The medical devices industry is fast-paced and experiencing a period of growth within life sciences. Driven by advances in technology and innovation to push the boundaries of what is possible. From a recruitment perspective that brings the challenge of finding qualified candidates, with the relevant experience and industry knowledge. And then when you do manage to find those candidates you need to assure them that they’re making the right decision by choosing to work with you. It’s a tough market. The industry is complicated and that combined with recruitment challenges presents a real risk of having unfilled positions and missing out on opportunities. Here are a few strategies and tips to find, and hire medical device professionals in the current marketplace. <h2>Know what they want</h2> Medical device professionals are highly skilled and highly sought after. That puts them in a position to expect a competitive salary and benefits. Before you even get to your overarching recruitment strategy you need to look at what you’re offering. Is it in line with the rest of your industry?Is it competitive?Is it offering the right benefits? Those are deal breakers for many medical device professionals and it's essential to regularly review and update your pacakge if you want to attract top talent. For many medical device professionals while the benefits are appreciated one of the bigger draws is the opportunity to indirectly improve or save someone’s life. Tapping into this motivation will help to highlight why your role is the best choice. If you can add into that the career progression on offer then that’s even better. <h2>Focus on relationships</h2> When recruitment gets tough it’s easy to fall into the trap of only seeing candidates in their quantifiable terms. Qualifications, years of experience, type of experience. But when you switch to focusing on building relationships a change happens.Retention rates increase, employee productivity improves and employers have more confidence in the team fit when appointing. Understanding what makes somebody tick, what drives them and what their goals are - even if not related to this specific job, helps give you a far more useful insight than solely focusing on their employment and education history. It also creates a more positive hiring process, so if that candidate isn’t right for this role yet they’ll remember you favourably down the line when their experience has improved. Building relationships with all candidates in the process, whether successful or not, starts to develop a pipeline of new hires for you to cultivate and capitalise on when the time is right. <h2>Recruiters are the key</h2> It may seem that we’re biased when we say this. But external recruitment agencies can be overlooked when it comes to creating a recruitment strategy. We think the key to a successful recruitment strategy, particularly for medical device professionals, is collaboration. Internal and external recruitment resources working together to find the best candidate for the opportunity. Time, resources and networks are the foundations of a good recruitment campaign and external recruiters are in a great position to capitalise on them.External recruiters often have networks and methods of finding high-quality candidates that internal teams don’t and that makes them the key to successfully recruiting for your new medical device professional. If you’re struggling to recruit, your recruitment has stalled or you simply don’t have the time to proactively seek out the best candidates then external recruiters are an essential component of your recruitment strategy. There will be a cost to it but when you look at the potential savings from a shorter search the benefits outweigh Now more than ever it’s crucial to fill your vacancies with qualified candidates, not the candidates you can find who will do. Reviewing your package, building relationships and working with the right external recruiter are all straightforward ways to make sure you’re capitalising on your recruitment activities.After all, recruiting can be an expensive process and it’s not an area you can afford to cut back, or fall short in. Particularly when the marketplace is as competitive as it is right now and medical device professionals are in high demand.&nbsp; The Xplore Life Science team work with you as an extension of your team and ensure yourhiring strategies achieve the results you need for success. Speak to the expert team today, hello@xplorelifescience.com

Recruitment Strategies & Tips for Medical Device Professionals

<h2 class="ql-align-center">5 ways Life Sciences can prioritise and support women in STEM</h2>
&nbsp;
Life Sciences has been more successful at supporting women compared to other disciplines within STEM. But that doesn&rsquo;t mean there&rsquo;s not more that can be done.
Removing obstacles, addressing gender pay gaps, putting policies and working practices in place are all things that are easy to overlook. But without creating a supportive environment within your business first, it&rsquo;s difficult to position yourself as a progressive supporter externally.
With some data, empathy and the right mindset Life Sciences as a whole, and individual companies can make a big difference in the success of women entering and staying in STEM.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h2>1.&nbsp;&nbsp;Address current gender gaps</h2>
&nbsp;
Before we start to look at ways of supporting women in STEM more widely, we need to make sure that support is embedded into our own cultures and businesses.
Looking at the gender pay gaps and imbalances at management level and higher is the first step to being a more inclusive employer. We can&rsquo;t just talk the talk, we need to walk the walk and that starts internally.
Supporting your female employees to progress and succeed in their careers is a really important step that&rsquo;s often overlooked for jazzier schemes or big campaigns. But without that real life support in our own businesses, anything else we do is likely to be like sticking a plaster on a broken arm.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h2>2.&nbsp;&nbsp;Support along their journey</h2>
&nbsp;
Women need to see that it&rsquo;s possible to build a career in STEM and that they can reach leadership roles. The way to do that is to give them access to mentoring by women in senior positions.
Mentoring is a great way to help women navigate their career paths, open their eyes to other opportunities and also to give them an ally. <a style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" href="https://www.women-ahead.org/press/turning-the-dial" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Research</a> shows that 87% of mentors and mentees feel empowered by their mentoring relationship.
Support can also come from networking and training opportunities. Often women will hold back from asking for professional development so making it something included as standard bridges the gap between genders.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h2>3.&nbsp;&nbsp;Remove obstacles</h2>
&nbsp;
<a style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" href="https://www.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/news/latest-news/2019/02/more-than-40-percent-of-women-leave-stem-jobs.html?page=all" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">40% of women</a> with full time jobs in science leave the field, or switch to part-time work after having a child. That shows the challenge isn&rsquo;t solely getting women into STEM but keeping them there.
This is where you need to dig into your data and take a look at your retention rates, your maternity packages and return programmes, your leadership gender breakdown and identify where the barriers are.
&nbsp;
Do you offer flexible working?
Do you offer parental leave or childcare support?
How generous is your annual leave package?
What&rsquo;s your maternity support?
What&rsquo;s your paternity support?
What happens when women come back from maternity?
Are they supported?
&nbsp;
Find the obstacles women have to overcome and work with women in your workplace to find ways to remove them.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h2>4.&nbsp;&nbsp;Celebrate success</h2>
&nbsp;
<a style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" href="https://info.proclinical.com/hubfs/staff-science/Life%20Sciences%20Employee%20Engagement%20Report%20-%20UK%202018.pdf?t=1532704905820&amp;utm_campaign=Staff%20Science&amp;utm_source=hs_automation&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=64710523&amp;_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8hx-dQjG0_1eh-rW3UjnMZJ_EcyXT6NWJ4sPkPQe2ZD6Kl3RvVcjQcW8W7dB-r1hxrI411wHMrREtcIW5o2n5sb3Tb-A&amp;_hsmi=64710523" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Research</a> has shown that one of the biggest motivators for women working for life sciences companies was receiving recognition for their work. Celebrating success is an easy way to help women feel valued but also to encourage and support other women in your network.
They don&rsquo;t have to be big achievements but a token gesture that their work has been noticed and it&rsquo;s appreciated will go a long way to boosting retention rates.
Publicly celebrating success helps provide real-life examples to others aspiring to be in that position.
Internally celebrating success helps elevate an individual's standing amongst their peers and boosts morale.
It&rsquo;s a win-win situation.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h2>5.&nbsp;&nbsp;Inspire the next generation</h2>
&nbsp;
The final way Life Sciences can support women in STEM is by getting involved in inspiring the next generation. It&rsquo;s taking everything we&rsquo;ve talked about so far and applying it to the younger generation.
&nbsp;
●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Working with schools and colleges to show young girls what&rsquo;s possible through the successes and real-life role models in your business.
●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Connecting female students with mentors to guide them through their early career path and set them on the road to success.
●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Being a public voice for gender equality and women&rsquo;s rights in the workplace and in STEM.
&nbsp;
Now more than ever, we need to be supporting women of all ages to get into, and to stay, in STEM. The only way to do that is through supporting the women in your business through equal pay, flexible working, mentorship, training and creating a truly supportive environment.
We can then go out to the younger female generation and know that what we&rsquo;re telling them is true and will be a supportive, challenging but fulfilling career where they&rsquo;ll be treated as equals.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Xplore Life Science are passionate about giving back to the Life Science community, we can
work with you and build on your hiring strategy. Speak to the team today, hello@xplorelifescience.com
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

