This week we focus on what most job seekers get wrong, what a device job posting is actually telling you, and how to walk into any interview more prepared than everyone else in the room.
THE EDITOR’S NOTE
A few thoughts from the field before we get into it…
The most prepared candidate in the room, more often than not, gets the job. Not necessarily the most experienced. Not the one with the most impressive resume. The one who did the work to understand the industry, the company, and the role before they ever walked through the door.
When I was building my career, I spent a lot of time figuring out how this industry actually worked. Not the surface-level version, but the real version: how products got sold, how hospitals made purchasing decisions, how companies competed with each other, and what actually mattered to the people doing the hiring. Nobody handed me a guide. I figured it out the hard way, over years of doing the job.
The whole point of this newsletter is to compress that learning curve. This week we go deep on the job search side: how to read a device job posting the right way, what questions to ask in your interview, and how to build the kind of industry knowledge that makes you stand out before you have a single day of device experience on your resume.
If you are trying to break in or make a move, this one is for you.
Glad you're here. Let's get into it.
Andy Knapik, Founder
The Modern Med Rep
INDUSTRY INTEL
What's moving in med device this week and why it matters
Five Things Shaping the Industry Right Now
→ Medtronic was ordered to pay $382 million in an antitrust case.
A California jury found that Medtronic illegally used bundled contracts to block a smaller competitor, Applied Medical, from selling its products to hospitals. The practice penalized hospitals financially if they bought from a competitor. Medtronic plans to appeal. For job seekers, this is worth knowing because bundled contracts and GPO agreements are real factors in how hospitals buy devices, and understanding this dynamic makes you a more informed candidate.
→ Smith & Nephew and Imperial College London launched a surgical robotics innovation center.
The partnership is designed to accelerate development of next-generation robotic surgery tools. It is another sign that the robotics investment wave we have been tracking since Issue #001 is not slowing down and is now expanding into academic-commercial partnerships.
→ A brain-computer interface company is challenging Neuralink without requiring brain surgery.
Non-invasive BCI technology is entering the medical device conversation as a future commercial segment. It is early, but BCI is worth adding to your awareness of where the next frontier of device innovation is heading.
→ Integer Holdings was taken private by KKR for $5.7 billion.
Integer is one of the largest medical device contract manufacturers in the world, making components used in implants, surgical tools, and electrophysiology devices. A private equity take-private of this scale signals continued institutional confidence in medtech manufacturing as a long-term business.
→ Mid-market and PE-backed device companies are among the most active hirers in 2026.
While the big names get most of the attention, smaller and mid-sized companies scaling after acquisitions or preparing for commercial expansion are hiring aggressively. For job seekers, these companies often offer faster growth, broader roles, and more access to decision-makers than large organizations.
MARKET SPOTLIGHT
A deep dive into the segments, companies and technologies shaping the industry
How to Read a Medical Device Job Posting Like an Insider
Most people read a device job posting the same way they read any job posting: they scan the title, skim the requirements, decide whether they are qualified, and apply or move on. That approach misses a significant amount of information that is sitting right there in the language of the posting itself.
Here is what the language is actually telling you, and how to use it.
"Competitive" or "competitive compensation."
This tells you nothing about what the role actually pays. What it does signal is that base salary is probably lower than you expect, and the real money is in commission. When you see "competitive," plan to ask directly in the interview what the base, OTE, and commission structure look like.
"Territory management" or "own your territory."
This signals a direct sales role where you are responsible for a defined geography, your own customer relationships, and hitting a number. If the role is entry level, look for whether there is a ramp period mentioned. A role that expects territory ownership from day one with no ramp is a red flag for someone new to device.
"Clinical support" or "case support."
This typically signals a clinical specialist role, where a significant part of your job is being present in procedures to support surgeons and OR staff. These are excellent entry points into device. If you have no OR experience, expect to be asked about your comfort in clinical environments.
"1099" or "independent contractor."
This means no base salary, no benefits, commission only, and you cover your own expenses and taxes. Some experienced reps prefer this model. For someone breaking in, a 1099 role with no base is a difficult starting point. Know what you are signing up for.
"Must have existing relationships" or "established surgeon relationships preferred."
This company wants someone who can bring business with them, not build it from scratch. If you are early in your career, look for postings that mention training programs, mentorship tracks, or ramp periods instead.
The one question that cuts through any posting:
"Is this a new territory or an existing one?" A new territory means building from zero. An existing territory means there is already a customer base. Both can be good, but they require very different skills. Ask this in every first interview.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
Where the jobs are, what’s paying, and how to position yourself to get there
How to Research a Company Before You Apply
Industry Foundation: Not all medical device companies are the same, and knowing the difference changes how you research and target them.
