Five Online Pharmaceutical and Biotech Recruiting Mistakes and how to avoid them

Marysville, WA - August 13, 2002 - Online recruiting in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries is more than posting ads and waiting for the results, according to Frank Heasley, PhD, President and CEO, MedZilla.com, a leading Internet recruitment and professional community that targets jobseekers and HR professionals in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and science. "Many recruiters (outside consultants and company-based) don't use the Internet to its full potential. We asked industry experts about some of the recruiting mistakes they've seen and how to avoid them," Dr. Heasley says.

Mistake #1: To be a pharma and biotech recruiter you need to speak the language

Know the industry, says Marty Martinez, president of the healthcare division, Diversity Personnel, Laguna Niguel, Calif. "It's going to be really hard to work with these companies when they tell you: 'I need someone with three to seven years injectable pharmaceutical experience that understands group purchasing organizations, managed care and reimbursement. Call on all the rheumatologists and the thought leaders at all the teaching institutions in Southern California. You know, Marty, that's what we need.' How in the world are you going to try to dissect that if you don't know the industry?"

What makes biotech clients different is that many of the hiring officials are at the PhD level, according to Tina Hunter Stewart, president, Tampa, Fla.-based BioPharmMed, an executive search firm specializing in medical device, biotech and pharmaceutical-mid to senior level technical positions. "Many of them have little tolerance for recruiters who do not clearly understand the language of biotech. I think [it requires] recruiters who have either come out of a biotech background, or have a very clear understanding of the regulatory requirements, the clinical and scientific requirements and are able to speak at least on a conversational level. They have to be able to talk to the candidates and determine if they do have the technical expertise necessary. Biotech is probably the most stringent-I think the medical device and pharmaceutical fields may be a little easier to pick up," she says.

Recruiters venturing into these areas from different industries, including IT, should focus on recruiting areas they understand. For example, Stewart says, "Every pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device company has an IT department, and they're going to need your expertise."

Mistake #2: Dead links

CareerXroads principal Mark Mehler says that as funny as it might sound, employers don't always check that their links are live so the job seeker can see the job. "This is probably the number one mistake," he said. "Job seekers get nowhere; then employers wonder why they get no response. The solution is to have people checking to make sure that the technical links work.

Mistake #3: The mystery job button or too many clicks

If there's no visible job button on the home page or you have to be a detective to find it, what good is it? asks Mehler. "It's the magical mystery tour of life. You make it difficult for job seekers to find the opportunities they're looking for."

The answer, according to Mehler, is to make it easy on the candidate by making sure that it takes three clicks or less for the job seeker to see a job.

Site maneuverability, Mehler says, depends on how good the search engine is on a particular site. It also depends on the agent, which returns jobs based on the candidate's key words. Recruiters should ask: How good is the agent on the site and does it allow for exact matches? Or do you get pizza pie delivery jobs?

Mehler suggests that employers and recruiters register as job seekers on their own sites, and sites where they're posting jobs, to see what comes back. By using false names, and doing this regularly, they might better determine the quality of their recruiting efforts.

Mistake #4: The "is anybody out there" syndrome?

Job seekers want to know what's going on with their searches, Mehler says. And many recruiters and employers don't get back to them after they've submitted their resumes. Instead, the information goes into a "black hole."

"The auto response is a really quick: machine-made thank you. But the job seeker is looking for more. They're really looking to get into your Web site and find out the status of their applications. Where has the resume gone? Has it gone out of the hopper? Has someone pulled it? Things of that nature point to where the technology is going. Soon, the job seeker will be able to go in the database and will be able to see that 'John Jones, manager,' pulled my resume and is reviewing it. They're going to see the progress," Mehler says.

Mistake #5: There's more to it than posting jobs

Mehler says that Internet recruiting requires strategy and planning. Recruiters should find a major hub and the niches that provide results. Niches include association and functional sites, such as MedZilla, which focuses on the core areas of pharmaceutical, biotech and healthcare. "What recruiters don't do is that they don't call the site and see if they can get directly to the members. They don't check for agents, in most cases. They don't check if they can get access to emails. They don't check if they can sponsor a newsletter. They just post jobs and go away," Mehler says.

"We've found that some candidates post resumes, and others answer ads, but almost none do both. They all have their reasons, but the bottom line is that if you're trying to fill a difficult position, you need to do more than just posting your advertisement. Searching the resume database for candidates and leads, and networking with them extensively, are essential." says Dr. Heasley.

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. MedZilla databases contain about 9,000 open positions and 10,000 resumes from candidates actively seeking new positions. These resources have been characterized as the largest, most comprehensive databases of their kind on the web in the industries served.