How can Life Sciences support women in STEM?

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, most people have let themselves believe that working from home automatically lessens their environmental impact &ndash; there&rsquo;s no fumes pumping out from your commute, no large-scale office heaters, or any powerful air-conditioning.
&nbsp;
This isn&rsquo;t necessarily the case, though. There are some good arguments as to why working from home does not actually lessen your environmental impact (at least in the winter).
&nbsp;
It comes down to one main fact &ndash; the temperature in winter. It&rsquo;s actually more environmentally friendly to use those large-scale office heaters than heating up individual homes. We don&rsquo;t really have air-conditioning in the UK either, so that&rsquo;s not a consideration for working from home in the summer as well.
&nbsp;
You also have to take into account smaller things like making hot cups of tea and coffee &ndash; in most big offices they have large wall heaters to dispense boiling water, which is a more efficient process than individual kettles.
&nbsp;
You&rsquo;re also more likely to use more electricity in general at home, for example there are no bosses to stop you from being on your phone secretly while in a boring meeting, or from blasting out music while you work. You&rsquo;re also more likely to use extra energy heating up hot food, seeing as you have easy access to your kitchen.
&nbsp;
If this all comes as a shock to you, don&rsquo;t worry. It came as a bit of a shock for us, too. But we&rsquo;re here to give you some tips and tricks on how to reduce your environmental impact when working from home.
&nbsp;
Be Careful With Your Heating
&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s quite an obvious answer, but you need to start being more careful about the way you heat your home. Try to only heat the room where you work, instead of the whole house. This can still be difficult for people to accept when going into a freezing bathroom or kitchen, though.
&nbsp;
You could also think about layering up. If you don&rsquo;t have to go on webcam for any meetings, there&rsquo;s nothing stopping you from looking a bit silly by wearing three jumpers and a dressing gown while you&rsquo;re at your desk.
&nbsp;
Try Working Somewhere Else
&nbsp;
To get around the fact that you&rsquo;re heating up the whole house just for yourself, you could try inviting a friend to your place to work with, and vice versa. That way, you save on heating energy, and you both save money. Even if you have family members also working from home, set up your desks in the same room and share the heat.
&nbsp;
If your good at not letting noise bother you, you could also go to work in a caf&eacute; and simultaneously use their heating.
&nbsp;
Be Disciplined
&nbsp;
Since working from home, if you&rsquo;ve found yourself making more cups of tea or spending more time on your phone when you should be working, maybe you just need a little bit more discipline. Set yourself goals and stick to them.
&nbsp;
In this way, you can save money on energy bills and get more work done. Maybe you can even lose a little weight if you&rsquo;re cutting out on tea or coffee with sugar in.
&nbsp;
Do Some Exercise
&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s a well-known fact that exercise raises your body temperature, and, if you do a good deal of exercise in the morning, you might find that you&rsquo;ll feel warmer throughout the day, and you won&rsquo;t need to put the heating on.
&nbsp;
Doing more exercise is another way to get into shape, of course. Most people have put on extra weight during the pandemic, and now might be the time to get rid of it.
&nbsp;
Fed Up With Working From Home?
&nbsp;
If you&rsquo;re feeling fed up with working from home, fear not &ndash; we might be able to find you a job where you can go back to work in an office or a laboratory. We&rsquo;re experts at recruiting for the life science and pharmaceutical industries, and we&rsquo;ve got close contacts with some of the biggest players in these fields.
&nbsp;
Send us your CV, or apply to one of our jobs, and we&rsquo;ll get the ball rolling straight away. Our philosophy here at Xplore Life Science is all about getting to know you on a personal level, as it helps to create superior job matches where people stay happily for many years.
&nbsp;
If this sounds like your sort of thing, don&rsquo;t hesitate to get in touch with us. We&rsquo;re looking forward to hearing from you &ndash; but for now it&rsquo;s time to get back to the home office.
&nbsp;

How To Reduce Your Environmental Impact When Working From Home

Recruitment careers are in high demand right now, especially in the UK. According to Linkedin, &ldquo;Demand for recruiting professionals is at [an all-time] high. Recruiting the right talent is increasingly mission-critical in today&rsquo; tight labour market. And their data shows the demand for recruiting professionals has increased 63% globally since 2016.&rdquo; All over, graduates are choosing a career in recruitment for several reasons. We&rsquo;re sharing the most popular six in today&rsquo;s blog.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
FLEXIBILITY&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Core to the recruitment field is the built-in flexibility. This comes from the one on one relationship you build with your clients and candidates. There is no one looking over your shoulder per se. And no one will tell you exactly what you need to do each day. Everyone in recruitment must manage their clients to ensure the correct contact frequency is in place.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
UNCAPPED COMPENSATION&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Recruitment consultants can still earn a lot of money. In general, commission structures do not have a cap at recruitment firms. Because of this commission structure, recruitment consultants can earn significantly more than other entry-level job roles.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
SKILL BUILDING&nbsp;
&nbsp;
When you become a recruitment consultant you will build sales skills. That is not all. You&rsquo;ll also develop communication skills, relationship management skills, time management skills and project management skills. You&rsquo;ll become familiar with the systems required in the recruitment field including CRM, email, telephone and other tech-based skills.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
SPECIALIST UNDERSTANDING&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Depending on your degree you may find it easy to join as a recruitment consultant for a specialist field. Even without direct workplace experience, university or college-level training may provide you with a solid foundation to make determinations about the skills and experience of others in a similar field.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
FAST PROGRESSION&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Expect fast progression as it&rsquo;s not uncommon for recruitment consultants to earn promotions in under a year. There are several levels to progress within the industry and most recruitment firms have clear and defined job roles.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
ENHANCED BENEFITS&nbsp;
&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s also common for recruitment roles to boast attractive benefits packages. Graduates are choosing a career in recruitment often for these soft rewards. Think pensions, reward schemes, corporate cars, private healthcare and more.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Considering a graduate placement in recruiting? Let&rsquo;s talk about that.&nbsp;
&nbsp;

