Scientists are people, too.
The demand for biotechnology, diagnostics, and life science scientists—filling the roles of immune-oncology, organoid, assay development, or bioinformatics scientists—has never been greater. You don’t need proof; you’re reading this article for help.
Here at Connexis Search Group, we help companies place scientists in fields ranging from assay development to bioinformatics, companion diagnostics, protein engineering, biochemistry, biosensors, immuno-oncology, spatial genomics, and others. Given our experience and expertise, we see things in the field you might overlook as you try to place that achingly empty role.
This article will focus on the human element of hiring scientists. It’s important because not only is it a huge factor in your staffing calculus, but it’s, amazingly, routinely overlooked when life-science and biotech companies try to hire.
Starting Local
You know that the life science and biotech industries are clustered primarily in three metropolitan areas in the United States: San Francisco, San Diego, and Boston. Whether your company is in one of those locales, keep reading because we’ll address your concerns, regardless of where you are—and where you seek to recruit.
Like you, we like to begin with a path-of-least-resistance/lowest-hanging-fruit approach to finding candidates. If we can find someone “in your backyard,” that’s the easiest. But parts of “your backyard” are walled off: we’re talking about competitors in your area.
You can’t just call other companies and ask to speak to their top scientists.
But we can. We have special tools and databases that let us identify people near you and know how to reach them discreetly. This is why biotech companies’ HR leaders often hand us a “wish list” of other companies in their geographic area, marked out as fertile hunting—or dare we say “poaching”—grounds.
Fine. So we can reach the candidates that you can’t. But that’s only the beginning of the process. This is where things rapidly go from “the science element” to “the human element.”
Bigger is Better
Understand that the candidates you seek aren’t actively looking for new jobs. They are generally happy where they are. So it takes a lot to get them to jump ship. You’ll need to dangle incentives in front of them for a better salary, more generous benefits, time off, career advancement potential, and possible equity in the company.
And speaking of that increased salary: Brace yourself for sticker shock. Whatever you thought was the normal range for that position last year will be higher this year. Now factor in the demand for hot talent, adding a dollop of inflation. We’re not saying this to dissuade you but to prepare you for the reality of trying to dislodge a researcher from a decent job.
How many of the potential enticements we’d described above—except for “career advancement”—actually have to do with “science” or “research”? Exactly: None. This is the human element.
But wait, it gets thornier.
Border Crossing
Remember how we’d noted the geographic divide between San Francisco, San Diego, Boston, and the rest of the country? You might not know this because you’re not deep in the weeds of the recruiting business like Connexis is, but know that about 50 percent of new scientist hires involve a geographic relocation of the candidate to a new city.
Let that sink in. Half.
This is where the human element completely eclipses the scientific element. We recently recruited a great candidate in the Midwest, who was just about to buy some nice country acreage—and asked him if he’d like to move to Boston.
Acreage? In Boston? Yes, we’re laughing, too.
But it was no laughing matter for the company that wanted him. So we did some quick research (including calling our contacts in the area) and could tell this candidate that there are lovely white-collar communities less than a 30-minute commute from downtown Boston. And that there are excellent options for entertainment and dining. We got a hugely grateful “Thank you!” from that candidate and were able to press forward—just when the deal had almost derailed.
Multiple Factors
The candidate scientist we’d described above is single. See where this is going?
If a scientist has a spouse or significant other, they necessarily have more inertia and stronger ties to the region where they live. That spouse surely has a job—so your seemingly simple relocation doubled in complexity.
(Not to mention price. Can you afford to relocate a promising candidate? They’ll certainly expect it, in this ultra-competitive job market.)
Now proceed from “single scientist” to “married scientist” to “married scientist with children.” Talk about someone who’s deeply rooted in where they live. Even if you’re trying to make a relatively local move from San Diego to San Francisco, that’s different school districts and cost of living.
Finding the Fit
As if the scientific and human factors weren’t enough to consider, here’s one more: Fit. You, hopefully, are open to the prospect of hiring from academia by now (if you’re not, read this article we recently wrote, which will give you a friendly nudge) and need to assess the types of candidates that will be a good fit in your company.
And the fit is determined by the company and its culture—and how that meshes (or doesn’t) with the candidate. For example, Yours might be a huge company with lots of structure and stability. That might be an ideal fit for that academic candidate.
On the other hand, your company might be a hot, fast-moving startup. That’s a perfect fit for a candidate who’s chafing at the bit in his or her current role, feeling like they’ve hit a wall, and are hungering for a more dynamic challenge.
In either case, the fit needs to be assessed, and when it’s a good fit, it’s a crucial element in a well-structured offer.
Don't go Alone
Given the human factor—and all the others—which make hiring scientists so challenging, it’s not a DIY project. (Again, we discussed some good reasons to go with just one recruiter in this article.) Talk to a professional recruiter. Better yet, talk to an experienced recruiter specializing in finding and placing scientists for biotech and the life sciences. In other words, contact Connexis Search Group today.
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