Re: Tough situation- leaving a company when you want to relocate and cant within comp
I was in your shoes. here's my advice: don't leave your current position until you have been there closer to 3 years. you've already had 1 position where you only stayed 18 months. you don't want another one. the first one is an easy explanation because you were transitioning out of b2b and into medical so everyone understands that. the reasons you want to stick around are:
a) you need to show stability for other employers to give you strong consideration. most companies know that regardless of how successful you are, they don't recoup most of their investment in you (training, benefits, salary, etc) until about 24 months. so if you get a reputation of jumping every 2 years, sooner or later it will catch up with you because you may get overlooked by someone who views you as a flight risk before they break even on you.
b) you need to show long-term success in medical. i could look at someone who did 18-24 months of sales in 3 different companies who was successful and argue that they got lucky with timing. truly great reps are successful year-over-year.
keeping these 2 things in mind prepares you for the future to get/keep the high-paying opportunities. try to hang in there for another 18-24 months and i think it will be the right decision. and don't forget that you don't have to stay in the exact same niche of the industry when you make your move to a different location. you can bounce from your current niche into something else and round out your resume, etc. getting into medical is the hardest part. once you're in and show success and stability, you can typically write your ticket moving forward.
good luck
I agree completely with the post, great advice. My first medical device sales job out of college I hit the ground running, and within 9 months got promoted to a supervisor over 4 states and 17 associates, then (after a large acquisition, my company reorganized, and the middle management position I held was eliminated nationwide) so I was there for 2 years.
I then accepted a 1099 sales position with a local distributor, and was mislead on current customers and residual monthly revenue, (to find out 2 months after accepting the position ALL of those customer were for a product the company just lost because it went direct) I knew they had 3 new surgical products they were just taking on, so I thought it was a great opportunity, but bringing in new surgical products to a state has a lot of "leg work" before a trial and before an account is 100% converted and stocking product on the shelf. I was paying daycare for 2 children and as a 1099 paid for all expenses, lunches, dinners, etc out of pocket. Don't get me wrong, I succeeded, but about 11 months into my job, I was contacted by the largest neurostimulatior company wanting to hire me for a part time 1 year contract (that would positively turn into full time after the year. Great company, great product and I was a rock star!
And then AGAIN after a large acquisition, my company reorganized, the largest reorganization for this Fortune 500 company ever, and the realignment cut out all the 1 year contract sales reps.
So know here I am, with 3 jobs on my resume, (3 in 5 years) and even though I was successful, and always over plan, I'm struggling to find a position with a reputable company with good missions, values and products, because I know in the back of my head, some of the companies I've applied with do this with my resume - counting- 1,2,3, jobs since out of school, must be a "JOB HOPPER" and my resume is immediately placed in the trash.