6 reasons why graduates are choosing a career in recruitment

Here at Xplore Life Science, we like to keep ahead of the curve when it comes to the life sciences industry. It&rsquo;s in our name, after all. By doing this, we can keep up to date with the newest jobs and technological innovations.
&nbsp;
One thing on our mind at the moment is the level of disruption in the industry. The life sciences market is facing disruption through a shift toward outcome-based methods of funding, patient empowerment, regulatory complexity, competitors, and simply disruptive new technology in general.
&nbsp;
The standard model for life science companies is no longer suitable, and we&rsquo;re here to talk you through what you need to know for the future.
&nbsp;
Health Outcomes
&nbsp;
The medical science advances, along with an aging and growing population, mean an increase in the need for global health resources. This demand will clash with budgets, however, and payers and governments will be reluctant to pay up. This is why health outcomes need to be improved &ndash; there will need to be a
reduction in mortality and morbidity and enhanced efficiency of the care pathway.
&nbsp;
Pharmaceutical companies will actually be paid for the health outcomes, and not for their products. This will bring a lot more pressure on these pharma companies for pricing that is value-based, and also to pay for innovative solutions and performance that is backed by the data to show the delivered value.
&nbsp;
Power To Payers &amp; Patients
&nbsp;
The balance of power has shifted towards payers, who, along with governments, now influence what physicians are allowed and not allowed to prescribe. New digital technology has provided payers with the outcome data that they can now use to decide the best types of medical practice.
&nbsp;
Treatment protocols authorised by payers have now started to slowly replace individual treatment decisions. Patients are now becoming stakeholders, who are able to take control of their health through digital technology.
&nbsp;
Groups for patient advocacy now take roles in influencing policies about health discussions. Safety and efficacy are no longer enough &ndash; patients want health solutions that are tailored to them.
&nbsp;
The life science industry has traditionally been in control and pushed out products, but the power of patients and payers will force the industry to change their approach. Pharmaceutical companies will have to start from the view of stakeholders, which includes patients and payers.
&nbsp;
They will have to identify their needs that are unmet and also their value drivers. Then they will have to develop high-value propositions, service offerings, and new ways of engagement, all to deliver greater levels of value.
&nbsp;
The Role Of Digitalisation
&nbsp;
The advances in digital technology will be a large contributor to the changes in the life science sector. New technology will provide real-time access to data on health and analytics for processing healthcare data, which will enable advances in diagnostics and monitoring to make healthcare more personalised.
&nbsp;
These changes will enable the transformation into an outcome-driven healthcare sector. The technology will drive consumerisation of care, as it will empower patients by giving them access to health data and information. It will open up a variety of information channels that are all independent, such as online communities that share patient experience, and also apps that can monitor therapy impact.
&nbsp;
Disruptive Technology &amp; Seminal Therapies
&nbsp;
A plethora of disruptive and promising technologies are coming to the life science industry, such as nanotechnology, 3D printing, predictive analytics, and bionics. There will also be new treatments like genetics and stem cell therapies, as well as cellular programming.
&nbsp;
These huge advances will profoundly enhance patient care. They will push the shift from treatment of symptoms to a predictive diagnostic, and prevention and cures.
&nbsp;
Bottom Line
&nbsp;
The rapidly changing world has impacted the structure of the life science industry. There are new challenges to cope with. To survive in the new landscape, leaders need to think about their goals and future models for business. This will include new types of technology and more.
&nbsp;
As a recruitment company, we like to keep in close contact with organisations in the life sciences industry. If you have questions or comments about this article or about what we do, don&rsquo;t hesitate to get in touch &ndash; we would be glad to hear from you. If you&rsquo;re looking for a job in the life sciences sector, we can help with that as well.
&nbsp;
Give us a call, apply for one of our jobs, or send us your CV, and we&rsquo;ll take it from there.
&nbsp;

Why Learning To Deal With Disruption Is Essential In Today’s Life Sciences Industry

Hybrid working has become an extremely prominent topic since the coronavirus pandemic began, and it’s clear that the way we work will never be the same again. Because of this, companies are now factoring this into their futures, by planning for hybrid working models. There are some business advantages to hybrid working, and employees seem to prefer it for the most part too. If you’re thinking about employing hybrid workers in 2022, keep reading for our thoughts on the topic. What Is A Hybrid Work Model? Before we begin, let’s take a moment to break down what hybrid working really is.Hybrid working is simply the combination of working in an office and working remotely. But the meaning can also extend to working hours – for example, if people feel they are more productive in the mornings, they can work in the mornings, just so long as they work for eight hours a day. Types Of Hybrid Working There can be many variations in how employees choose their office and remote hours in hybrid working. Remote-first working means that remote working takes priority over office hours. The company will keep an office space, but it is usually smaller than traditional offices because not all employees will be there at one time. Many of these smaller offices may only be for meetings and collaborations and not even for work. Even if a company is remote-first, some employees may still be required to be in the office every day depending on their role. Office-first working is the opposite of this, in which the office is the main and preferred working environment, but remote work is permitted for maybe one or two days a week. In between these two models is office-occasional working, which, as you can probably guess, is somewhere in the middle. Some office-occasional companies might expect three days a week, while others may only expect two, or employees may only be required to come in when collaboration is required. Hybrid Workers In 2022 The pandemic forced companies to adapt to hybrid working models, but even before that hybrid working was on the agenda. Hybrid workers claim that they can work just as well – or usually better – if they stay in the comfort of their own home, while also avoiding the stresses of commuting and more. Even if the effects of the pandemic do improve in 2022, employees will still be likely to cause a fuss about retaining their hybrid working setups. Many aren’t so reluctant to about remote working, because it allows them to save money on keeping an office, by hybrid working often means paying up the same costs. Hybrid working appeals to employees because they get the best of both worlds – they can work from home, but they are also able to go into the office to keep in touch with colleagues and reduce the risk of disengagement, isolation, and loneliness. How To Employ Hybrid Workers In 2022 If you’re convinced that hybrid working will be the way to go in 2022, you’ll have to employ some hybrid workers, and you’ll have to make sure the company is set up to be completely suitable for hybrid working. Cloud working systems will be essential, but there are still more considerations. Cybersecurity is an important one. If employees are working remotely, they won’t have the same firewalls and other perimeter defences. Working on the cloud in this way provides more opportunities for scary cyberattacks. This wasn’t so much of a consideration at the beginning of the pandemic because employers didn’t really have a choice – they needed to keep things moving. Hackers also needed time to come up with strategies about how to formulate their attacks – and they’ve had their time now. Hybrid workers will need to be issued safe devices from companies to defend against dangerous cyberattacks. You may also need to limit employees using public WI-FI networks, which may have compromised security. You may need to enforce strong passwords as well. Bottom Line The future for many companies is hybrid working – that much is clear. If you don’t already have one, it’s time to create a formal policy for hybrid working. This needs to be a clear guide for hybrid workers to follow. The years of 2020 and 2021 have been challenging due to the pandemic and have led to many changes. But hopefully, in 2022 these changes will begin to be something that we can embrace and make positive, like hybrid working models.

