Keep current with pharmaceutical recruiting intelligence by regularly connecting with newsworthy resources. Plug into networking platforms and other information carriers to elevate industry knowledge and your career. Tap community forums, societies and associations, news sites and other forms of biotech recruiting news.

Pharmaceutical recruiters connect top applicants with careers in the pharmaceutical industry. A pharmaceutical head hunter must stay current with developments in order to best serve job-seeking clients. Consider traditional ways to monitor pharmaceutical recruiting services news and trends.

1. Tap trends for biotech recruiters in newsletters and magazines.

2. Subscribe to journals for insight on pharmaceutical recruiting services.

3. Join associations to connect with other industry professionals.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Gain a global perspective of news for pharmaceutical recruiters

Obtain newsletters, magazines and news alerts to keep up with trends in the field of pharmaceutical recruiting. Look for resources that examine national and international developments to gain a comprehensive knowledge of industry developments. Changes within the pharmaceutical industry may force hiring trends. Being ahead of the curve gives you an advantage as a pharmaceutical head hunter.

I recommend: Read daily news articles about pharmaceutical recruiting at Recruiter.com. Subscribe to their newsletter or magazine for additional updates. Register for news alerts at Pharmafocus. Review worldwide news that affects pharmaceutical recruiting at SRG, a scientific recruitment services company.

Study journal articles to access news as a pharmaceutical recruiter

Reviewing published studies is a popular way to gather intelligence about employment recruiters for pharmaceuticals and the industry as a whole. Write and submit your own articles if you possess expertise that would be of value to other employment service professionals. Being familiar with the journals keeps you up-to-date with who's hot and who's not within the industry. If you choose to publish your own work, the journals give you visibility, which generally brings in more business.

I recommend: Access the Boston Business Journal to read articles posted by the Bio-Pharmaceutical Education and Training Association. Subscribe to the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education to stay informed of research-based articles about the pharmaceutical recruiter industry.

Get in touch with associations that interact with pharmaceutical employment services

Membership in trade associations give you an inside perspective of issues that affect biotech professionals. Tap resources that accompany membership such as yearly conferences and networking opportunities. The relationships you forge through the associations can bring in new clientele from employers and job-seekers alike.

I recommend: Team up with more than 12,000 members of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. Acquire their scientific programs and professional development opportunities. Study a comprehensive listing of associations for recruiters including pharmaceutical search firms at Online Recruiters Directory.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Attend training programs designed for biotech head hunters to stay current with any pharmaceutical industry updates. Educational and training programs provide certification, access to new developments and possibly new contacts for future business.

As an independent or outside sales person for the pharmaceutical or biotech industry, it’s up to you to find products to sell. A biotech headhunter or a pharmaceutical headhunter can help you further your career and your bank account. Pharmaceutical recruiting services look at your resume, sales record and experience. Biotech recruiters narrow the field from pharmaceutical recruiting to biotech recruiting, which is more specialized.

Independent pharmaceutical representatives have the opportunity to add more biotech products, pharmaceutical products and medical devices to their existing line. An independent rep can sell various products to the same institution because they aren’t brand loyal. Most independent reps only sell one product per line. For example, a rep might sell only one brand of insulin or syringes in spite of the fact that many manufacturers may make them. But at the same time, the independent rep may also sell wound care supplies for diabetics from a totally different company. When stating your experience in pharmaceutical employment, a pharmaceutical recruiter will look for areas you specialize in, such as diabetics or physical therapy devices.

To increase your sales potential as an independent representative:

1. Send your updated resume to biotech recruiters and pharmaceutical recruiters;
2. Search through pharmaceutical job boards that are also available to pharmaceutical recruiters; and
3. Look up biotech recruiters in your state and biotech companies.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Keep your resume up to date

There is nothing more informative to a pharmaceutical recruiter than an updated resume. In pharmaceutical recruiting, product lines that you carry and your sales success tells them more about your ability than anything. Many pharmaceutical recruiting services regularly browse through resumes and portfolios on job sites.

I recommend: Build a portfolio and post your resume online to increase your company's visibility. You can also join the Rx Career Center to update and post a resume.

Search job boards for independent pharmaceutical reps wanted

Pharmaceutical and biotech job boards offer outside sales opportunities and independent representative positions. You can search through job boards by state, by company name or by product name. Job boards also offer help with resumes, continuing education and new products available.

I recommend: Checking the independent sales rep boards at Rx Career Center for updated opportunities and looking online for health care rep jobs are both great ways to improve your job search results.

Study biotech products you can add to your line

Sales of biotech products and pharmaceuticals are constantly changing, based on new products and product updates. As an independent sales rep., it's your job to know your products and companies. Search through the biotech companies for a full listing and link to the official website where you can learn more about the biotech products.

I recommend: Searching by company name for biotech products available to add to your product line and searching by state for biotech and biomedical companies, are both valid options for studying biotech products.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Employment recruiters for pharmaceuticals salespeople can help you develop your client list by finding you companies that need help purchasing pharmaceutical items, as can a pharmaceutical sales headhunter. However, make sure to let them know you are looking for freelance opportunities to grow your business.

Take pharmaceutical recruiting services to a higher level by attending training programs designed for recruiters. Sharpen your skills to help improve efforts when placing candidates in pharmaceutical, medical device and biotech careers. Educational programs keep you current with new developments and may consist of workshops and seminars, collegiate courses, publications and literature and other types of information-based resources.

