I quit Intuitive Surgical as a CSR. Here’s why.
Hello!
I wanted to share an honest take on my time at Intuitive Surgical. I gave Intuitive a solid 3 years and I am no longer with the company, (I left a few months ago) and while I was there I never missed quota as a CSR.
I started my med device career at Boston Scientific, then Stryker and moved to Intuitive because I believed the robot was making a real difference and the opportunity looked unlimited. The technology is real. The culture was the worst I have worked in, and the pay did not match the time and work the job required. I had already heard the culture was bad before I joined. I told myself that if it was that rough, I would leave. I did. Another thing I found out while working there is that they have such a high turnover rate. Employee retention is very very low and they seem to be fine with that because nothing changes, absolutely nothing.
Training, called CAST, is brutal. It is not hard in the sense of being impossible. It is an enormous amount of information you are expected to retain. Three weeks virtual with two tests a week, then four straight weeks in Atlanta with two tests a week, then three more weeks virtual with two tests a week, then another four straight weeks in Atlanta. People were breaking down. Flying home on the weekends or bringing family out is not an option, because if you are not using that time for hands-on practice and study, the odds of failing go way up. Skipping the weekends in Atlanta is not really an option. You come out of CAST mentally exhausted. The company treats getting through it like a badge of honor. I did very well in CAST, and I still do not buy that framing.
Once you are out, the cadence stays heavy. Mandatory weekly one-on-ones with your manager. Every Wednesday, a clinical update that is long and detailed and has to be submitted the same day. Team calls every two weeks. Field rides every quarter. At least twice a quarter, in-person lab trainings that can be scheduled with a couple of days’ notice and pull you out of the field from morning to mid-afternoon, including on a Friday.
The job itself, especially with academic accounts, asks for a lot that does not feel worth it. You are training residents, training surgeons, and dealing with admin work daily.
ACM, the “national sales meeting”, was awful. They send pre-work a month ahead that takes a long time to finish. Once you are there, it is role plays, breakouts, trainings, more breakouts, and role plays in front of your whole region. At Stryker, I would leave a national meeting motivated to go sell. I left ACM needing a week off. It was ridiculous.
If you’re thinking about working at Intuitive Surgical just know what you’re getting yourself into and have a plan. Great technology, bad culture. I hope this helps if you’re considering.
After reading some of the comments I will be more than happy to provide more feedback regarding culture. You have so many people within intuitive who act like they really care but their only motive is to get promoted. Politics are at every company which I understand, but from my experience no matter how good you are, if you’re not clicked up with the right people you won’t advance in your career. Yes, it ultimately depends on you and your team and for those who currently work at Intuitive reading my post I’m so happy you’re successful and happy, and I mean that. I just wanted share some insight. I can go on and on but I don’t think Reddit has enough bandwidth for the amount of literature I’ll provide. Best of luck whether you’re there or thinking about it. 🫶🏼