How To Employ Hybrid Workers In 2022

There are so many breakthroughs in science happening – the advance of technology is unstoppable, and the impact is being seen in industries across the world. This is especially true for artificial intelligence. At Xplore Life Science, the life science industry is our focus, as you can probably guess from our name. The life science industry is one of the sectors that is being affected most by the impact of artificial intelligence, and it’s part of our job as recruitment specialists to keep up to date with that to be able to recruit for the newest jobs. Keep reading for what we think about the main impacts on life science for artificial intelligence. Personalised Medicine Up until now, medicine has followed a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, meaning that everyone receives the same medication to a certain degree. The problem with this of course, is that everyone is different. Artificial intelligence seeks to change this – it has the potential to effortlessly access the health records of patients, and then choose the best medications and treatments. There are implications about data here as well – if AI is constantly monitoring medications, treatments, images, blood tests, and more, it can learn from this, store the data, and continue to act on it in the future. This is made possible by deep learning technology. Implications For Drug Development To achieve the highest levels of safety, drug development must be rigorously tested, which can be tedious, timely, and highly expensive. But with artificial intelligence, this doesn’t have to be the case at all. AI can cross-reference and scan through huge sets of data more quickly than humans, and it can also deal with more complex data than humans can deal with. The upshot is a much more accurate and effective list of drug candidates in less time. Robots Doing Surgery How do you feel about robots performing surgery on you? It’s a concept you might have to get used to, seeing as there are potential plans in place to introduce robotic surgery in the near future. In fact, a robot called the ‘da Vinci’ is already performing microsurgeries in some cases. Robotic surgery is still in its infancy, but as you can imagine it is gaining a huge amount of scientific and public attention. People are worried about potential surgical errors, but there’s no reason a robot won’t be skilled enough to perform operations with complete consistency and accuracy. It may even end up as being superior to human surgical performance. Diagnosing Diseases It’s a sad truth, but there are many incorrect diagnoses made in medicine today, which can have profound effects on patient outcomes. This is often due to medical records that are incomplete, but sometimes it simply just very difficult for doctors to get it right. Artificial intelligence seeks to address this by using ‘chatbots’ to make diagnoses with more accuracy. This may not strike you as true, but through scanning millions of medical images, AI will be able to learn more quickly and more extensively than humans. Radiology Radiological images are an absolutely key part of modern medicine. Now radiology is getting an injection of AI technology with virtual biopsies – it will enable clinicians to have a better understanding of how diseases progress. Scientific Publishing You might not have expected this last item on our list, but scientific publishing could also be revolutionised by AI by scanning potential peer reviewers, detecting plagiarism, and finding cases of data fabrication. This could have very positive impacts on eliminating human bias, speeding up science communication, and improving overall publishing quality. Worried About Jobs In Life Science? We’ve only covered some of the most important impacts of AI here, seeing as we could almost go ahead and write a book about them. There really is a lot to consider, and every day it seems like there are new updates. If you’re worried about how artificial intelligence is going to affect the job market in the life science industry, we’re here to tell you that you shouldn’t be worried. Whatever happens, here at Xplore Life Science, we’ll keep you up to date on all the cutting-edge information, and we can spread that information in our articles for you to read. The best thing to do if you’re worried, however, is to join the Xplore Life Science talent pool. We take care of our talent, and we’ll make sure to secure you the best jobs in every case. It means that no matter what artificial intelligence throws at our industry, we’ll be there to help you through it and make sure your career isn’t affected. Like the sound of this? Get in touch with us now, and we’ll get the ball rolling right away.

