Professional Recruiter: A Career Option for a Ph.D.?
As many of you may know, I was, at one time in my career, a professional recruiter. I did not start my scientific career with the intension of becoming a headhunter –I sort of fell into it. While I was Chair of Biology at Middlesex County College I was asked by a recruiter to take a look at a Director-level job at a Boston-based biotechnology company. I went on a job interview but did not get an offer to join the company. However, I did strike up a “friendship” with the recruiter who brought the job opportunity to me. During one of many phone calls she told me about the difficulties she was having finding qualified candidates for several job openings at her client companies. She described the positions to me over the phone and I told her that I thought I could help find her “right fit” candidates (recruiter lingo) for the jobs. It was a bit of hubris on my part, but unlike most scientists, I am a very outgoing, gregarious guy who likes to meet new and interesting people. That said, over the course of my career, I had assembled a rather large and eclectic network of scientific, academic and industrial contacts.
After a couple of well placed calls, I identified several highly-qualified candidates for two of her job opportunities. Surprisingly, two of candidates that I sent to her received job offers and subsequently accepted them! As result, I was $20 K richer and my career as a professional recruiter had begun.
Why was I so effective in finding candidates who were “right for the job”? The answer is quite simple–as a Ph.D. bench scientist (who worked in both academia and industry), I had a clear understanding of the scientific and technical skill requirements for the ideal job candidate. Unfortunately, most pharmaceutical and biotechnology recruiters have only an undergraduate science education. Consequently, they lack the background, training and real life experience to successfully identify appropriate job candidates for their client companies.
After I left Middlesex County College, I took a job with Management Recruiters International (MRI) a well known, international contingency search firm. After I was hired, I had to go through 6 weeks of recruiter school where I learned how to be a “professional recruiter”. After a successful 6 month stay at MRI, I decided to open up my own recruiting business. Over the next three years, I made over $100 K a year while only working part time. Although recruiting was fun and financially rewarding, I missed science (and interacting with other scientists) and decided to forgo my life as a recruiter to become a management consultant. I still get calls to work as a recruiter (in fact I am working with a firm to identify a business manager for a new BSL4 laboratory that is being built) and I sometimes consider doing it full time again. Helping people find jobs is very rewarding. That said, it makes all of the hard work that I performed to get my Ph.D. worthwhile because, at the end of the day, helping people was the reason that I got my Ph.D. in the first place!!!!!!!!!!!
Until next time…..
Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!!!
Hi, You're foray into recruiting is a familiar one. I'm curious, based on your experiences and current knowledge of the pharma industry, what would you say are the most difficult to fill positions? What are the positions that companies tend to seek recruiters out for most? What are some the trends to look out for?
Thanks!