Should you relocate for a position?
Yes, of course. It’s a great opportunity to see another part of the country and experience cultural differences that we have even in different parts of the U.S. You might land a position you wouldn’t find in your location, it might be a better job than you would qualify for in your area because of a shortage of these types of folks in the new area, and the new job might be in a high-growth area that would lead to lots of advancement opportunities. Exciting possibilities…. About.com has a couple of articles with advice about moving to big cities versus small ones and what you should ask yourself before you relocate, and general relocation tips including compensation tools and calculators. Things to think about.
Remember, nothing is forever. Go get the job, gain the experience. You can always move back to where-ever in 2 or 3 years.
Podcasts – sales insights, management insights.
Guess what? On the way to Toronto last week, I listened to a podcast about recruiting…..Very cool. I have a free subscription through my iTunes that downloads these podcasts onto my iPod. Candidates are always looking for ways to set themselves apart from the competition. Maybe there is a useful podcast on selling (how to get past gatekeepers, how to sell value not price, remaking your book of business, mining your contacts, etc.) that you could listen to while you are on the plane, driving (not on your iPod but through your stereo) or working out. If you get one little piece of insight that sets you apart….you have succeeded. I will look on iTunes and put some links in one of my posts as examples. With technology, the possibilities are unlimited!
Should Tony Soprano call a recruiter?
I don’t watch very much TV, but I must admit that I follow the Sopranos. I find it entertaining. With all of the questions about Tony (will he live, will he die, what will he do), I wondered if he just needed a job change. His job is very demanding. He can never let his guard down, his friends really are his employees and any little slip could cost him their respect. It involves a lot of dirty work and moral compromises. Does the money make it worth it? No. Besides, I don’t think he has done a good job of saving and Carmella is very unsure of their financial security. But if he called me and wanted to talk about what he should do….I would not be able to help him. Why? (the obvious reason is that I am not sure that he has his BS degree, has worked in a laboratory environment, sold into the medical arena or managed sales people in the laboratory supply industry) Well, I don’t think people can change more than 15-20% and he has a number of areas that would need improvement for him to survive in my client company environments. What areas? Conflict management, employee development, honesty, integrity, work ethic, respect, empathy, deference, etc. Another issue, even though he might tell me he is okay with the pay structure of my client company, his lifestyle would burn through it (I have candidates do this all the time)and he would have issues at home that would affect his ability to perform his job successfully. So if Tony asks you for a great medical sales recruiter, don’t give him my name.
Resume length…what should it be?
While we’re on the subject of resumes…I get asked a lot about what the length of a resume should be, and the answer is…it depends. Bill Inman cites an Accounttemps study that says that staff-level employees should keep it to 1-2 pages, and executive-level requires 2 or maybe 3 pages. Katherine Hansen has an article posted on CollegeRecruiter.com has a helpful, really detailed discussion on resume length for a variety of job levels. She says most people need two pages, entry-level job seekers should probably stick with one, and very high-level executives can have 3 or more…but you still better capture their attention in the first third of the first page. In my opinion, most folks with less than 8 years of experience in the medical sales area (like pharmaceutical reps, laboratory capital equipment sales reps, clinical sales reps, etc.)should be one pagers. The rest should be two pagers: that includes all laboratory sales reps, pharmaceutical sales reps, biotech marketing reps, tech support…everyone. No 3 pagers from anyone, please.
Managers: look at your cost per hire and use a recruiter
I found an interesting article about the direct and indirect costs involved in hiring new employees. Some are the obvious costs, like salaries of internal recruiting staff, employee referral bonuses, and networking events, but some are not so obvious. Hiring managers who take on the simple task of searching, weeding through resumes, and initial interviewing are missing opportunities to manage their current employees, make contact with their customers, strategize and grow their businesses. All of those activities are more valuable to the company (and less headache-inducing to the hiring manager) than my fee as a medical sales recruiter. Let PHC Consulting do the legwork for you. If you need a account executive, sales manager or marketing pro in the laboratory (both research and clinical) industry – give me a call.
Take a resume to the interview!!
I just got the bad news. My candidate is not going to the final interview. Manager really liked her, felt she had very relevant experience in his area and was excited to meet with her. But she did not bring a resume….He felt like that showed a lack of attention to detail and preparedness.