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence in Life Science

Now that the impact of the coronavirus pandemic is starting to lessen in most parts of the world with the vaccine rolling out, things are slowly going back to normal. Travel is picking back up, less masks are being worn, and people are heading back to their offices. That&rsquo;s right &ndash; the dream of working from home is coming to an end for most people.
&nbsp;
Is working from home always a dream, though? If you&rsquo;re one of those people who can&rsquo;t wait to get back to the office, we&rsquo;re here to say that you&rsquo;re not alone. And if you&rsquo;re one of those people who loves working from home, we&rsquo;ve got some reasons why going back to the office may actually be a good thing for you.
&nbsp;
The Office Culture
&nbsp;
Every workplace has its own unique culture, and this has many benefits &ndash; mainly about the colleagues you work with. The longer you&rsquo;re physically away from your colleagues, the less sense of camaraderie you have. This can have serious impacts. Your sense of mission and &lsquo;getting the job&rsquo; done as a team is bound to go awry.
&nbsp;
If you value your team&rsquo;s and your company&rsquo;s core values as a whole, it&rsquo;s important to constantly engage with your colleagues to keep track of these values. It&rsquo;s not enough to be in virtual meetings with them once a week &ndash; you need to be at their desks, eating lunch together, and bonding in a way that leads to great professional results.
&nbsp;
This especially true for newcomers, as well &ndash; you&rsquo;ll want them to understand the core values and not get the wrong idea, not get off on the wrong foot.
What about if you&rsquo;re a newcomer yourself? It&rsquo;s pretty hard to start a new job remotely, and this is especially true for recent graduates who need to learn so much and make vital early professional connections.
&nbsp;
Let&rsquo;s not forget about the fact that you might have some great friends in your office, too. This is one of the main reasons why going to work is even bearable for so many people around the world.
&nbsp;
In-Person Learning
&nbsp;
Remote environments really aren&rsquo;t the best vehicle for new knowledge. Have you ever heard of Zoom fatigue? There&rsquo;s good chance you&rsquo;ve experienced it, let alone heard of it. After a while, the words you hear from virtual meetings just don&rsquo;t seem to go in anymore. It&rsquo;s not a conducive way of learning anything.
&nbsp;
You might not realise it, but a lot of new information is shared through short informal conversations that happen ad hoc between desks. People don&rsquo;t even realise they&rsquo;re doing it a lot of the time. It&rsquo;s all about serendipity &ndash; overhearing things, bouncing off others&rsquo; ideas, and so on.
&nbsp;
Gets You Out Of Your Bubble
&nbsp;
Even those of you who absolutely love working from home will have experienced this &ndash; you end up feeling like you&rsquo;re stuck in a bubble. There&rsquo;s a whole busy world out there, while you&rsquo;re stuck staring at the same four walls.
&nbsp;
Sure, the things you see on your commute may get boring after a while, but it&rsquo;s still life. It still opens your mind to new things. You need to stimulate your mind for it to thrive.
&nbsp;
You might not realise it, but even driving to your office makes you burn calories and gets you more active than sitting at your home desk all day, the one you climbed out of bed to get to. Driving on the road takes a lot of mental concentration, and of course walking is even better. It won&rsquo;t only get you more active, it&rsquo;ll help you sleep too.
&nbsp;
Bottom Line
&nbsp;
The main problem is that the benefits of working from home are good for you, whereas the benefits of working in the office are good for your company. At the end of the day, the collective good of the company usually wins. That means you&rsquo;ll be heading back to the office soon.
&nbsp;
Some companies will have to listen in some sense, though. Many organisations are increasing their flexibility and allowing employees to have at least one day working from home. Only time will tell how this progresses into the future.
&nbsp;
Can We Help?
&nbsp;
If you&rsquo;re dreading going back into the office, it might be a sign that you need a new job. We can help you with that. Here at Xplore Life Science, we&rsquo;re expert recruiters for the life science and pharmaceutical industries. Send us over your CV or apply to one of our jobs, and we&rsquo;ll see if we can find you a job that you won&rsquo;t be able to stay away from.
&nbsp;

Why Going Back To The Office Can Be A Good Thing

For most companies, the idea of losing talented staff and having to spend time and money on recruitment is a complete nightmare. Every business book will tell you the same thing &ndash; retaining staff will only bring you benefits. It doesn&rsquo;t always have to be this way, though.
&nbsp;
Here at Xplore Life Science, we pride ourselves on our ability to think outside the box. We often hear from our clients telling us how terrible it is to lose their talent unexpectedly, but we encourage them to think outside the box too &ndash; that is, retaining staff is not always for the best. It is most of the time &ndash; don&rsquo;t get us wrong. But we can give you some reasons why it might not be.
&nbsp;
Keep on reading for our take on the matter.
&nbsp;
Save Money
&nbsp;
Not everything is about money, but a lot of things are. We&rsquo;re in business, after all, and making money is the main objective.
&nbsp;
The important thing here is that retaining staff usually means giving that person a raise in their salary. We&rsquo;re not talking small raises here, either. To make someone stay in a place they don&rsquo;t want to stay, you have to make it worth their while &ndash; you have to give them a considerable salary raise.
&nbsp;
Is the person you want to keep worth the money? You could bring in someone else for the same salary or maybe even less. Once you raise one person&rsquo;s salary, it can have a bit of a snowball effect &ndash; you often have to raise other salaries as well once other employees get word of it.
&nbsp;
Loyalty
&nbsp;
Let&rsquo;s put it plain and simple here. Do you really want someone working for you who doesn&rsquo;t want to be there? We&rsquo;re not talking about people not wanting to be at work and just staying home &ndash; we&rsquo;re talking about people who are actively looking for ways out of your business, people who are talking to other companies and are ready to leave at any moment.
&nbsp;
When employees get to this stage, there&rsquo;s no way they&rsquo;re doing their best work. It isn&rsquo;t mentally possible. Even if you hike up their salary and give them other benefits too, it will probably only be a temporary thing &ndash; sooner or later, they&rsquo;ll be knocking at your office door again.
&nbsp;
Improve The Culture
&nbsp;
Following on from our last point, if you let go of people who don&rsquo;t really want to be there, you might find that the culture of your office or workforce gets an unexpected uplift.
&nbsp;
At the end of the day, when you have one bad egg in a batch, that negativity is likely to spread to others. That bad egg is probably telling other staff members all about how they want to leave, why they want to leave, and what they&rsquo;ve seen on offer elsewhere, leading to another snowball effect of staff all handing in their notices.
&nbsp;
Bring In New Ideas
&nbsp;
Bringing in new talent is all about bringing in new ideas into the business. All it takes is a slightly different outlook from your new employee, and you could revolutionise your procedures and strategies.
&nbsp;
You have to weigh up whether the person leaving has very niche knowledge that you can&rsquo;t afford to lose, or if they&rsquo;re perhaps just a little stuck in their ways and you could replace them with someone more original.
&nbsp;
Take Everything Into Consideration
&nbsp;
For us, taking everything into consideration is the most important thing to do when trying to decide whether retaining staff or letting them go is the best option. Go through everything on our list and try to weigh up whether these points may play a factor when making your decision.
&nbsp;
Some of the points may be more pertinent than others, and you have to decide whether they will affect your business. For example, if you&rsquo;re not in need of saving money, but you really value loyalty, you still might want to let that person go.
&nbsp;
We Can Help
&nbsp;
If you&rsquo;ve decided to let an employee go and now you&rsquo;re wondering how to replace them, we can help with that. We&rsquo;re experts in recruitment for the life science and pharmaceutical sectors, and we know how to source the very best talent.
&nbsp;
Tell us exactly what sort of candidates you&rsquo;re looking for, and we won&rsquo;t settle for anything less. We pride ourselves on our philosophy of getting to know our talent on a personal level before we try to match them to any jobs. Get in touch with us now to see what we can do for you!
&nbsp;

Why Retaining Staff Is Not Always For The Best

Women Who Lead is Xplore’s podcast series, interviewing influential women, sharing skills, knowledge wisdom, and success and failures throughout workplace challenges. Our third guest is Dr. Mariane Melo, Chief Medical Officer at DEM DX, an award-winning AI Healthcare company based in London, and listed as 1 of Forbes’ 30 under 30. The DEM DX platform is 22% more accurate than Harvard-trained junior doctors and delivers 85% accuracy on the first diagnosis.&nbsp; Mariane joins the Xplore team to discuss her Medical Technology journey, overcoming obstacles and challenges in the Healthcare Sector, and the advice she gives for females across the industry, and how we can amplify the female voice. How can we grow female leaders across Life Sciences? Join the Xplore Talks team and listen to our <a href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/685184/episodes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">episodes</a><a href="https://xploretalks.buzzsprout.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">.</a> Download the full episode <a href="https://pdcn.co/e/www.buzzsprout.com/685184/8720207-women-who-lead-episode-11.mp3?download=true" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.

