What a Specialist MedTech Recruiter Knows About Salary That You Do Not

What You Will Learn in This Post

• Why salary data is a useful starting point but can't tell you exactly what your experience is worth
• How a specialist MedTech recruiter can add context to published salary figures
• Why two people with the same job title can have very different salary expectations
• What to ask a recruiter about salary before progressing with an opportunity

You've looked at salary surveys. You've checked a few job adverts. You know what you're earning now and probably have an idea of what you'd want from your next move.

That's a sensible place to start.

But none of those things can tell you exactly what somebody with your particular combination of experience, products, customers, geography and track record is worth to a particular employer.

That's where a specialist MedTech recruiter can add context.

Not because recruiters have access to a secret salary figure for every job in the market.

We don't.

But when you're regularly speaking to employers and candidates about vacancies, salaries and offers, you build a picture of what businesses are currently prepared to pay for different types of experience.

Salary Data Is a Starting Point, Not Your Personal Price Tag

Salary surveys can give you a valuable benchmark.

Advance Recruitment's own Salary & Compensation Report, for example, uses data from hundreds of medical sales and marketing professionals to look at basic salaries, bonus structures and benefits across the sector.

That gives you useful context.

What it can't do is put an exact price on your individual career history.

A salary range for a Territory Manager doesn't mean every Territory Manager should expect to earn the same amount.

The role itself matters. So does the experience you bring to it.

The Same Job Title Can Cover Very Different Roles

Take the title Territory Manager.

One Territory Manager might sell relatively straightforward consumable products into established accounts.

Another might sell complex capital equipment with a long NHS sales cycle.

Another may support orthopaedic procedures in theatre.

Another could manage major strategic accounts.

Another may be launching a new therapy into a territory where very little existing business exists.

The job title is similar.

The responsibilities, complexity and experience required can be very different.

The same applies to titles such as Clinical Specialist, Key Account Manager, Product Manager and Regional Sales Manager.

That's why comparing salary by job title alone can only take you so far.

Your Particular Experience Matters

Employers don't only look at how many years you've been working in MedTech.

They'll consider how relevant your experience is to the problem they're trying to solve.

Depending on the vacancy, that might include:

• The products or therapy areas you've worked in
• The customers and clinical stakeholders you know how to work with
• Your experience of NHS sales cycles
• Your commercial track record
• Whether you've grown established business or built a territory from scratch
• Experience launching new products
• Strategic or national account experience
• Clinical or technical knowledge
• People management experience
• The geography you've covered

Some of those things will matter enormously for one vacancy and very little for another.

That's why there isn't one universal figure that represents what you're “worth”.

There is what your experience is worth in the context of a particular opportunity.

A Recruiter Can Add Context to the Data

A specialist recruiter spends a lot of time having conversations that individual candidates only have occasionally.

We're discussing salary ranges with employers.

We're hearing what candidates currently earn and what they would need to consider a move.

We're seeing where expectations align and where they don't.

We're also seeing which combinations of experience employers are finding particularly difficult to recruit.

That doesn't make every recruiter's opinion a definitive market benchmark.

There may be areas where they haven't handled enough directly comparable vacancies recently to give you a reliable figure.

A good recruiter should be able to say that.

But where they know your part of the market well, they can help you understand whether your expectations broadly align with what they're currently seeing.

A Recruiter Working on the Vacancy May Know More Than a Salary Guide Can

There is also an important difference between asking a recruiter:

“What should somebody like me earn?”

and asking:

“What is the salary for this particular job?”

If the recruiter is handling the vacancy, they may know:

• The salary range the employer has approved
• Whether there is any flexibility depending on experience
• Which parts of the candidate brief matter most to the employer
• How the bonus or commission works
• Whether there is a company car or car allowance
• What significant benefits are included
• Whether your salary expectation is likely to be realistic for that particular role

That's information a general salary guide can't give you.

It also means you can establish early whether the opportunity is financially viable rather than discovering after several interviews that you and the employer were never going to meet.

