Towards the end of the calendar year as personal commitments and vacations pick up, recruiting and hiring tends to slow down. But hiring during the holidays can give you a leg up when done right. Here we’ve gathered some pros and cons to consider and some tips to help you search for great talent during this most wonderful time of the year.
Holidays Hiring Pros:
You’re dealing with a highly motivated candidate pool. Whether because of vacations and commitments or because they’ve bought into the myth of the “holiday hiring freeze,” many candidates put their job search on hold this time of year. The ones that keep at it are highly motivated to find their next opportunity. This diligence will not only sustain a candidate through the interview and hiring process — it will also carry over into their job performance once they are on the team.
People take time to reflect and consider life changes towards the end of the year. As the New Year approaches, many people reflect on how the past year went and what they might want to alter in their life, including in their career. Now is a great time to attract these candidates who are ready for a change.
There’s less competition for candidates as others put their hiring on hold. While the holiday hiring freeze may not hold true across the board, it’s true that many companies cut back on recruiting during this time of year because of time off, vacations, and end-of-year wrap ups. By building hiring into your plans for the season, you will face less competition for candidates than in other times of the year.
Candidates have more leeway when scheduling interviews. If a candidate is currently employed while they’re searching for a new job, they may find it difficult or awkward to ask for time off for interviews without hinting that they are looking for greener pastures. Because most people are taking time off this season, it might be easier for these candidates to schedule interviews during the holidays without raising their current employer’s suspicions.
The holidays are a great time to garner referrals. Between family commitments, holiday parties, and school celebrations, you likely will be doing a lot of socializing during this season, and you might come across great candidates amid the merriment. Your employees and network are in the same boat. Ask them to keep your job openings top of mind as they celebrate, and to send any high-quality referrals your way.
Holiday Hiring Cons:
Candidates are more likely to be traveling or taking time off. Though some applicants will keep their nose to the grindstone, even the most committed will likely take time off around the holidays. Some might even be out of town and will not be available or interested in a long string of interviews. Tip: Implement a quick interview process. To spare a candidate’s valuable time (and your own), ensure that your job description is unambiguous and detailed, consider cutting pre-screening questionnaires and phone screens, keep interviews to the minimum number of necessary rounds, and clearly communicate your timeline to candidates.
Candidates don’t want to miss out on a holiday or year-end bonus. If a candidate gets hired in December to start in January, they might miss out on a holiday bonus – both at their new company, and potentially at their old company if they hand in their notice before the Christmas/New Year’s break. Some year-end bonuses also take into consideration an employee’s time at the company and previous year’s performance, which won’t apply for brand new hires. Tip: Consider offering a sign-on bonus to new hires. To incentivize new hires to join your ranks and to celebrate the season, a signing bonus can be a great idea.
Fewer candidates are actively applying, which could spell trouble if you’re looking for rare or specialized skills. The catch-22 of a smaller candidate pool is while they may be more motivated, sometimes hiring is all about volume. If you are looking for a specialized skill or a rare combination of skills, this might be hard to find if less candidates are applying. Tip: Bring on a recruiter to help fill the role. Sci.bio’s targeted, efficient, and scalable approach supports biotech companies of all sizes. Get in touch with us today and learn more.
Looking for that perfect entry-level hire? If you’re like many life science employers, you’re used to vetting applicants based on years of experience. For positions categorized as junior or entry-level, though, applicants aren’t likely to have an extensive employment record. You’ll need other ways to assess their skillset, intelligence, and willingness to learn.
As you look through resumes and conduct interviews, don’t underestimate these newer and younger candidates. While junior job-seekers may be lacking in years of experience, they can easily make up for that in attitude and flexibility.
Screening for success at the junior level
A junior candidate may not boast a pages-long resume of work experience – and that’s okay! Previous leadership positions and awards can show you just as much about their work ethic and areas of interest. Did they start a biomedical education club in university? Have they won awards or scholarships related to their scientific work? An applicant who loves their field, takes initiative, and enjoys learning new skills will be highly motivated to adapt to a new position.
That said, you’ll still want to see that they’ve previously excelled in a similar environment. Just remember to check your expectations – the fact is, not many junior candidates will have work experience in the exact role you’re hiring for. Take a realistic approach and look for evidence that they’ve been successful in a similar classroom setting, volunteer position, or extracurricular management role.
And remember, it’s not just the hard skills that are important. Emotional intelligence plays a critical role in the workplace, even for technical jobs. When hiring for junior positions, look for these qualities in your candidates: receptivity to feedback, work ethic, and ability to function as part of a team. Candidates with these attributes are likely to thrive in the ecosystem of the workplace.
Sometimes you’ll have a good feeling about a candidate, but not quite enough confidence to take the leap and make them an offer. In this case, consider sending them a skills test. This approach is a win-win: you get to see what they’re capable of, and they get a chance to prove themselves to you.
