Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Athletes in Medical Device Sales

Former collegiate athletes are often considered good candidates for medical device sales. Obviously, having been involved in competitive athletics alone is not enough to qualify you for a sales role in our industry, but in combination with other relevant experience, it can contribute to the foundation of a solid career.

Last year I helped hire one such candidate. He competed for the University of Northern Colorado in track and field and was an NCAA All-American in the decathlon. In addition to his athletic achievements, he was a four-time NCAA Academic All American and completed both and undergraduate and master's degree in kinesiology. Today I'll chat with him about how his background as a competitive athlete has proven relevant to his success as a medical device rep.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your time this morning. You were hired last year in part because of your persistence and track record of achievement (no pun intended). Of course, the fact that you have a master’s degree in kinesiology didn’t hurt either. By all reports, you’ve be quite successful so far.

What would you say to other competitive athletes like yourself about why they should consider a career in medical device sales with Linvatec?

Anonymous said...

I believe Linvatec is a great opportunity for athletes because it provides you with that competitiveness that you have experienced your whole life in athletics. Many athletes get very down and depressed when their athletic careers come to a screeching end but working for Linvatec as a medical device sales rep I have been able to accomplish the same feelings that I did when I was competing at the elite levels of athletics. It is a very competitive and rewarding oppurtunity just like athletics.

Anonymous said...

How does your experience as a competitive athlete relate to your day-to-day experience as a rep?

Anonymous said...

Funny you should ask because there is a very strong correlation. As an elite athlete I got used to putting in many grueling hours every day to become the best athlete I could. I also had to work extremely hard at numerous techniques to mold myself into an athletic machine. The same thing goes for my job as a rep. The more hours you put in, the more business you get and the more hard work and effort you put in to learn the products, techniques, and business aspect the more your business will grow.

Anonymous said...

Do you find that the surgeons you deal with are interested in your athletic background? Does it come up often?

Anonymous said...

Definitely. For the majority, doctors love sports and athletics. I think it runs in their blood! Once they find out you were an athlete they will immediately open up and gain as much info as possible. After my track career I was contacted by a few NFL teams for some tryouts which obviously did not work because I’m talking to you all right now. But when one doc found out about this he stopped in the middle of a case for 5 min talking with me about the many experiences of being an athlete. From there on out I have been very close with this doc.

Anonymous said...

Are many of the patients you observe in surgery athletes?

Anonymous said...

I would say a fair amount of the patients are athletes. I see a lot of high school and college football and basketball players with torn rotator cuffs or acl’s. It is funny to see the treatment that pro athletes receive though. One of my facilities houses the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche team doctors and when they are working on one of these athletes the entire facility seems to be a little uneasy because the docs are so focused in hopes of doing a good job and the rest of the staff doesn’t want to make any mistakes either.

Anonymous said...

There is a physical aspect to being a rep for Linvatec that I’m not sure everyone realizes: lugging monitors around, setting up video carts, “running” from one case to the next. How important is it to be in good shape for this job?

Anonymous said...

Well this is the perfect time to ask that because I have been doing evals with two towers back and forth at two different facilities by myself and it becomes very demanding hauling all that equipment all over the place. The other day I felt like a moving company because I had to make trip after trip to a hospital to set up two of these towers. As some of you probably know the tower carts are not very light so loading those in and out of my truck does take some strength. Like you said you are running around all day so there is a certain level of endurance that does help to keep you focused and keep you pushing forward at the end of the day.

Anonymous said...

Oh, that's funny, a moving company. Well,I won’t keep you any longer from your very busy day. Thanks so much for your time. Your comments express so much better than I ever could why medical device sales can be a rewarding career choice for athletes, reasons that really go above and beyond money. Maybe personal fulfillment would be a good way to describe it.

Have a great day!

Anonymous said...

Definelty a great way to describe it! Thanks!

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Anonymous said...

I work for stryker. college athletes are good as reps not managers, they are too meatheaded, sometimes a fair amount of knowledge and problem solving ability is needed and all too often we run into reps that arne't smart enough to do anything