I appreciate what I have

There seems to be some people in these forums (or just trolls) who really don't appreciate being a rep, or really make light of the career as if we are useless. I recently started as an ASR in spine and I think its the best job I've ever had! Its way better than my last 2 jobs, and it sure as hell beats actually working in medicine. I'm only an ASR so I'm not making anything close to big bucks but I'm just happy about the lifestyle, people I work with, and the cool hardware! I read somewhere on here we are "glorified caterers" or "glorified box openers". Yes that can be said but can't you belittle any job? I know a bunch of ER docs who think they either treat people so sick they will die anyways, or people who don't even need to be in an ER at all. They constantly ask themselves why they went to med school.

Also, reps here and some OR staff can talk about how "we don't do anything" but how many times has a case gotten bumped to an earlier, OR staff didn't notify us, and now were getting calls from frantic OR staff asking where we are because they want to start. Not to mention when we actually get into the OR you can feel the tension dissipate because we are there to support the OR staff.

So yea I might be new, yea I might be young, and yeaaaa the reimbursement isn't as good as it was "back in the day" but are you really complaining about several hundred K per year and how that "isn't enough". If you really aren't happy then stop posting on this forum and retire or get a new job because there are ASRs like me that will we be waiting with a fork and knife while salivating staring down your territory. I love my fellow stryker boys (and girls), but shouldn't we be more thankful for what we have? And most importantly, business is business. This applies to all you pleb synthes, medtronic, zimmer, or other reps reading this as well.

 

Get a life you weirdo.....check back in after 9 yrs

 

Eloquent in its brevity. what exactly will happen in 9 years? I'll complain about working 30 hours per week average and "only" make 300k? HA, I would consider 50k to be a lot of money to me right now. Also making a post which took two minutes to make means I have no life? lol and here you are commenting on it =).

 

What is an "ASR"? Isn't that on recall?

 

Associate sales rep. Working underneath a sales rep with their own territory learning the trade. When you have enough training and a territory is available you became a full sales rep with your own territory and have a chance making some real money.

 

Wrong, ASR is recalled. You want help that's coming out of your pocket soon.

 

Enjoying your first month on the job huh?

I'm sure the OR was deeply relieved to see an associate rep come save the day. How else could the spine surgeon have gotten the case done?

 

I golfed 4 times last week while my asr filled my pockets with cash. Love this business model. Every 2 years I get a young and dumb one who ready to do all the work again.

 

I love the OP's passion. It's great that he likes his job and is putting in the work. I agree with everything he said. It is a cool job. However he is missing some knowledge on the subject matter of spine. This business will eventually be so commoditized that it will be very tough to make those "hundreds" of thousands he is hoping to make. It's still possible today but over the next 2-3 years it will be tougher and the successful reps will be in the $150-180 range. Still a good living but $250+ days are coming to an end. My advice to the OP is to continue your ASR route for 1-2 years, create phenomenal relationships in your hospitals and look to get into a gig selling new technology like software or game changing capital down the road. One more thing. Do people really love standing in the OR for 10 hours a day? I can tell you I don't miss it. Good luck either way.

 

you can joke all you would like and clearly I'm no omnipotent spine God like you, but when you get their it does make a difference even if its just having you there in the room. In that one case the scrub tech was really not familiar with the sets and our presence made it go more smoothly.

 

Thats the way the system works. hopefully one day I'll be doing the same, except sailing.

 

Finally someone who isn't bitter! Thank you for the advice I will def keep your words of wisdom in mind! And yes I enjoy the OR quite a bit. I'm not sure what most of you did before being a rep but my last job was absolutely brutal day in and day out working in medicine. I'm talking a deep dark valley of nothing but pain, frustration, stress, and verbal/physical abuse from patients all the time. So standing in the OR having no patient responsibilities, no shift work, and only being responsible for the hardware is paradise to me personally. What I used to make in one paycheck doing much more stressful, dirty, back breaking work reps make in a few cases.

Again, I understand what you are saying in terms of the reimbursement is going down steadily in spine. As I said before I would consider making 50k really good money compared to what I am making now and what I made at my last job, but that does not mean I will not heed your warnings about where spine is going. Thank you for your input

 

Aaaaaah the perfect ASR. Thinks making $50k is great....this means they can keep working you and giving you a little raise once in a while to keep you happy while the big boys go earn the business. People who succeeded in this business puke at the thought of making that type of money so they kill to make more. You sir do not have that desire

 

oh, how we all forget where we came from. OP situation is 100% typical of any ASR in the business. All the venom is from reps who were once ASR so they know how much it sucked. you get shit on for 2 years, prove yourself, keep your nose clean, and hopefully get a cut . All the senior guys know the drill, so don't act like we have this profound plan to keep all the commission and do the least amount of work, its the benefits of tenure, as with any job. We all do it. Thats how it works. However, we all know times have changed, so your income ceiling has significantly lowered. but still decent money. Reminds me of the guys who were hazed in the frat, promised to changed the way pledging is handled, then ultimately become the worst hazing offenders. Not knocking it, just the way it goes. hopefully the senior reps saved some money from the the golden years. if so, you can cruise on 100k if spending wisely. Like me. As much as it has fallen, still better than 90% of the jobs out there. Ill ride it out. Best of luck!!

 

paying your dues young buck .

 

"You get there" would be correct you F-king idiot haha

 

So you weren't there by yourself? Your presence had nothing to do with the feelings everyone had when you walked into the room. Has anyone told you that your title says Sales Representative, not Goodwill Ambasador. Don't get the impression that your job, should you ever advance, is to stand around in the OR all day making everyone one love you and feel good about you being there to tell them how to do their jobs.

 

it's great that you enjoy your position, have a positive outlook, and are seemingly upbeat and ambitious. However, do yourself a favor and print out your post for your own records.

Review this piece of paper 3 to 5 years from now. You will laugh at how naive, young, and green you were. You will learn a lot during this 3-5 year period about yourself, this industry, and Stryker as an organization.

Be more realistic, NOT idealistic. Stay driven but know that the best and the worst is yet to come. Be humble and develop a tough skin. Your going to take a lot of crap and be humiliated regularly. Toughen up, work hard, and always have a backup plan. There is little job security in this industry as you will find out. Continue to learn. Good luck to you.

Now order another Shirley Temple and consider switching to whiskey.

 

Great post and hilarious and true.

OP, read this about 100 times and try your best to understand it. Stryker is a good company, but one that over charges its customers and uses its sales reps, so watch your back.

Here is a great piece of advice for you: NEVER discuss anything about your personal life to your co worker, and always be positive when you are around them. You will find many jerks in your organization, so watch your back. Here is a good book to look at that might help: SNAKES IN SUITS.

 

How true. If only i followed this advice earlier in my career. would have saved a lot of heartache.