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For Immediate Release
Medzilla.com discusses
making the transition to biotech recruiting
Marysville, WA - May 22, 2002 -
Biotechnology recruiting is hot. It's more
active than IT and telecommunications and
it isn't suffering the shortages in other
areas of healthcare, says Frank Heasley,
PhD, President and CEO, of MedZilla.com,
a leading Internet recruitment and professional
community that targets jobseekers and HR
Professionals in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals,
healthcare and science.
Still, according to Dr. Heasley and other
biotech recruiting professionals, it may
not be the time to jump onto the biotech
bandwagon. There are things that recruiters
who are thinking about making the leap should
know.
"A lot of recruiters have been thinking
about biotech recruiting as a safe haven
until their own sectors come back to life.
But what most people don't know, is that
it's among the toughest recruiting areas
to break into," Dr. Heasley says. "We
have seen a lot of people from IT and other
industries having problems moving into biotech
before they were properly prepared."
Learn the language of biotechnology
Veteran biotech recruiter Tina Hunter Stewart,
President of Tampa, FL.-based BioPharmMed,
an executive search firm specializing in
medical device, biotech and pharmaceutical,
warns that biotech recruiting is different
than other recruiting areas because many
hiring officials are at the PhD level. "Most
do not have tolerance for recruiters who
do not clearly understand the language of
biotech. So it requires recruiters who have
either come out of a biotech background,
or have a very clear understanding of the
regulatory requirements, clinical and scientific
requirements and are able to speak the language
of biotech at least on a conversational
level," Stewart says.
Understanding the vocabulary is not only
necessary when dealing with clients, Stewart
says, but also with job candidates. "Recruiters
have to be able to identify candidates and
determine if they have the technical expertise
necessary. Biotech is probably the most
stringent area to get into. I think medical
device and pharmaceutical is a little easier
to pick up," she says.
Dr. Heasley, who holds a doctorate in bacteriology
and was a biotech recruiter for five years
before launching Medzilla.com in 1994, recommends
that recruiters get to know the field and
have a life sciences or healthcare background.
"Some sort of background in the life
sciences or healthcare is almost a prerequisite
so that the language isn't foreign to you,"
Dr. Heasley says. "I would hate to
be the person who doesn't understand this
field calling up someone at the NIH, for
example, and asking them to refer people.
Communication is essential to the recruiting
discipline. If you can't ask the right questions,
then you can't expect reasonable answers."
While Susan L. Metayer, principal staffing
consultant at Rockville, MD.-based Biotech
Resources, a permanent staffing agency specializing
in the bio-pharmaceutical industry, thinks
biotech recruiters need to be knowledgeable,
she doesn't think that the field is quite
so daunting. "I have a colleague that
I worked with at a telecommunications staffing
agency and he had gotten into the biotech
side. Basically, he did it because the telecommunications
industry is dead in the water right now.
He's doing well in biotech," Metayer
says. "He has done a lot of research
on the Internet, and I've been helping him
out as much as I can. I think that if you
have the background of recruiting it takes
some studying and knowing the right people.
Use contacts that you already have in the
industry as a resource to increase your
knowledge base."
Find the right candidate for the
right job
According to Metayer, client companies
are very specific on the type of background
that they are seeking. For example, she
says, recruiters should not try to fill
an MD opening in an oncology trial with
an MD who has a background in allergic diseases.
Even for mid-level clinical research positions,
clients want people whose backgrounds match
the focus of the trials.
The option of doing what you know
in biotech
Stewart says that she has seen recruiters
going through a difficult transition period
while moving into biotech, which requires
the same high level of knowledge and professionalism
as the fields they already know. "I
have a lot of IT recruiters calling me constantly
because I'm on a couple of boards. Many
of them want to get into this business but
they don't know how to do it or they're
nervous," she says. "What I try
to tell them is
that every pharmaceutical, biotech and medical
device company has an IT department and
those departments will need your expertise.
Why should you learn the biotech scientific
area and try to transition from placing
IT people to placing scientists and researchers
and the like? Instead, stick with what you
know."
Understand the industry
The shortages troubling other areas of
healthcare are not so prominent in biotechnology,
says Stewart. Still, there are some areas
of shortage. "In biotech, we're finding
that in the areas of clinical research and
regulatory affairs there are shortages of
available candidates. So, biotech companies
are resorting to a lot more contracting
and consulting
arrangements in those positions to offer
flexibility and be able to staff up when
they're in the middle of different phases
of clinical trials," Stewart explains.
Stewart remarks, "We see somewhat
of a turnover in the executive ranks at
the VP, president and CEO levels. Companies
are continually trying to attract new and
different talent to their senior ranks to
help them reposition their companies or
to try to attract someone who has a presence
in the industry who can lend them credence."
For those who are qualified, biotech
offers rewards
To be successful in any business, one has
to enjoy the industry, Metayer says. "I
find biotech very exciting. The advances
in medicine are fascinating," she says.
Dr. Heasley commented, "While they
were challenging, the years I spent as a
biotech recruiter and executive were rewarding.
The industry makes a difference in people's
lives, and, as a result, those who work
in it need to be knowledgeable. They, in
turn, expect the best from the recruiters
they entrust with finding some of their
most valuable professionals. At MedZilla,
we work closely with pharmaceutical and
biotech decision-makers, recruiters and
job candidates on a daily basis. We are
enthusiastic about the near and long term
prospects for growth, discovery and contribution
to the greater good in these fields."
About MedZilla.com
Established in mid 1994, MedZilla is
the original web site to serve career and
hiring needs for professionals and employers
in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medicine,
science and healthcare. The MedZilla jobs
database currently contains about 10,000
open positions. The resume databank currently
contains approximately 7,500 resumes, less
than three months old. These resources have
been characterized as the largest, most
comprehensive databases of their kind on
the web in the industries served.
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Medzilla® is a Registered
Trademark owned by Medzilla Inc.
Press Inquiries:
Michele Groutage
mgroutage@medzilla.com
Phone: (360) 657 5681
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