A career in aesthetics which often has a stereotype of being for the female gender or confusing it with a cosmetologist might not sound very appealing to a young person – especially a teenage male heavily playing sports and trying to get into college. However aesthetic sales have many avenues and is a rapidly growing industry.

I remember when our parents would ask what we wanted to be when we grew up, for me, it was always a Doctor or a Lawyer because I was told they make the most money. Boy was I wrong!!!

If your child is at that all-too-familiar teenage crossroad of not quite knowing what they “want to be when they grow up,” it’s worth introducing them to the many benefits an aesthetic sales career can offer. But how exactly can you convince your teenager that it is a worthy path to take? Below are a few tips. 

Give Them the Facts

Outside sales reps will actually be paid incredibly well and I bet it wasn’t an industry they had even considered. So they may have considered being a Medical Device Rep. But what devices should they sell? 41% of Medical Device sales reps are working in the OR, selling surgical devices. Another 13% are selling capital equipment, and 12% are selling biotech products.

On average, the 41% of medical device reps selling into the OR are earning more than $200k annually and have 12.8 years of medical sales experience, and they travel 25% of the time. Their average age is 41, and they are more likely to be white and male (84% of $200k+ earners are men). However, of the 13% of the reps just selling capital equipment to private practice physicians, like in the aesthetic industry, have much different demographics. It will not take 12-plus years to get over $200K in this industry. You need zero experience except cold calling and a previous job selling B2B for at least 1 year hopefully two. If you played sports in College that is even better. These reps come in at let us say, 24-28 years old and easily have the ability to make $120K to over $200K. I know there are reps out there that have made over $600K on their W2 and had less than 1-year experience. This is rare of course. Across the board, I would say entry-level reps are making 6 figures by 12 months in. Reps with experience are almost always making over $200K and much closer to $300-$400K per year.

Research the Many Career Paths 

I found this chart below very interesting as you look at what the Aesthetic Doctor is making and it is the same or lower than what a 24-year outside sales rep that didn’t go to Medical School is making. Who knew that having cold-calling, B2B, and maybe some door-to-door sales experience would provide you with income that surpasses a Nurse Practitioner? That NP had to take some very demanding college courses, keep their grades high, and usually have longer than 4 years of school.

Job Title Annual Salary Monthly Pay

Aesthetic Physician $127,765 $10,647

Aesthetic NP $126,626 $10,552

Aesthetics Nurse Practitioner $122,856 $10,238

Aesthetic Doctor $109,174 $9,098

Show Them the Money

I like this chart below to click as a resource because it shows how much the average medical device sales rep is getting paid with names that most of us have heard of. For example Boston Scientific – Stryker – Intuitive Surgical – Medtronic, but you can see that their total avg annual compensation is much lower than the aesthetic device companies I recruit sales reps for. Their average compensation is somewhere close to $150K, and again this is with years of sales experience. The avg compensation for an aesthetic device sales rep is over $200k and you literally could have zero medical sales experience to be a part of that group.

https://www.breakingintodevice.com/blogs/medical-sales/how-much-do-medical-device-sales-representatives-make-50-examples-salaries

Money may be a motivator for a student fresh out of college with student debt or hoping to buy their first car.

In addition to an attractive salary, aesthetic companies have kept up with the times by offering generous benefits packages too, including health insurance, flexible working hours as part of your job is remote, paid vacations to some amazing places for top performers, bonuses, contributions to 401(k), and retirement plans, stock options, car allowance, all expenses reimbursed, ability to take clients out for meals and entertainment, hotel rooms covered, fuel reimbursement, free product, some even give out shoes, new cars, skincare, purses, watches, etc. to their sales reps as rewards.

The bottom line, if you want to earn some of the highest medical sales salaries, you don’t have to climb the corporate ladder or find a job in biotech. Find a field sales job, ideally with a company selling aesthetic surgical devices, or capital equipment. Look for a competitive, uncapped commission structure, and be prepared to work hard. Medical and aesthetic device sales jobs are very rewarding but the effort required is not to be taken lightly.