Last week, Eli Lilly & Company announced a company-wide reorganization to better position the company going forward as a lean, mean, pharmaceutical machine. From where I sit as an owner of an executive search firm in the Life Sciences field, my first inclination upon hearing the news was, “OH NO! What are we going to tell candidates interested in Lilly or interested in moving into industry?” An act of reorganization (and the possibility of job cuts) can be, and is, a destabilizing force. But, let’s take a step back and analyze what this means and why this reorganization is actually a good thing:

• Due to the global economic climate, Lilly took a hard look at itself to see how it can be a better company. That’s a good thing. Any time a company or a person can improve themselves is always good. This move also “forces” Lilly’s competitors to take a hard look at themselves to ensure that they can also sustain production and innovation through this tough period. Industry efficiency improves overall. Thumbs up.
• A side effect of improving efficiency is to refocus company energies on what is working and throw out what is not; including personnel. Make sure that the right people are in the right positions. Shaping the company to be the absolute best at what it already does well. This differentiates a company like Lilly from its peers – adding to brand value.
• Over the Lilly reorg pushes transparency in the industry, which is extremely important in today’s world.

Reorgs are not necessarily put together to stem bleeding, sometimes they can help a company achieve even greater successes than they currently enjoy. Plus, a reorg (I think of it as more a re-evaluation) makes a large company and even an industry more accessible to the average person. Everyone must deal with change, everyone must deal with the realities of our current world. When a major corporation must deal with the same issues (albeit on a greater scale) as a typical small business or even home owner (e.g. cash-flow, expenses, future income) it shows how egalitarian the world actually is – that’s good for all.

Disagree? Let me know: jeff@theagencyworldwide.com

Future Pharmaceuticals Can you describe the landscape for biotechnology and pharmaceutical recruiting in today’s marketplace? In what areas are people hiring?

Kim First Everyone knows times are extremely challenging today, and the biopharmaceutical industry is not immune. We hear daily about downsizing, products coming off patent or research dollars being cut as company resources are funneled towards clinical development. Many of the blockbuster products we all know are either coming off patent or being pulled due to safety issues. And although there are challenges, there is also a great deal of opportunity out there. Many areas are experiencing growth, and there is a demand for talent to support these fields. One of the new areas of expansion is the field of personalized medicine – tailored therapies to improve patient outcomes. More technically speaking, we see growth in the fields of clinical biomarkers, pharmacogenomics, diagnostics and health outcomes, all to support and drive personalized treatments forward.

The other area that is continuing to explode is biologics. It’s no longer just the biotech companies playing in the field of monoclonal antibody treatments; now all the big pharma players are entering the game. So there’s a lot of competition; especially in the immunology, cancer and metabolic diseases fields. Everybody’s looking for the same talent ,and with the increased focus on development and data, there is a huge demand for physicians to play expanded roles in organizations. Oncologists, rheumatologists, endocrinologists, to name a few, are all being courted as MDs and now fill positions spanning both the traditional roles in clinical research and trial management, to roles in regulatory, safety and commercial strategy.

FP With all that opportunity, there are obviously challenges that present themselves. What challenges are companies facing in attracting talent? Can you address any strategies or programs that organizations are utilizing to overcome them?

KF There are a lot of different factors contributing to the challenges that companies and individuals are facing. First, in these areas that are experiencing a lot of growth, there is a limited pool of available talent. Every organization seems to be looking for an oncologist or a health-outcomes epidemiologist; there’s a list of high-demand fields. Pair these high demand fields with the passing day of company loyalty for life, and what you have is a workforce and candidate pool that has become much savvier as to how they take care of themselves and understand what’s going on for their careers.

Candidates do a lot of their own research about companies — they look at the leadership team, the pipeline, who’s been laying people off, who’s been hiring, and so forth. They are also selective about which search firms they want to work with. They want to make sure that they’re being represented by the best, because that has an impact on which organizations they have access to. Frankly, they want make sure they’re the ones in the driver’s seat, having the opportunity to select where they want to go and how they want to go about it.

On the flip side, companies are facing significant challenges because of the real-estate market. Most of the organizations we work with recruit talent that is required to relocate, because we’re always looking for that needle in a haystack, that unique talent making a significant impact in their field. Today, though, relocation is not easy because candidates’ ability to move is greatly impacted by what’s going on in the real-estate market. The organizations that can address both marketplace issues and candidate astuteness are the ones that are going to reach the best talent.