Women Who Lead - Episode 11

If you have recently interviewed an internal applicant for a role in your company and they did not get the job, then you will probably be dreading telling them. However, the way you approach this conversation is likely to have a profound effect on the way they see themselves in the business and the way they communicate these feelings to others both inside and outside the organisation.
Take a look at some of the most effective ways to manage the process so that you feel confident the next time you need to support an unsuccessful internal applicant.
&nbsp;
Always Provide The Personal Touch
&nbsp;
Possibly the most important part of managing internal applicant is by being upfront and honest. Delivering the news in person is the ideal way of managing the message that is conveyed, but if this is not possible, then a phone call is the next best step. If you use an online system for applicant tracking, remember to organise this conversation before they are updated by the technology.
&nbsp;
When you are arranging your recruitment process, it is vital that you include the time required to inform internal applicant about their progress so that it is not rushed or treated as an afterthought. Ultimately, your priority needs to show them that they are valued and that you want them to succeed even if they have not been successful this time.
&nbsp;
Be Ready To Explain Why
&nbsp;
It may be tempting to try to rush the conversation, but the most important part of turning down an internal applicant is telling them why. Do not over complicate this process or spend a lot of time justifying your decision. Instead, share your reasoning and back it up with feedback where needed.
&nbsp;
It is also essential that you do not give someone false hope or misleading information that makes them feel that they have been the best candidate. Instead, offer direct and sincere reasons that will help them to progress and move forward.
&nbsp;
When you start the conversation, lead with the news rather than keeping them guessing. Tell them it&rsquo;s not good news but that you appreciate the time and effort they put into applying and that on the day, there was someone better suited for the role. Rather than making them sit through a long conversation at this point, arrange a follow up meeting within the next seven days to provide them with an opportunity to ask questions and get further guidance on what they can do next.
&nbsp;
Arrange Ongoing Guidance After The Dust Settles 
&nbsp;
One of the key parts of managing this type of situation is not to let an employee feel discouraged for too long as this can lead to toxicity and unhappy working. Instead, take the time to arrange meetings with relevant people, such as managers and HR, to help them consider other opportunities for development.
There are many great systems that you can use for this, including shadowing opportunities, mentoring, specific projects or short-term assignment. Whatever you do offer needs to be beneficial to both the internal applicant and the business and should never appear to be a payoff for them being unsuccessful at interview.
&nbsp;
Accept That There May Be Some Unrest
&nbsp;
Whether we like it or not, there will always be a period of time that is uncomfortable and difficult after you have told an internal applicant that they did not get the job and this will affect you, them and others who were hopeful that the person would be appointed.
&nbsp;
By taking an open, honest and supportive approach, you should be able to mitigate most of the unrest it causes, especially if you show sincerity when discussing the outcome with a candidate. Remember that for many people, disappointment is the catalyst needed for growth and providing your internal applicant with opportunities to develop will help them to channel their disappointment into something more successful.
&nbsp;
If you are keen to get more help and advice about recruitment processes and supporting internal candidates, then why not contact us here at Xplore? We have a team of recruitment experts that are on hand to offer you the advice and support you need so that your internal candidates can apply for vacancies safe in the knowledge that they will get the support and advice needed when the result is not what they hoped for. Call us today!
&nbsp;

How To Manage An Unsuccessful Internal Applicant For A Role

The life sciences industry is one that prides itself on being innovative and forward-thinking. However, there are areas where improvements could be made to ensure the sector is more diverse and socio-economic diversity is one of these areas. The sector is predominantly populated with people from higher socio-economic backgrounds, and there are still significant barriers to pursuing a career in the life sciences for people from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
&nbsp;
What Do We Mean By Socio-Economic Diversity In Life Sciences? 
&nbsp;
Socio-economic diversity in Life Sciences refers to a range of people from different socio-economic statuses. Previously society was generally divided into the wealthy and the poor. We now understand that society and the opportunities available to people are a bit more complex than simply how much wealth a person has. Socio-economic status refers to the resources that people have available to them that are not limited to money. People from lower socio-economic statuses have fewer opportunities and lower means to improve their social status.
&nbsp;
For an industry such as the life science sector to achieve socio-economic diversity, it would mean that people working within the industry would be drawn from a range of backgrounds, including higher and lower socio-economic groups.
&nbsp;
Why Is Socio-Economic Diversity Important?
&nbsp;
We know that diversity in Life Sciences is important for innovation and productivity within the workplace. Research has shown that diverse groups of people work better on tasks and are more innovative in their thinking, than groups of people who are all very similar. It is, therefore, an issue that within the life sciences industry, people from more privileged backgrounds, or who are of higher socio-economic status, are overrepresented. In simple terms, this means that within life sciences, the majority contributing to the innovation are similar, privileged voices.
&nbsp;
People with different experiences in life, who could bring different ideas to the table and drive innovation in different ways, are not making it into the industry. If the life sciences sector wants to become more diverse, the barriers experienced by people within lower socio-economic status groups need to be understood and dismantled.
&nbsp;
School Area Has An Impact On Accessing Life Science Careers 
&nbsp;
People from lower socio-economic backgrounds face a huge number of obstacles when trying to pursue a career in the life sciences. The barriers begin early in life with education within secondary school being worse for lower socio-economic areas, leading to pupil attainment in subjects such as science being lower than in other areas. Career guidance may also not focus on careers in areas such as life sciences as they are viewed as being for people from more affluent areas.
&nbsp;
For those who do have a passion for pursuing a career in life sciences, the area they come from will continue to have an impact. University places at the most prestigious institutions are predominantly awarded to students from higher socio-economic areas. Competition for university places can be fierce, and having additional supporting information is often the deciding factor when numerous applicants have similar academic achievements.
&nbsp;
Young people from more affluent families will have more opportunities to engage in volunteer work, unpaid work experience or have connections in the field where valuable experiences can be achieved. Young people from lower socio-economic status families will usually miss out on these opportunities with the eventual effect of reducing diversity in Life Sciences.
&nbsp;
The University Experience Is Not Equal For All
&nbsp;
Anyone who has managed to climb over the obstacles and gain a place at university to study life sciences will still face significant barriers. Having to work as well as study is something that separates people from higher and lower socio-economic backgrounds as those with more affluent families will usually not need to work and can dedicate more time to their academic achievements.
&nbsp;
Evidence shows that there is still a tendency to appoint graduates into life science jobs from well-known or prestigious universities. This means that even if a person from a less well-known university achieves outstanding grades, they are likely to miss out on a job to someone from a prestigious university, even if the grades are not as good. Recruiters tend to target specific universities, so there are far fewer opportunities than many well qualified, but lower socio-economic status people, will ever get to know about.
&nbsp;
Valuing Socio-Economic Diversity
&nbsp;
It is clear that someone from a lower socio-economic background will have a very different experience of education, employment and life compared to someone from a higher socio-economic background. Bringing this mix of perspectives and experiences is what socio-economic diversity in Life Sciences is all about, as everyone has a valid contribution to bring.
&nbsp;
At Xplore, we value diversity and want to help you to recruit the right people to the right roles, so get in touch with us today.