Benefits of hiring junior employees
It’s no secret that millennials and zoomers are usually proficient with technology. As a result, it shouldn’t take long for them to learn the ropes of any new software required for a position. By the same token, younger candidates are likely to have at least one tech-based skill already. This could be anything from video editing to Microsoft Excel to overall computer-savviness. These skills are great to have in your arsenal should you ever need them.
Younger hires can also offer some much-needed youthful perspective. They’re likely to be up-to-date on trends, such as recent developments in the world of social media or new apps that might help to structure company workflow. Another upside: less experienced employees often show particular enthusiasm for their work, which can inspire others to embrace a positive attitude themselves.
Junior roles in science industries
Communications-based science jobs are often a good fit for junior-level hires. That’s not because they’re easy, but because the skills they require can be developed through various avenues. Positions like medical writer or scientific project manager, for example, can sometimes be filled by candidates with shorter or more diverse resumes.
Currently, many pharma and biotech companies are in the market for junior research associates fresh out of grad school. If this is you, try scanning candidates’ resumes for relevant scientific skill sets. Current top skills required for research associate positions include collaboration, analysis, and experimentation. As you scan candidates’ resumes, look for education or experience that has allowed them to cultivate these skills.
Know what to look for
As you search for the best possible hire for a junior position, ask yourself this: who has the potential to be your next workplace superstar? You can’t expect recent graduates to have decades of work experience in highly skilled, highly specialized positions. You can, however, scout out applicants that demonstrate enthusiasm, some relevant experience, and above all a willingness to learn.
If you’re looking to hire an ambitious and skilled junior level employee, Sci.bio’s recruitment services can help you find the perfect match.
Consider your hiring process. It can be both a blessing and a curse: your organization is growing quickly, and you are ready to bring on a lot of new talent. But those open roles need to be filled fast, and all at once!
When is high-volume hiring needed?
In some industries managers can expect to need high-volume hiring seasonally, like when companies bring on large numbers of temporary employees to meet increased holiday shopping demand (the National Retail Federation estimates U.S. retailers hire around half a million seasonal staffers each holiday season).
In biotech, seasonal needs can sometimes pop up, like towards the end of the academic year when new or soon-to-be graduates are on the job hunt. But more often high-volume hiring is required in biotech companies to meet growth needs. Start-ups can expand rapidly, and staff is needed to scale up accordingly. Or, if a large company moves into a new research focus, they may need to hire a lot of people quickly to get the new project up off the ground and running or to bring in a necessary specialized skill.
The end of 2022 is quickly approaching. As you look towards the new year and build out hiring plans for 2023, you will want to have a strategy in place if you are planning on filling a lot of new positions. Here, we’ve put together some steps you can take to energize and execute your high volume hiring process.
1. Design a candidate-first strategy that puts a premium on quality.
While high-volume hiring is in part focused on quantity, it’s important to design your hiring process and write position descriptions to attract quality employees. Early on in the process, work with your team to fully understand the spectrum of needs each position will require. Be exact and explicit when laying out expectations in job descriptions, and don’t forget to detail benefits and aspects of your company’s brand that will appeal to high-quality applicants. If it’s applicable to the role, consider implementing screening questions to a position’s online application to determine if candidates should move on to next steps in the process that require more work on your part.
2. Look to your previous contacts and candidates in the hiring process.
You probably have a list of candidates you’ve been in touch with in the past but put on hold and didn’t hire. These candidates are great options to first turn to when looking to hire fast – you already know them, they already know you, and chances are they’re still interested in working at your company. Now is the time to tap into any hiring pipelines you’ve cultivated. It’s also worth looking at internal candidates and considering if they can grow into new or needed roles if you haven’t already.
3. Use multiple platforms to get your jobs in front of more candidates and cast a wide net.
To hire a lot of workers, you need to get your job postings in front of a lot of eyeballs. In addition to looking to your already-existing pipeline, make use of all possible platforms including your website’s careers page, social media, and relevant online niche groups and job boards. Make sure search engine optimization, or SEO, is polished by including relevant keywords in your job posting.
4. Consider using technology to speed up the search.
When hiring in high quantities, modern technological tools can help reduce some of the burden. Artificial intelligence tools and automation software can help you manage outreach, communications, and real-time status of open positions, as well as analyze recruiting data and streamline review of resumes.
The takeaway on the hiring process:
As your company grows, adds new projects, or expands into a new research focus, you may need to hire a lot of employees quickly. Use these tips as a guide and remember that Sci.bio’s targeted biotech recruiting approach can help you fulfill your hiring needs. Feel free to get in touch with us today to learn more.
You’ve probably heard the terms “talent acquisition” and “talent management” before – and you’ve probably used them yourself. Though they might sound like the same thing, talent acquisition and talent management serve two different but essential purposes in hiring. Read on to learn more about what these strategies are and why they can both help you hire and retain great employees.
What is talent acquisition?
