Medical Device Sales Interview Questions (and How to Answer Them)
What to expect across four to seven medical device sales interviews, the questions you'll be asked, how to build STAR stories, and why you must close every interview.
Anthony Giglia
· 3 min read
You can generally expect four to seven interviews, depending on the company and its timeline. Some processes run a little longer, and some a little shorter.
The typical interview process
Your first interview is usually an introductory phone call with a recruiter, though it can also be a HireVue assessment.
This initial phase checks that you come across as normal and easy to talk to, that you have high energy and excitement, and that your background holds up when you walk someone through it. It’s really a screening, not a full evaluation. You should be very comfortable walking through your resume.
After the initial screening, your next conversation is normally with the hiring manager. This is one of the most important phases. You need to have a lasting impact because this is the person making the decision, and their first impression of you matters significantly.
Before that conversation, make sure you know:
- The company and its history
- How the company is structured
- Any recent news
- Its mission statement
- The products and the division you applied to
- Why that division interests you specifically
You also need to be able to walk through your resume. Be concise. You don’t want to go on and on explaining everything you’ve ever done. Keep your introduction under 60 seconds.
After that, it’s common to receive a personality or behavioral assessment, such as the Gallup, depending on the company. Later interviews are usually with other regional managers and reps, and you may be invited to shadow a rep in the field (here’s how to ace a ride-along). Your final interview is often with a director, VP, or another senior leader.
Questions you should be ready to answer
You’ll get questions like “Why medical device sales?” and “Why our company?”
You want your answer to be centered on making an impact. For “Why our company?”, a good approach is to tie the company’s mission statement into your answer. Explain why you align with its values and mission and why you’re excited about building a career there.
Other questions you should be ready for include:
- What is your sales strategy?
- Name a time you overcame rejection.
- Describe your most significant accomplishment.
- What is your number one weakness?
- Why should we hire you?
It’s extremely important to rehearse and study the common questions you’ll get. It’s immediately obvious to the person sitting across from you who has prepared thoroughly and who is just winging it.
Prepare STAR stories
Have about five stories prepared using the STAR structure:
- Situation: What was happening?
- Task: What were you responsible for?
- Action: What did you do?
- Result: What happened as a result?
Building your stories this way helps you keep your answers tight under pressure and makes sure you always land on a result.
Prepare your questions and close the interview
You need to have questions prepared for every single interview. If you don’t, you’ll come across as uninterested or unprepared.
You also need to close every interview. If you don’t close the hiring manager, you’re not going to move forward in the interview process.
Interviewing for pharma instead? The process is similar; here are the pharmaceutical sales interview questions to expect.