Determine the best method of training for pharmaceutical recruiting services including head hunter, biotech recruiting service, pharmaceutical search firms or any other division of pharmaceutical recruiters. Find the instruction program to fit your pharma or biotech recruiters firm.

1. Strengthen your managerial skills as a pharmaceutical head hunter.

2. Explore services offered by other pharmaceutical recruiters.

3. Launch your own pharmaceutical employment service.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Enhance your own expertise to become more valuable to others as a pharmaceutical recruiter

Fortify your career in pharmaceutical recruiting with supervisory skills. Invest in educational resources that enhance your career as a pharmaceutical recruiter. The training also comes in handy when working with and building up your clients' skill base.

I recommend: Sign up for management and training skills courses at Corexcel. Inquire about their accreditation and continuing education programs. Read career development articles in Pharmaceutical Representative Magazine. This publication offers a wide array of reports for readers to empower their careers.

Study services provided by other pharmaceutical recruiting firms

Gaining knowledge from other biotech recruiters is a good way to gauge the quality of your own pharmaceutical employment service. Competitive intelligence is a good educational tool and a way to keep up with competition from other pharmaceutical recruiting services.

I recommend: Review Oya’s Directory of Recruiters for a national and international listing of pharmaceutical recruiting firms. Peruse employment recruiters for pharmaceuticals and other science staffing industries at The Job Spider.

Get hands-on training by establishing your own pharmaceutical employment service

Setting up pharmaceutical recruiting firms is a progressive and challenging way to broaden your horizons and acquire hands-on training. Explore the various angles of operating pharmaceutical search firms. Train at a top management level as owner of your own company. Be prepared to make and learn from your mistakes as you venture into your new business.

I recommend: Contact StartaRecruitingBusiness.com to begin your biotech recruiting enterprise. Gain knowledge about staffing fee structures, recruiting service agreements, hourly contract recruiting and other concepts. Work with RecruiterTrainingVideo.com to learn successful industry techniques from an experienced recruiter.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Search for certification or accredited programs when training as a pharmaceutical recruiter. Communicate with organizations considered to be experts in the field of pharmaceutical recruiting. Additionally, find flexible training that in includes online, home-based education, DVD or CD style learning.

Pharmaceutical recruiting firms provide employment matching services for a wide range of positions in the medical industry. Employers utilizing pharmaceutical recruiting services may include drug companies, large research or medical labs, industrial settings and nonprofit organizations. Furthermore, pharmaceutical recruiting firms seek out professionals at all levels of experience, from entry-level technicians to lab managers and executives. Understanding the terms used in pharmaceutical recruiting is key to both finding the position you want and filling positions with qualified applicants.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Pharmaceutical recruiting

Pharmaceutical recruiting is the process of matching applicants in the field of pharmacology, biotechnology and medical devices or instruments with employers in the medical health field. Pharmaceutical recruiting is typically done by recruiting firms, which may offer private consultation services or organize job boards and networking sites while charging a subscription fee for employers.

I recommend: Pharmaceutical-Rep.com offers an overview of the pharmaceutical recruiting field and what recruiters do.

Biotechnology

Biotechnology is one of the main areas of pharmaceutical recruiting, and involves any scientific work that involves the manipulation of microorganisms within a lab setting. Biotechnology recruitment places lab workers and researchers in a variety of settings, which may include the medical and health industry, as well as industrial and engineering companies.

I recommend: The Biotech recruiter database lists many firms that recruit in the field of biotechnology.

Independent pharmaceutical representative

An independent pharmaceutical representative, or pharmaceutical sales representative, is one of the most common positions for which pharmaceutical recruiting firms advertise. Pharmaceutical sales reps are employed by drug manufacturers to sell branded prescription drugs and medical devices to hospitals, pharmacies and private medical practices.

I recommend: The Princeton Review offers a comprehensive overview of the work done by an independent pharmaceutical representative, which allows you to learn about the position and also gives employment prospects for this heavily recruited position.

Pharmacology

Pharmacology is the scientific study of drugs and their effects on the human body. Pharmacologists also are recruited by pharmaceutical recruiting firms to work in laboratories that develop new drugs for the market and search for ways to improve existing drugs by reducing side effects and increasing effectiveness.

I recommend: Read a short definition of pharmacology and the areas of science that it incorporate at MedicineNet.com or the UT Health Science Center.

Medical device recruitment

Medical device recruitment is a type of pharmaceutical recruiting that specifically seeks individuals to work for the companies that develop and sell medical instruments and tools, ranging from simple tongue depressors to complex machinery. Medical device recruitment can target a range of positions, from research and development to marketing and sales.

I recommend: Medicaldeviceheadhunter.com provides job listings for medical device positions as well as news in the medical device industry.

Executive pharmaceutical industry recruiting

Executive pharmaceutical industry recruiting, or pharmaceutical executive recruiting, specifically seeks to fill positions in management or executive roles within the medical industry. These positions may include management roles in a large pharmaceutical company or lab manager positions in research laboratories. The setting in which the executive is needed determines the type of experience needed, whether it is business experience or scientific expertise.

I recommend: Clarksearch.com recruits for executive pharmaceutical positions. The site also assists clients in choosing the best candidates for the position.