At its core, talent acquisition involves attracting and hiring skilled and qualified employees. This includes all the basic practicalities you must do in order to build a workforce, including creating and advertising job descriptions, reviewing applications, interviewing candidates, and making offers.
But talent acquisition also comprises more nuanced and proactive steps you take when looking for employees and building out a hiring pipeline. Some of these steps include sourcing hires from diverse backgrounds, keeping in touch with past candidates in case future opportunities arise, maintaining relationships with recruiting agencies and other talent sources, and building and communicating a strong brand that conveys your company’s values. Talent acquisition is not simply focused on filling vacant roles, but on acquiring quality candidates long-term.
What is talent management?
Talent management is the continued process of keeping employees within your company and facilitating their development and success. Some talent management steps include building hiring and succession plans, identifying and mentoring promising employees, rewarding and promoting them for achievements and growth, and providing employee training programs. Talent management also involves fostering employee engagement and feedback, as well as creating a supportive “inboarding” process when existing employees are promoted into new roles. In all, it’s a process that engages and rewards the employees you already have, to the overall benefit of the entire organization.
How they’re different, and how they rely on each other.
The difference between talent acquisition and talent comes down to purpose. Simply put, talent acquisition focuses on finding employees, while talent management focuses on keeping them.
But while they have different functions and involve different actionable steps, both talent acquisition and talent management rely on each other, with the success of one boosting the success of the other. An employer that promotes from within and rewards growth might become known for treating their employees well. That reputation, in turn, might encourage high quality applicants to positively respond if a recruiter reaches out about applying for a role with the company.
Why they both matter in hiring.
The above example illustrates why talent acquisition and talent management are important. Obviously, without a recruiter from the company reaching out to high-quality candidates there would be no applicant pool to hire from. But without the positive company profile generated in part by the opportunities for growth, those great candidates might be less apt to apply and accept an offer. Talent acquisition found the great candidate, and talent management provided them with a selling point.
Cultivating a strong talent acquisition presence also enables you to:
Save time and stress by anticipating and preparing for future and potential hiring needs, rather than simply filling vacancies as they arise.
Hone a vision of what kinds of candidates you want to attract to your company.
Identify employees with rare combinations of skills and experiences, for both immediate hiring needs and in case of future openings.
Hire people with potential to grow beyond their role.
Maintaining a focused talent management strategy allows you to:
Boost morale and make employees feel valued and appreciated.
Increase retention, boosting productivity and combating knowledge loss.
Foster innovation and ideas by giving employees opportunities to challenge and stretch themselves.
Help your employees reach their full potential and achieve professional fulfilment.
Proactively attract candidates who value opportunities to grow, thus benefiting your talent acquisition. Again, when done well these processes are cyclical!
Both talent acquisition and talent management matter in hiring. One helps you get in touch with excellent candidates, and the other helps you sell them on your company — and encourages them to stick around once they’re hired. If you’re eager to start attracting some great talent, Sci.bio’s recruitment services are here to help.
Establishing your own recruiting niche as a junior recruiter might feel like a slow and arduous process. The temptation is to expand your client base as fast as possible, which would mean taking on projects in different therapeutic areas and handling a bit of every type of recruiting work. However, there are several long-term advantages to specializing in a particular therapeutic area or type of biotech role, and starting that specialization process as early as possible.
Expert recruiters can offer clients and job seekers insights on their competitors, as well as an understanding of general hiring trends and unwritten rules of the sub-market (e.g. the most enticing job description language). They understand the technical requirements of roles and can easily talk with bench scientists about their qualifications. This expertise makes the recruiter desirable to clients and jobseekers, because it increases the likelihood of finding the best candidates for the position.
In smaller biotech niches – constrained either by specialty or geography – recruiters working in the space will quickly learn who are the “hot” candidates currently on the market and build connections with them. Knowing that a qualified candidate with a coveted skillset is looking for new opportunities – perhaps because the recruiter has worked with them before – endears these recruiters to their clients.
While exposure to different therapeutic areas and types of recruiting (e.g. contingency versus full cycle) is important to help you develop as a new recruiter, your niche is a long-term investment for success and becomes part of your professional “brand.” Don’t be afraid to lean into your strengths; keeping abreast of the latest scientific or business developments in your area of expertise.
Recruiting niche at Sci.bio
Sci.bio is a boutique agency specializing in matching STEM professionals to biotech roles. Our recruiting partners all have niches: through their STEM degrees and many years’ industry experience. Here are some of the recruiting specialties amongst our team:
Laura Helmick: Clinical development and medical affairs
Kendra Hodges: Immuno-oncology
Carter Lewis: Gene therapy
Meg Wise: Director-level accounting and finance
Mike Cordano: Sci.Bio business development, as well as Gene Therapy recruiting
Carla Yacoub: Medical devices, with additional expertise in engineering, medical writing, gene therapy, and clinical roles
