The Breaking Into Device: Top 50 Medical Device Sales Interview Questions and Answers sole mission is to provide you with the tools needed to ​consistently ace the medical device sales interview and receive multiple offers.

The interview questions in this guide were fielded from commonly asked questions for Sales Representative, Associate Sales Representative, or equivalent roles at Stryker, Johnson & Johnson, Zimmer Biomet, Smith & Nephew, NuVasive, Coloplast, Intuitive, and other highly competitive medical device companies.

Let's tackle the top questions and review the true meaning of the question, the intent of the question, common pitfalls, and lastly, an example answer. The full guide can be downloaded for free here.

1.  What are your strengths?
2. Give an example of when you lost a customer’s loyalty. Did you get it back, if yes, how so?
3. Describe a time when things didn't go as planned. Were you able to get your plans back on track?
4. Provide an example of a time you failed. How did you handle it?

5. How would your best customer describe you?

You will get the most out of this guide if you are:

• A college student or recent graduate interested in landing a role in medical device sales but don’t know where to start
• An experienced professional who wants a transparent, step-by-step guide packed with actionable steps on how to break into medical device sales
• Going thru the medical device sales interview process and want to increase your chance at landing the role

This guide contains content for you to:

1. Review the fundamentals of answering an interview question
2. Understand the types of questions asked during the interview process
3. Decipher the interviewer’s underlying intent of the question, pitfalls to avoid, and example responses vetted by seasoned device sales representatives

Without further ado, let’s dive in.

What are your strengths?

Give an example of when you lost a customer’s loyalty. Did you get it back, if yes, how so?

When I was working as an Account Representative at , I was responsible for managing the relationship for 

. It is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the US. Although this was not one of our larger customers, this account still did a sizable amount of business with us.

had just placed a massive order for one of our polymer additive lines —​ manufacturing process for a new line of car parts. ​ the product was going to be used in their manufacturing process for a new line of car parts.

Unfortunately, due to an oversight on my end, the wrong lead times were communicated to 

— the lead times I quoted were 2 months sooner than we were able to deliver on. I immediately escalated this to my manager to chart the best course of action. I called our customer to inform them of the delay. They were not happy as this meant a delay in their production.

From the get-go, I took immediate ownership of the delay with our customer and took the initiative to identify possible solutions. As a result, I was able to find a similar product through one of our channel partners that was ready to ship immediately. I called 

back with the proposal, offering a discount due to the inconvenience, and thankfully they agreed to it. Due to my quick thinking, I was able to restore some of the trust that had been lost.

This experience taught me the important lesson of not overpromising. To combat this, I started to outline items that I can and cannot promise at the beginning of my relationship with a customer. Secondly, I learned the importance of being creative in navigating alternatives when things go south to help salvage a relationship.

Describe a time when things didn't go as planned. Were you able to get your plans back on track?

, I was assigned a new client in the technology accessories industry to run advertising campaigns for. This client did roughly $50M in revenue and was looking to ramp up its digital advertising to fuel growth. I had 6 months to demonstrate that our services prove profitable for our client.

During our discovery phase, we baselined our target acquisition cost and our lead generation targets. Within 6 weeks of launch, our metrics were atrocious. The acquisition cost was nearly double our target, and our lead generation strategy yielded 1⁄4 of our benchmark. My client was not happy - it was bleeding money. I needed to adjust the course quickly.

I spent many nights combing through the campaign data to identify problems. I realized that a specific customer segment on a particular platform was responsible for most of our losses. We cut it out. Additionally, I introduced a new platform, YouTube, to our channel mix, which performed excellently. Combining these two changes resulted in a 70% decrease in acquisition cost and a 15% increase in top of funnel lead generation.

My ability to quickly address poor performance and commit to testing new strategies made this campaign successful. Although stressful in the moment, this experience was instrumental in my growth.

Provide an example of a time you failed. How did you handle it?

How would your best customer describe you?

, a facilities management provider, would describe me as a sharp, strategic thinker.

From day one, I committed myself to understanding the organization’s strategic objectives.

had a 5 year plan to modernize its IT infrastructure — everything from pay cards to human resource systems. This vision was the golden child of the Board of Directors and there was a top-down push to adopt the transformation.

We were tasked with pitching GPS fleet tracking devices for 

’s field vehicles. I kept the company’s strategic objective top of mind. I worked with our engineering team to develop an innovative way for our tracking devices to interface data with the new systems the company was implementing. This significantly reduced processing time and increased cost visibility company-wide. No other competitor had the insight to seek out these custom integrations. As a result, we sealed the deal.

In the process, I forged an excellent relationship with a Senior Director. He commended me for my strategic thinking and was thrilled with the capabilities we provide. My willingness to go at lengths to understand their vision has continued to pay dividends.