Understanding Socio-economic Diversity In Life Sciences

When you are looking to appoint a new candidate or want to revamp your recruitment process to appeal to the right applicants, then hiring a recruitment company may be the best step forward. So many businesses do not have the time or people required to adequately sift and screen the growing number of applications received, so maybe it is time to let a recruitment agency support your recruitment process.
&nbsp;
MORE THAN JUST A CV PROVIDER
So many people are led to believe that recruitment consultants just provide a pile of CVs and any randomly selected candidate to undertake the job you need. This is really not the case anymore. Recruitment agencies have come a long way since their inception and now provide in-depth and personalised recruitment solutions so that you can focus more on what your business aims are rather than wasting time trying to source the right people.
&nbsp;
A RANGE OF RECRUITMENT OPTIONS
From pre-screening applicants and providing you with appropriate candidates to running extensive recruitment campaigns for your business, recruiters offer a diverse range of options. The key to getting what you need is to work with your team to find out what is missing from your recruitment process and then find a recruiter that has the skills that are currently lacking.
Many recruiters are working hard to rid themselves of the negative perceptions that companies have about them, and part of this process has been to offer a more bespoke service that aligns with your business model and needs. So when it comes to finding your next hire, share your needs with your recruiter and see what options they offer.
&nbsp;
THE BENEFIT OF TEMP TO PERM ARRANGEMENTS
Whether we like it or not, there will be times when you recruit someone that just does not hit the mark. They may have had an amazing application, a flawless interview and outstanding references but are not performing the role in the way you&rsquo;d imagined. This can be difficult to manage, especially if you have offered them a permanent contract right off the bat.
&nbsp;
With a recruiter, you can benefit from a temp to perm arrangement whereby the recruiter employs the person and pays them while you pay the recruiter. When you are satisfied with the candidate and a specific period of time has elapsed, you can then offer them a contract without paying the recruiter to release them. This system is ideal if you&rsquo;ve been burned in the past and want the time to assess a candidate as they do the job.
&nbsp;
A TEAM THAT WAS CREATED TO RECRUIT
Your business aims will always be linked to the outcomes you are trying to achieve and, unless you are a recruiter, these aims are unlikely to centre around recruitment! When you use a recruiter, you are getting access to a team have been put together to find the right candidates for your job vacancies.
&nbsp;
Recruiters are only ever successful if they achieve the results you need and so they will spend more time and effort screening and interviewing potential people to ensure that they only ever send you the quality staff you need.
&nbsp;
CONTACT US TODAY
If you are tired of recruiting people who don&rsquo;t deliver then maybe it is time that you gave a recruiter the chance to show you what they can do! A good recruiter will work hand in hand with you and provide a recruitment partnership that delivers the results you need. Why not call Source Technology today to find out how we can help you achieve the results you need? We&rsquo;d love to work with you!
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

The Added Value A Good Recruiter Adds to your Recruitment Process

When you are recruiting, your main aim will be to get the best candidate for the vacancies you have available. However, finding them can be tough, especially if you’ve experienced hiring people that don’t turn out the way you hoped! Rather than continuing down this path of recruitment stress, take a moment to consider some of our quick wins to improve your interview experience and help turn your recruitment slump into a success. Take Time to Craft Your Adverts for the Candidates You Want With the majority of job adverts now posted online, it is essential that you take the time to carefully craft your adverts to get the right attention. Start with the title of your advert and consider what the candidates will be typing into their searches to get the most views of your ad. Within the advert, you will need to provide a clear overview of the job you are offering as well as the benefits people can look forward to enjoying if they are successful. Do not spend hours writing a lengthy advert as this can be off-putting. Keep it short and positive and then offer to answer questions for candidates that want to get in touch. This will help you cast the net further afield and improve your interview. Prepare a Thorough Interview Process Gone are the days where a five-question interview is enough to find the right person for a job. These days candidates expect and prepare for a much more in-depth experience, and this allows you to get to see what they are made of before you hire. Taking the time to plan specific and relevant tasks and questions will help you put the candidates through their paces, improve your interview, and give them an insight into what it will be like to work for you. Hire a Recruitment Specialist If you find that no matter what you are doing, you cannot find the right people then consider hiring a recruiter to support your efforts. Recruitment specialists offer far more than just finding temporary cover, and they can help you evaluate your current recruitment mechanisms and help you improve your interview system.They also have access to a huge number of candidates and can help you sift through the potential to find the right people to interview. Niche recruiters are a great choice because they will also have a strong understanding of your business area. Create a Great First Impression When it comes to communicating with potential employees, the first impression really does count. This means having a dedicated person prepped and ready to answer questions about the job and application process from the moment the job goes live. It also means being warm and welcoming on the day of the interview and making people feel that you are glad they made the effort, even if you are dreading another day of interviewing candidates. The more welcome people feel, the more likely it is that you will get the candidate you need. Offer Thoughtful Feedback One the interviews are over, and you have offered the job to the successful candidate you will need to contact the other applicants to let them know they have not been successful. As part of this process, you should offer to provide feedback on the interview, no matter how brief. When giving feedback, try to avoid generic statements that will not help them to progress. Instead, offer them thoughtful feedback that they can use to improve their performance next time. Remember, one piece of personalised feedback may be the difference between them getting their next job or not. They took the time to apply to your company so you should take the time to support their next steps. Create an Excellent Induction Scheme Once you have start to improve your interview process, don’t stop there! You new employees will be expecting great things from you, so give them an induction scheme that will impress. Induction schemes are a great way to motivate your current team into supporting new starters and providing them with the warm welcome that will help them settle in. Achieve Great Results With Xplore Once you begin to implement some of these ideas, you should start to see the quality of candidates improving and more successful hires. Using a recruitment expert like the team here at Xplore will help take some pressure off you so that you can focus on the other areas of your business. Why not give us a call today and find out what we have to offer – you will be glad you did.

