One device/pharma recruiter is officially fed up with the state of hiring sales reps in medical devices and pharmaceuticals and how they are being compensated.
A post on the Medical Devices LinkedIn user group shows that Tamara Pearlman, who has been a recruiter for 20 years, sent a note to the group’s owner, marketer Joe Hage, and asked him not to bother with sending candidates because she is no longer doing medical devices/pharma recruiting.
She writes:
I’m dropping pharma and medical device recruiting for now. These companies are not paying their employees well and they’re cutting down on commissions. I’m sticking with technology, a very busy sector right now.
It’s been very difficult to help candidates understand that getting your foot in the “medical device door” requires at least three years’ capital equipment sales. Candidates who “want to break into the business” argue with me! I helped with their resumes and, now, it’s just time to move on.
The candid admission on the part of Pearlman prompted both kudos and brickbats. Dr. Pat Ridgely, a medical education consultant, commended her for her honest assessment of a “touchy subject.” Nathan McCole, another recruiter, echoed Pearlman and declared that given his only experience in trying to place some regional sales staff for an international device maker, he fully appreciates “why recruiters would not want to touch the medical devises sector!”
However, Bill Clemmons, a patent attorney with Smith and Nephew, took issue with the comments. He retorted:
“I’m sticking with technology, a very busy sector right now.” By this, I assume you mean the electronics and software industries, right? When did they obtain a monopoly on “technology”?
Most involved in the discussion, whether they agreed with Pearlman’s decision to bow out, did acknowledge that breaking into medical devices sales these days is extremely difficult because companies are only looking for candidates that have sold medical equipment in the past.
While acknowledging that market reality, Erik Zikos, another recruiter, advised candidates to look beyond their comfort zone. He said, “Those in spine, for example, may wish to look to new and emerging verticals such as molecular diagnostics for example.”
[Photo Credit: freedigitalphotos.net]
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By Arundhati Parmar
Arundhati Parmar is the Medical Devices Reporter at MedCity News. She has covered medical technology since 2008 and specialized in business journalism since 2001. Parmar has three degrees from three continents - a Bachelor of Arts in English from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India; a Masters in English Literature from the University of Sydney, Australia and a Masters in Journalism from Northwestern University in Chicago. She has sworn never to enter a classroom again.More posts by Author
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