Making the switch FROM medical sales

anonymous

Guest
Have had a successful career in medical device sales (individual, management). Laid off mid pandemic when the sky was falling and have been seeking a new position for several months. Does anyone have advice on industries they have transitioned into outside of medical?
 




Look at biotech, oncology, specialty pharma positions. I was laid off from a device role (mass restructuring years back) , ended up with a pharma position where I earn more and have way more perks with a much better qol. Car, benefits all add up to more than you may think!
 




Look at biotech, oncology, specialty pharma positions. I was laid off from a device role (mass restructuring years back) , ended up with a pharma position where I earn more and have way more perks with a much better qol. Car, benefits all add up to more than you may think!

would you be willing to name a few I should look into? I’m currently with Medtronic. Being worked to death.
 








I did the same after 20+ in Device and moved into Ultra Rare Disease. Comp/Quality of Life is great and benefits too. Make sure if you can to go with a small company. BIG PHARMA isn’t great and seems to be hyper focused on DE&I
and also sucks the life out of any entrepreneurial spirit you may have.
 




would you be willing to name a few I should look into? I’m currently with Medtronic. Being worked to death.

do some research on disease states and other areas which are growing or at least not going anywhere. diabetes, oncology, rare disease, immune disorders ( thanks to our vaccines), companies with MRNA, anything involving AI. big pharma can be soul sucking, but as a senior level rep with the right perspective on life it's not a bad gig.
 




do some research on disease states and other areas which are growing or at least not going anywhere. diabetes, oncology, rare disease, immune disorders ( thanks to our vaccines), companies with MRNA, anything involving AI. big pharma can be soul sucking, but as a senior level rep with the right perspective on life it's not a bad gig.


Oncology rep for Biotech here. Biotech is/was great but big pharma companies are literally buying them all and bringing big pharma managers into the mix so its increasingly ALL big pharma which is the wrong approach for oncology or rare disease. You simply cannot follow the metrics playbook as you can only see oncologists by appt a few times (if at all) per year. Territories are cut small so you run out of stuff to do. Quarterly goals are sky high so don't count on bonus. That said, base salaries start at $180k and top off at $210 and target bonuses are $48-50. Morale is pretty low at most companies. In fact, I can't think of any good biotechs anymore. I would have said Seagen (Seattle Genetics) but Merck is trying to acquire them. All of the small biotech's with therapies that are in phase 3 are targeted to get acquired either before they launch or soon after. Its a risky game.
 




I did the same after 20+ in Device and moved into Ultra Rare Disease. Comp/Quality of Life is great and benefits too. Make sure if you can to go with a small company. BIG PHARMA isn’t great and seems to be hyper focused on DE&I
and also sucks the life out of any entrepreneurial spirit you may have.

Who do you work for? I want out of the OR
 




I don’t blame you. Although it’s super
cool, the OR is a time suck. I left the OR for more money and waaaay better work/life balance. I went to big pharma - it’s not so bad since you can take time off and not have to worry about not having your cases covered. Any sales person can deal with metrics - it’s not that hard. It’s way worse to have to forecast and take daily calls from your boss wanting to know your numbers all the time. Take anything you can get. Oncology is very well paid. Buy and bill pharma is good too. Biotech great. You should have no problem finding several interesting openings.