Medical device companies generally fall into three categories. Large-cap companies like Stryker, Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson, and Abbott are publicly traded giants with established commercial infrastructure, formal training programs, and brand recognition that open hospital doors. Mid-size companies occupy the middle ground — often publicly traded or PE-backed, with real commercial scale but more room for individual impact and faster career movement. Startups are early-stage companies, often venture-backed, building their commercial teams from scratch around a single product or platform.
Each type offers something different. Large companies offer structure, resources, and credibility. Mid-size companies often offer more responsibility earlier and a closer view of how the business actually operates. Startups offer the highest upside and the highest risk — you are building something, which is exciting and demanding in equal measure. Knowing which type you are targeting shapes everything about how you research, how you position yourself, and what questions you ask. If you want to understand how to evaluate each type of company and what to look for before you apply, the Med Device Career Decoder covers it at themodernmedrep.com.
Most job seekers spend 90% of their preparation time on their resume and 10% on the company. The candidates who get offers tend to have that ratio flipped. Here is how to actually research a device company before you apply or interview.
Start with the product. Find out exactly what the company sells, what clinical problem it solves, and which surgeons or physicians use it. When you can describe what the company does in one clear sentence and explain why it matters to a patient, you are already ahead of most candidates.
Understand the competitive landscape. Every device company has competitors. Know who they are and what makes the company you are targeting different. Hiring managers will ask "Why us?" A generic answer about culture is forgettable. An answer that shows you understand the market the company operates in is not.
Look at the territory before the interview. If you know the geography of the role, research the hospitals, surgery centers, and physician practices in that area. Walking in with specific knowledge of the territory signals that you are already thinking like a rep, not like a job applicant.
Find people who have worked there. Search LinkedIn for current and former reps at the company. Former employees are often willing to talk, and a fifteen-minute conversation with someone who has done the job will tell you more than any job posting or Glassdoor review.
The goal of all this research:
Walk into the interview knowing more about the company, the product, the territory, and the competition than the hiring manager expects any candidate to know. That level of preparation is rare. When you do it, you will be remembered.
THE MED INSIDER
One thing every med device professional should know this week
What the Medtronic Antitrust Case Means for You
The $382 million verdict against Medtronic is not just a legal story. It is a window into one of the most important commercial dynamics in medical device: how large companies use contracts to control what hospitals buy.
Here is the plain-language version of what happened. Applied Medical makes a surgical device that seals blood vessels. Medtronic makes a competing device called LigaSure. Applied alleged that Medtronic offered hospitals deep discounts on its broader product portfolio, but only if those hospitals agreed not to buy Applied's competing device. A jury agreed and awarded Applied $382 million.
This practice, called bundled contracting, is a common commercial strategy used by large device companies to lock in hospital business across multiple product lines. For a rep at a smaller company, it is one of the most common obstacles you will encounter. A hospital may tell you they cannot use your product because of a contract commitment to a competitor, even if your product is clinically superior or less expensive.
For job seekers, understanding that this dynamic exists is genuinely useful. If you interview at a smaller company and the hiring manager asks how you would approach a hospital that has an exclusive contract with a competitor, you now know what they are asking. That is not a hypothetical question. It is one of the core commercial challenges of the role.
The takeaway:
Hospital purchasing is not purely clinical. Contracts, pricing structures, and competitive agreements all play a role in what devices get used. The more you understand about how this works before you start, the faster you will get up to speed once you are in the field.
FROM THE FIELD
Your Questions, Answered
This week's question comes from someone preparing for their first device interview:
"I have an interview coming up for a medical device sales role. What should I be asking them?"
The questions you ask in an interview say as much about you as the answers you give. In device specifically, the right questions signal that you understand the business, not just that you want a job. Here are the ones that matter.
Is this a new territory or an existing one? This is the single most important question. If it is new, you are building from zero. If it is existing, ask what the territory's current performance looks like and what happened to the last rep.
What does the typical sales cycle look like? This tells you whether you are selling capital equipment with a twelve-month approval process or disposable products with a much faster close. Both are valid, but they require completely different skills and temperaments.
What does success look like in the first ninety days? This question shows you are already thinking about performance, not just getting the job. It also gives you concrete information about what the company expects from a new hire and how much ramp time you will realistically have.
How does the company support its reps in the field? Training, clinical education, marketing materials, inside sales support. The answer tells you a lot about whether the company invests in its commercial team or expects you to figure things out on your own.
Have a question? Reply to this email. The best ones make it into the next issue.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
- Benjamin Franklin