Some companies are looking at creative solutions with telecommuting because they want to attract someone who will surely provide the organization a competitive advantage, like a world-renowned physician. That person may not be able to move to California, the Midwest or wherever it is. Some of our West Coast clients have turned to opening satellite offices on the East Coast, where there are larger pools of talent which will not have to relocate. Other companies are paying for longer periods of temporary living or the lesser of two mortgages to help people make that transition. Ultimately, companies are reworking their compensation packages to address candidates’ concerns with stability and increasing costs of living day to day.

Gone are the days when candidates requested lots of stock options and other long-term incentives to join an organization. Times are different. People are looking for guaranteed dollars — they want to see higher base salaries and guaranteed bonuses, versus a lot of other bells and whistles that used to go along with the packages. Any organization that’s open to tailoring a program for high-profile candidates will ultimately have the best advantage in the marketplace.

FP When do you think companies should turn to external recruitment firms to assist in the hiring? KF In these challenging times, you need to be selective about when you turn to a recruiting firm to help you achieve your goals. Not all positions require an external approach, but many do. It behooves organizations to ask important questions, such as: Will filling this role impact the organization’s ability to move an asset along the pipeline? Does it affect getting product approval through the FDA? Do you ultimately lose revenue by leaving an opening vacant for longer than necessary? Is your hiring manager or your team’s ability impacted by not having this position filled? If your answer is “yes” to most of these questions, there’s actually more to gain than to lose by turning to an external partner, because you need to speed up your hiring process. You need access to the best people out there in the industry to help you meet goals or overcome obstacles that your organization may be facing.

Turning to external firms can even result in reducing the cost to hire. Good search firms do two important things: they cut down on the number of candidates that the organization needs to interview, and they increase the likelihood of closing the deal and getting you the person that you want. As a third party, they help manage and align the candidate expectations with the client. For human resource and hiring officials, this saves a lot of time, energy and dollars expended. Even if you’re just looking at the one line-item cost of flying a candidate across the country – what’s the cost of continuing to interview the wrong people? The industry average is $5,000 per candidate interview when it is all said and done.

FP How does one know which external recruitment firm may be best, and what should the firm be expected to deliver?

KF Companies should look for a firm which can ultimately provide them with a competitive advantage — a firm which has some really good solutions to accessing talent. You need to find a partner who’s in it for the long haul and not simply for this one position, because they don’t have real commitment to you if it’s just for one position. It’s a lot like dating: Sometimes you need to kiss a few frogs before you find your prince. It’s important that your partner understands what makes your organization tick; what makes it unique — what’s the culture of the organization; who are the people that make it thrive? Who’s going to be a good fit with the team of people already in place?

If the partner you select is a proven entity in the marketplace, they’re going to have a track record of success. They’ll have other long-term relationships with clients or competitors that will speak volumes about what they can accomplish for you, so you should ask the firm: “Who are your clients, and can you provide specific references? How long have you been working together? What impact have you made in these organizations?” Ask for specific examples. What is your primary approach to sourcing and screening candidates? Does the firm specialize in recruiting passive candidates, or are they just out there sourcing candidates and resumes off of Monster? When you’re looking for that perfect person to really make an impact, that stack of resumes isn’t going to be the place to start. The fact is, the person who’s going to work best for you is probably already working for someone else and doing a phenomenal job. That’s the person that most people want. It’s human nature; you always want what you don’t have.

We specialize in the biopharmaceutical industry. We know it inside and out; we have a network of over 250,000 people globally and we keep in touch on a regular basis. Looking for a firm that specializes in the biopharma industry really provides you with an advantage. They know how to speak the language, they know who to go to; they have that network readily available. It’s important that you have some expectations of anybody that you’re going to work with. A firm must be expected to deliver much more than paper. They need to give you knowledge and competitive intelligence, including compensation and relocation benefits specific to the position that you’re recruiting for. They need to be able to talk about the market demands and who’s looking at comparable talent. Firms need to be transparent in assessing a candidate’s viability — are they actually going to make this move? Are they a good fit for the opening? Are they a good fit for your organization and culture?

Firms need to be nimble and be able to change course to accommodate a client’s needs. A true partner will really make a commitment to your organization to see a project through. You don’t want a firm with the attitude, “Let’s just find this one person and move on, and we don’t care if we work this organization again.”

FP What is the best way to maximize the relationship with the agency and reduce the time to fill an opening?

KF The best approach to maximizing any relationship is for both parties to feel like they are on equal ground, have “skin in the game” and that there’s an urgency all the way around to filling the opening, whether it’s from the firm’s side, the hiring manager or human resources (HR). In order to really reduce the time to fill, it is vital that there is true commitment and good communication from the start. You must begin with agreement from all parties on the deliverables, timetable, search strategy, position scope and how it’s going to be branded out in the marketplace.

