neuro. Those jobs tend to have little, if any on call work. I wouldn't do Trauma for anything less than 250k and I'm 25 with no family, but hey I want a life to. I work for Globus Medical, they are hiring reps left and right and pay really well. ASR's can make anywhere from 85-180k. Good luck!

 

Hey Mr. Globus Medical guy- you know if they're hiring in Los Angeles?

 

Hi Everyone...new to the thread. I'm in the process of interviewing with Stryker Ortho for an ASR position. I'm wondering how much things have or haven't changed since many of the older posts on this board. Seeing a lot of old talk about the Gallup, which I've heard nothing about so far from the company. I had a phone interview and was told I was being recommended for a face to face next.

The questions I have are:
Does Stryker offer a base + commission or is it a draw situation? If there is a base, does anyone know what the ballpark is and is the commission/bonus paid once a year or quarterly? I was told at the end of my phone interview that the position was around 70k/year but how that is earned was not elaborated on.
Is there a company car or allowance? If either, what is it?
Lastly, I was told I would be on call. Does anyone know what the typical frequency of that is in Ortho?
By the way, I am located in Indiana. I don't know if that makes a difference in terms of a base salary (if cost of living effects that) or not.

I have ten years b2b sales experience and am very eager to get into this field, not just because of the money, but because I love the medical field and being in the OR would be a dream for me. The combination of making good money (even if it takes a few years) plus doing something I love would be terrific. Any advice or insight is much appreciated!!

Thank you in advance for your help

 

I just had a phone interview and am being sent on to the management in the area for more interviewing. They said the base for the ASR is $50K (1/3 of my regular earnings)-- I am willing to take a hit for a year but is that number set in stone? Is Recon a huge call position. I know trauma is. I have 20+ years in medical sales and 10+ of that is start up biotech.... so I know what it is like to work hard. I am just not sure I can swing $50K for a whole year. Any input is great! Thanks! oh-- and I am athletic and a girl and few are as competitive as me.... in a sweet way of course....haha.

 

skimammoth
I had the same experience good phone interview with the hr guy but he was fixated on what I was making, and said the job paid 30% less than im making and below my low range. I was astonished, this was before reviewing job particulars and again after the job, it was like the low pay is most important consideration.
Question to All.......Is this a test to see how well you stick to your bottom line? Or are they all jerks?

 

The guy was being realistic. It's no secret that money is a large reason we got into this career field, and the HR dept wants to make sure you understand what your financial situation is going to be. Some people assume that they will get an ASR role, and 8 to 12 months later be making the big money because they'll get promoted. But, that's rarely the case. You could be in an ASR role for a couple years (longer if you're with Ortho and not willing to move) and you have to be willing to exist on what you're making.
Another reason is that if you're making 30% more than what Stryker is offering, they have to look out for people who come on board for a year and then leave once they have the experience on their resume. It's common when you're coming from a b2b background with no medical device experience, and you see it every day.
When I took my ASR role with them some years ago, they did ask me more than once if I was okay with the salary level. Not that they were going to change it, but they wanted to make sure I got it. Really got it. That I wasn't just willing to accept something that could end up being a bad decision.
Granted, I left Stryker some four years later after three years as a full rep, but I'm glad they pushed the salary portion. Too many people just say yes and pay for it later.
From my own personal experience: at one point in my career I accepted a full territory manager position with low base pay. I didn't care because I knew I would make it just fine after commission and worried more about hitting my number. What I failed to realize is that when you take an expansion territory, it may take you a year if not more to really build up your business and you live off your base till then. Wish the HR guy at that place had pushed the salary point more!

 

Looking for information on ASR-navigaton position. Any information would be helpful-pay, expectations.....thanks!

 

navigation postion is waste of time. you will be in and out in 8 months.

 

Might have changed things around from when I was an ASR at Nav, but you can expect mid 50's to low 60's depending on your experience. No COLA, so you'll make the same whether you're working in Shinola West Virginia or NYC.
Expectations are pretty strong. You'll be expected to learn a TON of info in a few weeks at most. I'm talking anatomy (ortho, neuro, ENT, and spine), confusing equipment and more importantly you'll have to learn to trouble shoot. There are only three technicians in Stryker Nav, so you'll end up doing ALL the repairs and software maintenance. The rep will have you running trays to hospitals for cases and you'll find yourself doing most of the long and boring neuro cases.
Expect to work 12 hours a day at least. Expect to drive to the middle of nowhere to cover the cases the rep doesn't feel like driving to. I did it as an ASR, and truth be told I expected my ASR to do that when I became a full time rep. It's not hazing, it's just a matter of fact that the rep has to deal with pressure from a billion different directions and has earned their bones.
Expect to learn how to deal with some of the worst Ortho and Neuro docs in the world. They have .05 inch long fuzes and will blame the system for any mistake. There are some really great docs, too, but they're the Loch Ness docs that are rarely seen on video.
But, at the end of the day, you'll be helping to sell the toughest medical device equipment out there. It is not the standard of care for any surgical procedure (maybe neuro), and the competition will undercut pricing everytime. You'll learn a ton if your rep is good and you can expect a position to open for you in about 12 to 18 months if you are willing to relocate. Turnover rate for ASR's is very high and burnout is common. Reps turn over a lot too, which is why I feel confident you'll get a full sales position in less than two years if you aren't a numbskull.

 

I appreciate the feedback. Get the impression it is a love it or leave it company with a high degree of turnover. Are the expections unreasonable or is the job unreasonable due to expectaions? How is the support system?

 

Bit of both, really. There are 7 or 8 reps that routinely kill it every year, and management just doesn't really understand why everyone isn't doing the same. So, you get slammed with a huge quota, and if you make it your first year, don't expect a break the next year. Two years in a row and you'll get some breathing room.
Hours are so long because cases can really drag on. I never stepped into a total joint case that started within one hour of it's scheduled time, and I only had one or two neuro cases that lasted under 5 hours.
Here's where it gets sticky-- you aren't supposed to really give much in the way of support. Sell the equipment and move on. Bad business model, and Nav knows it.
Even if it's the best equipment available (I'm biased), it's too damn expensive.
Reps that last more than 3 years are truly tenured.

 

the only thing i know is that stryker reps are ALL DOUCHEBAGS and SYCOPHANTS. male and female. bottom line

 

Oh didn't get the job so sorry

 

Noooooo! If you are a father, a husband, a decent human being, run as fast as you can. I can promise you, as the wife of a long time medical sales man, a good man, they will in every way undermine your values and your family. Trust me, I almost lost mine because of the fine folks in med sales. 5 different med companies. 5 ways of getting screwed. Your wife and your children will need a good guy much more than the money you think you may find. And if you do give it a shot, please know that if you refuse to conform, you might not get fired but they'll reduce your territory till the foreclose sign is on your yard. Please, run far far away.

 

which five companies was he with?

 

5 companies? Must be a stud sales guy.
Please elaborate. He should be a CEO. Agree?