When a MedTech Candidate Doesn't Tick Every Box: What Can You Compromise On?

What You Will Learn in This Post

• How to distinguish genuine must-haves from things a strong candidate could learn
• When transferable experience can compensate for a gap in someone's CV
• How to assess potential without relying on gut feeling
• What to consider before hiring somebody who doesn't meet every requirement

Finding somebody who meets every requirement on a MedTech job brief can be difficult.

Sometimes that person exists but isn't interested in moving. Sometimes the combination of experience you're looking for is extremely rare. And sometimes the brief has gradually become so specific that very few people could possibly meet it.

That leaves employers with a difficult question.

Do you keep searching for somebody who ticks every box, or consider a strong candidate who doesn't?

The answer isn't simply to lower your standards.

Some requirements genuinely are essential. Others can be learned. And sometimes a candidate hasn't done exactly what you're asking for but has enough relevant experience to give you good evidence that they could.

The important thing is knowing the difference.

Start With Why Each Requirement Is on the Brief

When you're recruiting, it's easy for a list of preferences to become a list of essentials.

You want somebody who knows the therapy area.

Ideally, they've sold a similar product.

It would be useful if they already know the customers.

Manufacturer experience would be preferable.

Five years would feel safer than three.

Before long, you're looking for somebody from a competitor doing almost exactly the same job in exactly the same geography.

Sometimes that's genuinely what the vacancy requires.

But for every requirement on the brief, ask:

Why do they need this?

If there's a clear answer, keep it.

If the answer is simply “that's what we've always recruited”, it may be worth looking again.

Separate Must-Haves From Learnable Experience

What genuinely needs to exist on day one will be different for every role.

A highly clinical position may require particular clinical knowledge or experience because the successful candidate needs to support customers safely and credibly from an early stage.

A senior sales position may require evidence of delivering against a significant commercial target.

A Sales Manager role may require demonstrable experience of leading and developing people.

Those aren't unreasonable requirements simply because they narrow the candidate pool.

But other things may be much easier to learn.

For example:

• Your particular product range
• Your CRM system
• Your internal processes
• Your sales methodology
• A neighbouring therapy area
• A different but related customer group

The question isn't whether a candidate has a gap.

Almost everybody will.

The question is whether that particular gap would prevent them from succeeding in the role within the timeframe you need.

Look at What Could Transfer

A candidate doesn't always need to have done exactly the same job before to bring relevant experience.

Someone may not have sold your particular device but could have successfully moved between therapy areas previously.

They may not have sold capital equipment but could have experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder NHS sales.

A candidate coming from a distributor may still understand the customers, clinical environment and buying process needed for a manufacturer role.

Someone applying for their first management position may not have formally managed a team but could have mentored new starters, led projects or taken responsibility beyond their own territory.

None of those examples proves that the candidate will succeed.

But they give you something more useful to assess than whether their previous job title matches yours.

Instead of asking:

“Have they done this exact job before?”

also ask:

“What have they already done that gives us evidence they could make this step?”

Potential Still Needs Evidence

Looking beyond an exact skills match doesn't mean replacing objective requirements with instinct.

“I really liked them” isn't evidence of potential.

Nor are words such as adaptable, resilient, motivated or quick learner particularly useful unless the candidate can show you what they mean in practice.

If somebody says they learn quickly, ask what they've had to learn and how they approached it.

If they say they're adaptable, ask about a situation where they had to work successfully in unfamiliar circumstances.

If you think their experience could transfer into a new therapy area or customer group, explore previous occasions when they've made a similar transition.

Potential should still be based on evidence.

Ask for Real Examples

Behavioural interview questions can help you explore how somebody has dealt with situations relevant to the gap you're considering.

For example:

• “Tell me about a time you had to get up to speed with something completely new. How did you approach it?”
• “Tell me about a time you had to work successfully in an area that was unfamiliar to you. What did you do?”
• “Describe a piece of difficult feedback you've received. What did you do with it?”
• “Tell me about something that wasn't going as expected. How did you respond?”
• “Give me an example of a problem you identified and addressed without being asked.”

Listen to what the candidate actually did rather than simply whether the story sounds impressive.

What did they need to learn?

How did they go about it?

Did they seek help when they needed it?

What changed as a result?

What would they do differently now?

You're looking for evidence that helps you judge whether the particular gap in their experience is realistically bridgeable.

Don't Confuse Confidence With Potential

Some candidates are naturally very good at interviews.

Others need a little longer to give you their best examples.

Be careful that “potential” doesn't simply become another word for the person who creates the strongest first impression.

Use broadly consistent questions across candidates and compare the evidence in their answers against what the role actually requires.

A confident answer isn't automatically a strong answer.

And a candidate who needs a moment to think isn't automatically lacking the qualities you need.

Consider the Size of the Gap

Not all gaps are equal.

Moving from one related therapy area into another may be very different from moving into MedTech with no relevant commercial or clinical experience at all.

Taking responsibility for larger accounts may be a realistic next step for somebody who has already demonstrated strong territory management.

Becoming a Sales Manager for the first time may require more support than moving into another individual sales role.

Ask yourself:

• What exactly would this person need to learn?
• How significant is the gap?
• How quickly do we need them to operate independently?
• What relevant experience do they already have?
• Have they successfully made comparable transitions before?
• Do we realistically have the time and capability to support them?

That gives you a much better basis for deciding whether you're looking at a sensible step or too great a leap.

Be Honest About What You Can Teach

Employers sometimes say they're open to somebody without direct experience but then design the role and onboarding as though they've hired someone who already has it.

If you deliberately recruit a candidate with a learnable gap, there needs to be a realistic way for them to close it.

Before making the offer, establish:

• What they need to learn
• Who will support them
• What training or exposure they'll need
• How long you realistically expect the learning period to take
• What they can be expected to do independently while they're getting up to speed

If the business doesn't have the time or resources to provide that support, the missing experience may need to remain a genuine requirement.

There's nothing wrong with that.

The important thing is recognising it before you hire rather than afterwards.

Challenge the Brief When the Market Tells You Something

If you've been searching for some time and aren't finding suitable candidates, that doesn't automatically mean you should compromise.

But it is worth reviewing the brief.

Are the genuinely essential requirements making the pool small?

Or has the combination of essentials and preferences made it unnecessarily small?

This is one of the areas where working with a specialist recruiter can be useful.

If the market consistently shows that candidates with your exact combination of experience are extremely limited, a recruiter can help you look at where adjacent experience may genuinely transfer and where it probably won't.

That doesn't mean persuading you to accept somebody unsuitable simply because they're available.

Sometimes the conclusion will still be that a particular requirement can't be compromised.

But at least you'll know why.

You Don't Need to Choose Between Skills and Potential

The hiring decision doesn't need to become a debate between experience on one side and attitude on the other.

Both matter.

Start with what somebody genuinely needs to be able to do. Decide which experience must already exist and which can realistically be learned. Then look for evidence that the candidate can bridge the gaps you're considering.

The strongest candidate won't always be the person whose CV looks most like the job description.

But neither should “potential” become an excuse for ignoring experience that genuinely matters.

The aim isn't to lower the bar.

It's to make sure you've put the bar in the right place.