Winning the War on Talent with Behavioral Interviewing

Competition for top talent is fierce in the pharma industry; however, the right recruitment firm can help find the perfect match.

War for Talent Is Here

The job market in the pharmaceutical industry is incredibly competitive. Companies are looking for very specific talent to fill leadership positions and must pursue candidates using a streamlined and efficient process. With limited candidates available — and the cost of a vacant executive position in the many millions — they must also be able to make hiring decisions quickly.

Social Media Is Insufficient

An understanding of the industry, the company and the skills and abilities of candidates, is essential to make effective matches for leadership positions — this cannot be achieved without established relationships across an industry network.

The Role of the Recruiter

In addition to identifying the best and brightest candidates in the market, effective search and recruiting firms help their clients determine actual and specific candidate needs. Recruiters share their industry-wide experiences and bring new perspectives that help ensure clients pursue the right hiring strategies. With their extensive industry networks, they have access to a broad pool of top talent. Search firms apply proven methods for identifying and interviewing potential candidates, enabling the identification of the best matches for any given position.

The overall goal is to develop a reliable supply of low-cost, advanced medicines and increase access in countries/regions that traditionally have lacked the infrastructure, resources and skilled labor to produce and distribute drugs cost-effectively.

The Key Corporate Services Process

With 20-plus years of experience recruiting in the pharma and biotech outsourcing sector, Key Corporate Services provide our clients with job candidates that make a real and lasting impact on their businesses. We start by understanding the company’s history, culture, market position, value proposition, goals and what it is trying to achieve with the hire. We then learn about the various stakeholders involved and the specific position, including its requirements, the opportunities for advancement, the compensation and special incentives and the management style.

This information is used to determine why candidates might be interested in working for the company in that position. An in-depth description of duties/responsibilities, compensation structure/package and profile of the ideal job candidate is crafted and presented to the client along with a list of interview questions.

Next, a list of target companies from which we will most likely find appropriate candidates is developed. These sources include networking with industry contacts, executive-level resources, our database and original sourcing calls. The most attractive candidates that are interested in the position are subjected to behavioral interviews to understand their motivations, backgrounds and
relevant work history. Their qualifications and personal suitability are also evaluated. A presentation is then given to the client of only the candidates best suited to the position.

We then coordinate and manage client interviews, help as needed with narrowing the list and also assist with setting and negotiating base salary, bonus and stock options, and confirm the candidate’s commitment. Finally, we obtain the signed offer letter and lead the candidate through the resignation process, to the start date and post-start evaluation and feedback.

The Benefits of Behavioral Interviewing

When hiring, it is essential to avoid being limited by traditional descriptors. Innate behaviors are a better predictor of future success than skill sets and experience levels alone. Using our behavioral interviewing approach, we have achieved a fill rate of over 98% and an average of less than 3.3 candidates interviewed for a successful hire. That means our clients hire the right person more quickly, save time and money and add productive members to their staff faster than the competition.

Why Key Corporate Services?

Key Corporate Services is specialized in the pharma outsourcing sector and has been building an extensive network of contacts for more than 20 years. These relationships allow us to engage the entire industry candidate pool, rather than the fraction of people actively seeking employment.

We are focused on assisting our clients with everything they need to ensure the best matches are found. We work rapidly and help clients save time and money with our behavioral interviewing approach during the hiring process to find the best person for the job. We have extensive experience and look forward to providing search and recruiting services to the pharma outsourcing sector for a long time to come.

Dave Kerns

Dave is co-founder and co-Managing Partner for Key Corporate Services, LLC a leading science recruiting firm founded in 2000. Key is expanding its recruiting team and each year fills numerous positions for outsourced pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies.

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