RSD hiring playbook
Screening Device Reps When You Are the TA Team
Regional sales directors often hire without dedicated talent acquisition. This guide gives you a repeatable screen—phone questions, résumé signals, and a one-week shortlist process—for specialty medical device roles.
No TA bench
RSD time is the bottleneck—not lack of applicants.
Specialty filter first
Screen lane before personality.
Same script every time
Structured phone screens beat gut feel.
Why RSD-led hiring breaks down
- You are hiring manager, screener, and closer—while running a live territory plan
- Generic job boards send volume without OR-aware specialty signal
- Pharma and unrelated B2B résumés look like device experience on keywords alone
- Every week unfilled is case coverage and pipeline you are covering yourself
One-week shortlist playbook
- Day 1–2: Write a specialty-specific JD; post where device candidates actually search
- Day 3–4: 15-minute phone screens—same five questions every time
- Day 5: Shortlist 3–5 for manager ride-along or case-based interview
- Week 2: Reference checks focused on OR credibility and follow-through
15-minute phone screen (ask every candidate)
Walk me through your last 90 days of case coverage—procedure types and call points
Listen for specifics, ownership, and procedure vocabulary.
What percentage of your quota came from new surgeons vs existing book?
Listen for specifics, ownership, and procedure vocabulary.
Describe a competitive takeaway—what changed in the account and why
Listen for specifics, ownership, and procedure vocabulary.
How do you prepare for a case you have not supported before?
Listen for specifics, ownership, and procedure vocabulary.
Why this specialty lane—and why leave your current company now?
Listen for specifics, ownership, and procedure vocabulary.
Résumé green flags
- Procedure-specific language (TLIF, TAVR, FESS—not just “medical sales”)
- Territory growth metrics with account context, not quota % alone
- Stable tenure with promotable story—not unexplained job hopping
- Hospital vs ASC mix that matches your selling environment
Résumé red flags
- Pharma or diagnostics background with no device case examples
- “Managed territory” with no surgeon names, case types, or growth proof
- Capital-only experience applying to high-volume consumables role (or reverse)
- Generic “exceeded quota” with no specialty or call-point detail
Need a shortlist without 15 hours of screening?
Post a specialty-tagged role and let matching surface device-ready candidates—so you spend time on finalists, not keyword mismatches.
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