9 Ways to Become a Better Pharma Recruiter

9 Ways to Become a Better Pharma Recruiter

The pharmaceutical industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the world, so it’s no surprise that competition for top talent is fierce. In this article, we’ve outlined 9 ways you can become a better pharma recruiter to improve your hiring success in this challenging job market, from building a strong talent pipeline to leveraging the latest recruitment technologies…

Stay Up to Date with Industry Trends

Recruitment is a constantly evolving field. What may have worked for you one month, won’t always work the next. Not only do you need to be aware of the latest recruitment technology and hiring trends, but also the changing needs of both jobseekers and employers alike. You need to be able to look at the current climate and identify the best ways to engage with your target audience of both candidates and clients.

One way to keep up to date with industry trends is by attending our recruitment webinars which address the biggest challenges facing life science recruiters today, and provide practical ways of overcoming these.

Proactively Grow your Network

Don’t wait for qualified jobseekers to find you. Even when you’re not hiring for a particular type of role, you still need to be proactively growing your talent pipeline. This means engaging both passive and active talent, leveraging multiple digital channels to grow your talent pool.

The same goes with clients; even if one of your target clients isn’t actively hiring, nurture relationships with them so that once they’re ready to start hiring, they know who to turn to. Here are 7 ways to grow your network on LinkedIn to get you started.

Develop a Good Understanding of the Pharmaceutical Industry

Developing a good understanding of the pharmaceutical industry will provide you with a clearer idea of what both clients and jobseekers are looking for. From a jobseeker perspective, you’ll prove that you really understand the types of roles they’re looking for, and that the roles you recommend to them are relevant and worth their time. From a client perspective, showing that you understand their jargon will make them more likely to trust you with finding the right person, as you can easily decipher which jobseekers meet the job specification.

You won’t be expected to become an expert overnight, but do your research on the environment your clients are operating in, the work they’re doing, the goals they’re aiming to achieve, and the direction the industry is moving in.

Nurture Relationships with Jobseekers

Establishing rapport with jobseekers will help you to understand their individual career goals and provide them with accurate guidance throughout the hiring process. Developing a positive relationship with them may also help to keep them engaged in the process, ultimately helping to improve your hiring success.

Even if a candidate isn’t successful despite being well qualified, keep them in your network to consider them for future roles, and don’t let them forget your name!

Develop a Strong Personal Brand

As a recruiter, having a strong personal brand will help to give you a competitive edge when it comes to working with top clients, and attracting the best talent in the Life Science market. Most recruiters will claim  to have the best talent pool, the best client base, or access to the best software on the market. But your personal brand will be unique to you, and it’s up to you to emphasise the value you can bring to a clients’ hiring or a jobseekers’ search, beyond the services you provide.

Leverage Social Media

Your online presence is key when it comes to attracting top talent and winning new business, and social media is a huge part of this. Don’t just use social media to post your job openings. Use it to engage with industry news, share thought pieces, engage with candidates, and showcase your brand. When reaching out to connect with people on platforms like LinkedIn, think about the value you can bring to others by being part of their network, and put this at the forefront of your social recruiting strategy.

Provide a Positive Candidate Experience

Providing a positive candidate experience throughout the recruitment process will help towards developing your talent pipeline and building up your stack of positive reviews to help you win clients. Clients will be looking for recruiters who provide a positive experience because ultimately, a negative experience with you may turn top talent away from the hiring company.

Measure and Evaluate your Recruiting Efforts

To improve the effectiveness of your hiring efforts, you need to be tracking key metrics including time-to-fill, cost-per-hire and candidate satisfaction, identifying any areas for improvement. Tracking the effectiveness of different sourcing channels and the quality of your hires can help you to make data-driven decisions about where to invest your resources, and how to get the best ROI on your hiring efforts.

Automate your Hiring Activities

An estimated 56% of tasks performed by HR can be automated without drastic changes to processes. Automation technology can help you to save time and streamline your recruiting process. The less time you can spend on tasks that can be automated, the more time you can invest into nurturing qualified candidates. The quicker you can connect your clients with qualified candidates, the better.

Read our recent article on 10 ways to bring automation into your hiring for more tips.

Get Help With Your Hiring

Need help connecting with top life sciences talent? Contact us today.