In the face of the pandemic, no industry has transformed more than the life sciences. The growing need for life sciences experts coupled with social distancing led to a rise in life sciences online recruiting. In a world where there are more life sciences jobs than there are candidates, it’s important to have a solid online recruitment strategy to succeed.
According to a 2021 survey report by CSBI and TEconomy Partners, compared to the rest of the private sector, employment in the life sciences industry improved by 1.4%. However, compared to the rest of the private sector, life sciences companies are not very active in online recruitment.
In this article, we will discuss six ways that you can boost your life sciences recruitment and share examples of companies that are doing it right.
Recruit on Social Media Platforms
From millennials to experts, and fresh graduates, now everyone uses social media. People use social media to keep up with the latest news, stay in touch with friends, and find jobs. A strong social media presence is usually an indicator that it’s a reliable organization.
Even though the life sciences industry claims to be leveling up its social media game, only 41% of the companies are actively using social media. Social media platforms are a great place to:
- Announce new positions
- Share content related to careers
- Promote your company culture
- Seek experienced passive candidates
- Answer FAQs
- Respond to job seekers with questions
The whole point is to be more than just a website. You can reach a larger pool of potential candidates via social media. The most important social platform is LinkedIn, as that’s a platform that everyone knows and uses.
Example: Pfizer, A Solid Social Media Recruiter
Pfizer is a big name in the life sciences sector, but a company as big as Pfizer knows the importance of social media. They use LinkedIn Premium to upgrade their company’s channel for dynamic life sciences online recruiting experience.
What Pfizer is doing is simple enough that any life sciences company, whether established or a startup can utilize. Your company’s LinkedIn channel is an excellent place to promote news about careers, current employee stats, updates, and more information on life sciences about your company.
Use Career Websites
What’s the most visited place of an active job seeker on the internet? After LinkedIn, it’s usually job websites and job boards. Job websites are an excellent way to find jobs that match your skillset, filter out the details, and apply for jobs from anywhere.
On the job website, you can mention what kind of life science talent you’re looking for, whether the job is on-site or remote, salary range, type of employment, and a job description. This way both the recruiter can find candidates with a specific skill set and candidates know what to expect when applying for a job.
Popular Job Websites to Reach More Candidates
Many job websites allow recruiters to post jobs and reach out to skilled individuals. Following are some websites that you should check out:
Let Your People Tell their Recruitment Story!
Almost every company has a careers page on its website. What does yours say? Look at your careers page from a candidate’s perspective. On most websites, job seekers see a list of impersonal and clinical job openings.
Nowadays, people aren’t just looking for a job. Rather, they want to bring about change and progress in the life sciences industry. Although, if you think about it, they’re not any different from your current staff.
Most people in the healthcare industry come with the same spirit of making a change. Show that spirit on your careers page! Interview your passionate employees and share their stories via blogs, videos, and pictures. Want to take it a step further? Let them tell their own stories and share their passion with the new recruits.
Example: Sharing the Passion, Thermo Fisher
The first thing that you notice on Thermo Fisher’s careers page is their employee stories. They let their people talk about their careers and how they’re making the world a better and healthier place. This way, job seekers reflect their own passion and motivations in the person they’re seeing on screen. What better way to motivate a candidate than giving them an opportunity to learn and grow with like-minded people.
Create a Recruitment Newsletter
Companies are not always hiring, but you don’t know when a highly-qualified potential talent might visit your website and exit upon seeing that you’re not hiring. There’s a high chance that they will never visit the website again. A recruitment newsletter is an excellent way to ensure that they come back. When they sign up for the newsletter, not only does the company name stays fresh on their mind, but it helps you build your list of future prospects.
Example: BioAlliance Newsletter
BioAlliance knows the value of every prospect who visits their website. So, they try to take the visitor’s name, email address, and information about what kind of job they are looking for. The HR and recruitment staff can later go through the data and find potential candidates who are interested to work in their company.
Ramp up Your Website’s Careers Page
When searching for a job, people usually head straight to the company’s careers page. Make it a place where they can explore your company and the career opportunities it offers. Additionally, you can show statistics about recruitment and business, in general.
Example: Merck Careers Page
On the Merck website, the career page shows its various teams and the career opportunities that the company offers. You can scroll down the page, and hover on the section you’re interested in and it shows the number of available jobs in that segment. For example, if you’re looking for a job in the R&D department of Merck, it shows the available jobs in the company, and you can apply by clicking on the Apply Now button right there.
Show The Candidates Your Company Culture and Vision
When looking for work, candidates are often concerned about a company’s culture and vision. They want to bring change and work in a diverse and inclusive workplace. Make your website a place that shows you’re a company that values diversity and inclusion.
Example: The Inclusive Culture of Novartis
On the career page of a company’s website, they usually show statistics and career opportunities. However, Novartis doesn’t stop there. On the company’s careers page, users can select a department where they want to apply, and Novartis shows information about it. For example, the Research page shows Novartis’s academic alliances, industry alliances, and more information in the form of videos and text.
Novartis takes empathy one step further by showing videos of their employees telling their stories in sign language. An excellent way to diversify and promote inclusive company culture.
Get Started with Life Sciences Online Recruiting
Along with changes, the post-pandemic world offers a ton of opportunities for both recruiters and job seekers. Although, never underestimate the value of online recruiting in a world that’s moving towards remote work. Get started today, post your job on a reputed job website like Jooble and reach thousands of potential job seekers within hours!
Noor-ul-Anam Ruqayya is a software engineer that also has a passion for writing well-researched, SEO-optimized, and engaging content for a wide range of industries. She has been writing long-form content for the talent acquisition industry since 2020 and has created multiple top-ranking articles.
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