7 Most Common Mistakes When Recruiting Life Sci or Biotech Candidates

Connexis Search Group recruits candidates in the life science and biotechnology industries ---averaging 17 placements per month.

We are working with numerous candidates and hiring managers and want to share how some clients successfully hire in this candidate-driven market. The sooner you realize that you must adapt your hiring protocols to a new market, the sooner you will start finding the talent needed to grow your business. Unfortunately, many of you are not making the adjustments resulting in unfilled positions or positions open for longer than necessary. You can justify the lack of success by telling yourself that this labor shortage is having the same impact on your competitors, but you are only fooling yourself. Some of our clients are successfully filling their open positions promptly.

Below are the seven most common reasons that prevent companies from hiring hard-to-fill positions.

1. Not adapting to hiring in a candidate-driven market
   
2. Compensation is too low to attract candidates
   
3. Unwillingness to hire a junior-level candidate
   
4. Pay too much attention to "Years of Experience."
   
5. Moving too slowly through the interview process
   
6. The hiring manager is not involved in the recruitment process
   
7. The desire to compare candidates

Not adapting. Not realizing that candidates are in demand and doing things the way you previously did will NOT work in this market.

Compensation---most hiring managers are surprised that they are not paying enough to attract candidates. Most companies gather their salary information from ineffective sources that are not accurate. Even if the company has accurate base salary information, they fail to factor in base salary increases desired by the candidates they want to hire. For example, if your maximum base salary is $150,000, you must recruit candidates with base salaries of 20% less than $150,000 or $120,000. When changing companies, candidates expect a 15-30% increase in base salary, especially in candidate-driven markets.

Unwillingness to hire a candidate that needs training. Most companies will not be able or willing to increase the base salaries to attract the candidates they desire. If that is the case, the hiring manager needs to realize they need to hire a candidate with less experience. Most hiring managers cringe at hiring a less experienced candidate because they have to spend time training them and making them productive. But the exciting point regarding hiring a less experienced candidate is that these are the better candidates in many cases. Hire somebody that has the potential to become a superstar. Hiring on intangible attributes and potential, not experience, is a recipe for success. These individuals will also share a sense of loyalty since you took the time to impart valuable knowledge and skills into their repertoire.

According to an article in Harvard Business Review, years of experience are not a good measure of a candidate's ability. We all have hired candidates who are quick learners, have quickly excelled, and have performed better than more senior employees. Some companies are adamant about the number of years of experience they seek. "We need five years of experience and will not consider anyone more junior." If you use years of experience as a decision criterion, you have not thought through the skills needed to succeed. Sure, the number of years is an easy way to compare or grade candidates, but it is an ineffective way of evaluating candidates and will cause you to pass on future superstars.

Moving through the interview process slowly. One of our clients missed a great hire because they took too long. They were very interested in our candidate but wanted to adhere to their interview process. By the time they scheduled three separate interviews over three weeks, the candidate had accepted another offer. Many of us don't like change —but it is time to shorten your interview process.

The hiring manager not being involved in the hiring process is another major mistake made when hiring. Hiring managers who over-delegate the recruiting process and are not active in the process have less success than those involved. Most talent acquisition teams have so many searches working that they don't have the time to oversee every search. Plus, tough decisions need to be made, and the hiring manager will need to oversee those decisions. If finding a great candidate is crucial, stay involved in the process.

We want to compare our top candidates to other candidates. There may not be enough candidates available to compare in today's market.   In other words, you may only have one candidate.   But that should not be a problem. Before you start your search, create a list of essential criteria. Use this list as a scorecard—if the candidate scores high, hire them.   Comparing candidates adds no value to the process—you need to compare candidates to your decision criteria.

Conclusion

The great resignation is causing retention problems, but the resigning candidates are not dropping out of the workforce. They are looking for new opportunities. You can attract these candidates if you are open-minded and adhere to the suggestions in this article. If you need assistance or have questions, don't hesitate to contact us.

About Connexis Search Group

Connexis Search Group places life science, biotechnology, medical device, and diagnostics candidates throughout the US and Canada. We place a wide range of candidates, from entry-level scientists to CEOs. The positions we place are as follows: A comprehensive range of Scientists ---protein, biology, cell culture, infectious disease, NGS, PCR, bioinformatics, immuno-oncology, companion diagnostics, IHC, etc. Regulatory and Quality candidates for life science, medical device, and biotechnology companies. Hardware and Software engineers for life science, medical device, and biotechnology companies. Sales reps and marketing candidates for life science, diagnostics, medical device, and CRO companies. A wide range of CLIA lab candidates: Managed Care, Revenue Cycle, Sales, Lab Operations, Logistics, Accessioning, Regulatory, Quality, and Pathologists.