A Salary Range Doesn't Tell You Where You'll Sit Within It

Imagine a vacancy advertised at £50,000 to £60,000.

That doesn't automatically mean every suitable candidate should expect £60,000.

Where an offer sits within the range may depend on factors such as:

• How closely your experience matches the brief
• Your track record
• How much product or market knowledge you'll need to develop
• The level of support you'll initially require
• The employer's internal salary structure
• The budget available for the appointment

There may sometimes be flexibility for a particularly strong candidate.

There may also be occasions when the top of the range genuinely is the top.

Don't assume either way.

Ask.

Questions Worth Asking Your Recruiter About Salary

If you're considering a vacancy through a recruiter, useful questions include:

• What salary range have you been given for the role?
• Is that fixed or is there any flexibility depending on experience?
• How does my experience compare with what the employer is looking for?
• Does my salary expectation look realistic for this vacancy?
• How does the bonus or commission work?
• What else is included in the package?

The recruiter may not be able to answer every question immediately.

That's fine.

If they don't know something important about the package, they can often clarify it with the employer.

Be Open About Your Expectations Early

Candidates can understandably be reluctant to discuss salary too early because they don't want to price themselves too low.

But refusing to discuss expectations at all can create a different problem.

You may spend weeks progressing through a recruitment process for a vacancy that was never going to reach the figure you'd need to move.

Tell your recruiter what you're currently earning and what you'd realistically be looking for from a move.

If there's a reason your expectation is significantly different from your current salary, explain it.

Perhaps your responsibilities have grown without your salary keeping pace.

Perhaps you're looking at a more senior role.

Perhaps the new position involves greater travel, management responsibility or commercial complexity.

Or perhaps you're already particularly well paid for your current type of role and finding an employer prepared to improve significantly on your package may be difficult.

Having that conversation early gives everybody useful information.

If You're Aiming for the Top of the Range, Be Ready to Explain Why

If you're hoping to be considered towards the top of an advertised range, think about what in your experience supports that expectation.

That might be:

• Consistent performance against target
• Evidence of significant territory growth
• Experience with highly relevant products or customers
• A successful product launch
• Strategic account wins
• Previous experience making a similar therapy or product transition
• Management or leadership responsibility

This isn't about turning salary discussions into a battle.

It's about helping the employer understand the experience and value you're bringing to the role.

Don't Look at Basic Salary in Isolation

Basic salary matters, but it isn't the whole package.

In medical sales particularly, bonus or commission and a company car or car allowance can make a significant difference.

Pension, private healthcare, holiday entitlement and other benefits may matter too.

A role with a higher basic salary isn't automatically the better financial offer if the earning potential or wider package is considerably weaker.

Make sure you're comparing like with like.

Common Salary Benchmarking Mistakes

Only Looking at Job Title

As we've seen, identical titles can cover very different jobs.

Only Looking at Basic Salary

Understand the bonus or commission and the wider package too.

Basing Your Expectation Solely on What You Currently Earn

If you're currently underpaid, simply adding a percentage to your existing salary may still leave you below the market for the opportunity you're considering.

Equally, if you're particularly well paid in your current role, you shouldn't assume every employer recruiting a similar title will automatically match or improve on it.

Waiting Until the Final Stage to Reveal Your Minimum

If there's a figure below which you genuinely wouldn't move, it's better to establish whether the vacancy can accommodate it before everybody invests significant time in the process.

Assuming the Top of an Advertised Range Is Automatically Your Figure

A range tells you what the employer may be prepared to pay for the appointment.

It doesn't tell you what they'll offer every individual candidate.

Use the Data and the Context

You don't need to choose between salary surveys and speaking to a recruiter.

Use both.

Salary data can show you the broader market and help you benchmark your current package.

A specialist recruiter can add context around your particular experience and, where they're handling the vacancy, explain what they know about that specific opportunity.

Your own priorities then determine whether the move makes sense.

The aim isn't to find the biggest number you can ask for.

It's to understand what your experience is realistically worth, what a particular opportunity offers and whether the whole package makes the move worthwhile for you.