All of us know that HR is normally the primary point of contact. But the hiring authorities and the leaders of the organization are really the people that bring to life those intangibles and can help realign a search at a moment’s notice, based on feedback and questions that you’re getting from potential strong candidates. From the candidates’ side, the best talent wants to know whether hiring firms have direct contact with decision makers, or whether they’re just going to pass along the resume and it’s going to end up in a black box somewhere. They want to feel like this is a really important position for the organization to fill. People want to be wanted. Candidates want to feel that a company is excited by the difference their scientific approach will make in the grand scheme. This is where a good recruiter will be able to paint a picture of a complete opportunity, as opposed to just reading a job description pulled off a website. Ultimately, this is where a good partnership will maximize success; by working together as a unified front, the best, the most pertinent and the most impactful information will reach the marketplace and your target talent audience in the most efficient way.

There is a misconception floating around that this is a “seller’s market;” meaning that the hiring companies have all of the leverage and their pick of the best.  Well, the hiring companies do have their pick, but not of necessarily the best candidates.  As we have been seeing at The Agency, the truly stellar candidates are still very much employed at their current position and most likely received a hefty retention bonus when their company finished the reorg.  To give you a real world example (the names have been changed to protect the innocent) we had just identified a stellar candidate for a client of ours.  This person had completed the rigorous vetting process by us and by the client.  The offer was being sent out and everyone was genuinely feeling pretty good about themselves.

With pen in hand to sign the offer sheet the candate’s current employer offers him a $150,000 bonus to take a new position within the reorganized company.  The current company didn’t even know that the candidate was looking for a job.  With a check for $150k in one hand and the pen in the other – which do you think got put down?

The moral to this story is there are tons of people out in the available candidate marketplace.  Most are out there because they were at best average performers and at worst were the worst.  The stellar candidates are out there but they are still working; and probably for your competition.  The best action that an HR department and a company can take is to understand that this is a buyer’s market – especially for the great people.  Understand that a candidate’s current company will do almost anything it can (like give $150k retention bonus) to keep someone that is making them money; wouldn’t you?  Here are some tips:

• Be creative with your offers – that means cash, benefits, small perks.  Cash isn’t always king, most people just want to be appreciated.
• Be overly communicative – whether using a search firm (my choice ) or utilizing an inhouse person, be sure to communicate, communicate, communicate with the candidate.  Ensure that you are addressing their needs, fears, and desires.  You don’t have to capitulate to all of them, just acknowledge them.
• Be honest about the importance of the role.  If filling the role is not that important, then the first two bullet points are irrelevant.

Where are all of the job candidates?  Well, the ones you really want are still working.  They are available to you, but don’t convince yourself that they will move for just anything.  And if they are exceptional, plan on a fight with their current company to retain them.  Those are the facts.

Disagree, please let me know: jeff@theagencyworldwide.com

Have fun.

I’m sure it has all of the regular vitals: name, address, phone number, email, blood type, favorite Iron Chef.  But what does that really say?  Ever read an obituary?  Gives the general details of a person’s life, their family members, a few kind words about their personality, and then a note about funeral or memorial service.  Pretty dry stuff to say the least.  Yes it gives the reader some minute facts but unless you already knew the deceased – you probably still don’t know them very well.  It’s exactly the same as a resume.

We’ve been taught from high school career counselors to make sure to list your jobs in chronological order and provide bullet points of your duties (sound familiar?)  Also really boring to read and in no way sets you apart from anyone else applying for a job.  You need to put your personality into it, you need to put your real accomplishments into it.  Make the resume come alive for the reader – turn your resume into a compelling story.

Now, I’m not going to give away all of my secrets; that’s what I get paid for, but I will give you some things to think about the next time you are putting your resuem together.  Here you go:

1. Outline your resume into sections
2. Summarize your most relevant skills.
3. Put your most proud career accomplishments up front and center (3 will do).  Remember, the employer wants to know what actual skills you have and how you have applied them in the past that will make them money by hiring you.
4. Now list your career highlights – you don’t actually need to list every job you have ever had.

Pretty simple.  Don’t worry about how many pages it takes to complete, 2 pages is fine.  Trying to shove everything into a single page is ridiculous.  Also, forget an Objective, everyone says the same thing and after a full day of reading about people who are “looking for a growth opportunity in a team environment, the reader is going to gloss over it anyway; I know I do.

A resume is your calling card, a way to open the door – make a compelling argument right away or forget about an interview.  There are too many people out of work, make yourself standout and be wanted.

Have fun.

Jeff