Alex Rudolf -
“It is also important to have your resume in order. If the potential employer told you not to bring a resume, bring two copies. If they told you to bring a resume, bring five. Show them that you are organized by opening a dark leather or heavy two pocket folder and presenting your resume (if asked), printed on heavy resume paper. Another, more formal option, is to have a dark two pocket folder with your resume on one side and work examples, references, and a completed application on the other side.”
It is all about the basics. So the next time you interview for a laboratory sales position – be sure to pack the resume.
What to include on your resume
An issue has come up lately about whether you should omit first jobs from your resume. Sometimes they were just to get your foot in the door and don’t really relate to what you’re doing now, so some people think that you should leave them out…write your resume for the job you’re applying for and omit things that don’t directly contribute toward your goal (see this article by John Holden). But most people believe you should include it all, and I found a couple of good how-to-write-a-resume articles (one from The Windmill and one from a professional resume writer) that address what to do if you have issues–basically, they say to restructure it so that it highlights relevant information, but doesn’t leave anything out. I personally want to see all jobs after college and possibly before college if you postponed school. I do think that earlier jobs do not rank the resume space that later jobs do, but if there’s a section of time missing, I have a negative feeling–wondering what you are hiding.
Managers who want to upgrade their teams, consider this:
I found a post about new aggressive recruiting practices, including “interviewless” hires:
- “Most-wanted “interviewless” hires. The recruiting team developed a “most wanted” list of the five best proven performers at their competitors. Then they developed some competitive intelligence about each of them and had a conversation with these “most wanted” candidates in order to verify that they were highly desirable. The team then sent each of them, without warning or an interview, an offer letter and a cover letter that stated that they could start in two weeks! (They were essentially given a free pass into FirstMerit [Bank]). All prospects called back asking if the offer to start was for real, and they were told that it was. Each one of them independently asked whether it was true that they didn’t need to even interview, and in each case the recruiter responded by asking them if they wanted to interview. Not surprisingly, each said that they should if they were going to seriously consider a change (the precise response that FirstMerit expected). The recruiter then asked the prospects who they wanted to interview with and when (I have found that this is an excellent question for any top candidate). The net result of the strategy was that the process pushed passive, high-performing talent (who normally respond with a resounding no when asked if they would like to interview for a new job) into asking FirstMerit for an interview. Although the process is brand new, it has already resulted in at least one hire that they never would have gotten using standard recruiting approaches.”
What a concept….it’s a pretty brave thing to do, but what an opportunity to gain someone for your organization you might not have been able to get another way. It’s food for thought, anyway…has anyone heard of this being done? Maybe the next time you have an opening for a laboratory sales representative, a regional sales manager, a physician sales account executive or a product manager, you could give this a shot…..Call me. I will provide you a top grade candidate for your position.
Do you hear what I hear? Annoying voicemail greetings
OK, so today I called a promising candidate about a biotech marketing position, and got a voicemail message. Not a bad thing, except that the candidate had apparently let her 3-year old record it. Charming for the grandparents, not so charming for potential employers and medical sales recruiters. Job searches are about marketing yourself, first impressions, and good communication. The interview process starts with that first contact, so your contact phone needs to have a voice mail greeting that sounds professional, not cute. No annoying music, either. Remember the KISS principle: Keep It Simple, Sweetie.
What is “the cat’s meow”? What does that mean?
To all my contacts who have wondered why I describe candidates or jobs or managers as ”the cat’s meow” or what it really means or where the saying came from A.C. Kemp explains (on the slang website) :
“The cat’s meow, from the 1920s, means “great.” Flappers, the wild young women of that era who showed off their knees (shocking!) and danced until morning, had a boatload of similar animal-related terms.
For example, you could also say you liked something by calling it the bee’s knees, the cat’s pajamas, or the elephant’s instep. Why they used these terms is a mystery, but it might have had something to do with the quality of the homemade liquor they were drinking night after night.
If you are unfamiliar with American history, the eighteenth amendment, passed in 1919, made alcohol illegal here from 1920 to 1933. Flappers were therefore forced to get their kicks from bathtub gin of questionable purity, possibly contributing to hallucinations of pink elephants (the standard phantom of American drunks) and other odd animals.”
I will address “duck on a June bug” and how that applies to those who are currently looking for a laboratory sales job or those looking for a great salesperson in a future post. Stay Tuned.
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