Failed second sales interview - what I think learned (Stryker)

So I had the interview with the recruiter a few days ago and then today was the interview with the hiring manager (sales manager)

I was told straightforward that I would not be progressing on which I appreciate knowing as its much simpler.

Here is what I think I learned from this and what it was like:

Interview started off ok though it felt like right from the start there was a strange feeling to the way he spoke to me almost like I hadn't impressed him. He asked if I had any questions before we started the generic interview questions that he had to read and I have never had anyone ask me if I had questions before they spoke so I did not have any. He asked me a variety of questions that some of them seemed like he was required to ask and not that interested in asking and a few that after the interview I think where the main reasons I did not do well. Here are some examples:

Some context for before I list this off is before these questions I was getting questioned about things and hints of "I dont know of you are good enough" which I've not have in an interview before so it suprised me and I could do better now.

1. Question: Let's say you where thrown into a surgery before you where trained and ready, surgery us going poorly and surgeon is clearly unhappy with you despite knowing that we are sheot staffed. If you have one thing you can say in this situation what is it?

Answer: I would ask for direct feedback to make sure that doesnt happen again.

"Suegeons are nice when they are in there office but when its during a surgery they are not. They would probably just tell you to just be better at your job. What would you day if they said that."

Answer: I would make they knew that the next time it would go 10 times better.

2. Question: rank in order what is the most important when selling in a job like this: sales technique, product knowledge, and relationship building.

Answer: 1. Relationship building, 2. Product knowledge, and 3. Sales technique (did not come off confidently)

3. How do you think you did in this interview?

Answer: I think I did ok (wrong answer for sure).

I think those three answeres and the way I spoke potentially affected my overall ability to land this opportunity as i was not prepared enough to be in an interview like that and it can be intimidating.

At the end I could feel it as it felt like he was trying to end the inteview early so I took the time to cut the BS and just ask "hey look feel free to say what you want. How do you think I did." Which he provided very honest feedback that he didn't feel like i had the drive he was looking for. Its a short inteview so its hard to tell because on paper seems like I have good skills but the inteview didn't go as well as expected. I felt that even here I could have taken the opportunity to try to be a little more sales person like and try to dig deeper but it also has the opportunity to look desperate and I knew deep down it didn't feel like a good interview so I simply thanked him for his time and feedback.

What i think I learned:

1. Walk into the interview like a 100% sales person. Some people will tell you that it's a great opportunity because you get to help people and stuff like that. Fully just commit to being a sales person in the inteview. Thats the only thing they care about and so talking about or asking about anything else is not important in this stage.

2. Be prepared for this to feel like a role play. I have never had an inteview that was conducted so seriously. Often they have always been more just they guide you and ask you questions and you answer. This felt like I should be fighting him like he is my prospect im trying to sell which is fine and I can do that but just wasn't prepared to do that. You are on a sales call. Be a sales person and close hard.

3. Be ultra confident. They are looking to hire someone they can trust and its a lot of stress. Show them your best sales person confidence.

4. Just get out there and apply and go through the interviews. I dont think there is any more prep I could have done to be ready for that other than just going through it. Right now I know I could provide better answers and have a better tone knowing what they are looking for but with 0 medical device sales experience (I work in sales but not this area) there is just a lot that you cannot be prepared for.

5. Honorable mention: find someone who has a job at this company and ask them about every step and how to prepare. I talked to a few people but could have asked more about the hiring intrview.

Overall I see the gaps and where to improve for sure but if anyone with experience in the area has additional feedback feel free to provide it. I though I would share this information as when looking for advice on this i struggled to find anything so maybe this will help someone else be better prepared in the future.