Quick Wins to Improve Your Interview Experience

Over the years, recruitment has become more refined and evolved but there&rsquo;s one trend that&rsquo;s been around for a while: culture fit.
&nbsp;
A way of ensuring that new recruits will match the core attributes and values of the company, culture fit has widely been touted as an essential part of decision-making.
&nbsp;
However, the tide is beginning to turn and although there are almost 2 million hits on Google for culture fit, it&rsquo;s now regarded by many as an outdated idea. Even worse, it&rsquo;s been suggested that culture fit could just be a mask for unethical discrimination.
&nbsp;
So, what exactly is culture fit and why does it present such a problem?
&nbsp;
Understanding Culture Fit
&nbsp;
To comprehend why it&rsquo;s now being viewed so negatively, it&rsquo;s imperative to really understand what the aims of culture fit are.
&nbsp;
A company&rsquo;s culture is usually described as its beliefs or values which are present from top to bottom. It takes a collective to create a culture, it&rsquo;s not possible for a single person at the top to manage it single-handedly.
&nbsp;
Culture will vary from one company to the next, so culture fit is about businesses finding someone who they think will work well with existing teams and personnel.
In the past, culture fit has been described as a way of improving employee engagement, increasing cohesion and retaining staff. It&rsquo;s also been viewed as a natural way of facilitating communication because when people are on the same wave-length, it&rsquo;s much easier to open dialogue.
&nbsp;
A Flawed Metric
&nbsp;
The principles of culture fit may sound harmless, or even helpful, but poke beneath the surface and it becomes clear that it&rsquo;s just a different way of discriminating against those who are different. The difficulty is that with culture fit, there&rsquo;s no objective measure, no easy way to define which new recruits will be a good match.
&nbsp;
One of the most common ways to determine culture fit is the &ldquo;beer test&rdquo;. Recruiters ask themselves if they can imagine going for a beer with the applicant, or whether the team they would be joining would like to join them for a beer. If the answer is no, the culture fit test is failed, and the application is rejected.
The question is: do you really need to be able to go for a beer with your colleagues in order to have a productive, harmonious and effective working relationship?
&nbsp;
This assessment of culture fit usually means calling upon an unconscious bias. If the candidate doesn&rsquo;t look like people you&rsquo;ve hired before, then there&rsquo;s a good chance they&rsquo;ll be unsuccessful. There is, of course, another way to describe this type of decision: discrimination.
&nbsp;
You don&rsquo;t need a team of homogenous individuals for a business to succeed. In fact, quite the reverse is true. Studies have shown that workplaces with higher levels of diversity enjoyed the greatest levels of success.
&nbsp;
Adding To Culture - Not Replicating It
&nbsp;
Culture is important when you are recruiting someone, but not in the skewed application of what culture fit has often advocated. You can use culture fit loosely, providing you are looking for the right metrics.
&nbsp;
For example, if you have a team of young workers who like to party hard together after hours, you might hesitate to take on an older worker who&rsquo;s approaching retirement. However, the diversity they bring may add an extra dimension to the team which was previously missing. Deciding whether they would be a good appointment should be about assessing their core skills and attributes, and understanding what they would add to your existing culture. Does their vision match with your company goals? Could they make a positive contribution to your collective success?
&nbsp;
In other words, it&rsquo;s fine to consider culture but only as a means of deciding whether their purpose and working style of an applicant aligns with your company. It&rsquo;s not about replicating what you already have.
&nbsp;
Culture should never be a means to weed out people who have a different background, or who don&rsquo;t look the same as current personnel.
&nbsp;
Some companies go as far as deliberately seeking cultural misfits. Having a mix of different attitudes, styles and experience results in creative conflict. Managed properly, the net effect can be spectacular with each individual encouraged to bring their own ideas rather than just conform.
&nbsp;
Be Brave To Succeed
&nbsp;
By daring to break away from culture fit, a company can achieve so much more. Diverse recruitment means avoiding cliques forming in the workplace. As a result, employees are less likely to feel isolated or ostracised and staff retention improves.
&nbsp;
Culture fit isn&rsquo;t good news for anyone. It stifles success and creativity and encourages poor working practices. Dump culture fit and embrace culture conflict &ndash; you might just be pleasantly surprised at the outcome.
&nbsp;

Why is culture fit such a bad word?

If you’ve ever thought about working as an MSL you may be wondering how to get a job in the medical science liaison sector. There is more demand for MSLs than ever before, and more companies these days are seeking to hire skilled experts. If you want to begin your career in this field, read on to learn more about how to get started. What Does A Medical Science Liaison Do? A medical science liaison is an expert that interacts with the medical community as a whole, informing and advising on the latest treatment advances. As such, they have a vital role to play in any medical device, biotech or pharma company. An MSL will liaise with marketing and sales teams to ensure they’re promoting a message that is both relevant and accurate. They are non-commercial resources that take responsibility for representing the organization they work for, and this makes them key to that company’s success. With specific experience and advanced scientific training, they focus on a certain area of therapy or disease.Typically, an MSL will be field-based, taking responsibility for a region or area. They meet with physicians and other key opinion leaders, as well as visiting academic and medical institutions to educate about their specific field and to discuss relevant clinical and scientific data. MSLs don’t sell products – rather they sell the science that lies behind those products by educating and advising doctors. As such, an MSL must stay on top of the latest scientific advancements, and this means carrying out research and going to conferences. Is There A Lot Of Demand For MSLs? One of the first questions that you may be asking is whether there are plenty of vacancies available in this industry. The good news is that at the present time, there is a great demand for MSLs since they have a vital role to play in any life sciences company. They’re pivotal in setting up solid networks of key opinion leaders, physicians and hospitals which are essential for their company’s success. This means that there is great variety in the type of career paths you’re able to take. Although roles vary between organizations, usually MSLs have the chance to move upwards into senior MSL roles. MSLs with considerable experience can become directors or medical managers, or may choose to move to an office-based position, for example into a medical advisory role. What Kind Of Skills Do I Require To Get An MSL Job? An MSL is an expert and therefore, they must have advanced academic/scientific training. Most have either been a medical doctor, a PhD or a pharmacist. MSLs must also be excellent communicators. Since most people applying for MSL jobs already have the necessary qualifications and skills, differentiating yourself so that you stand out from the crowd is imperative. Where Do I Begin? Networking is usually the most common way of finding an MSL post, yet this is a time-consuming and stressful route to take. Some prospective candidates check out company websites, tracking their jobs pages, and ensuring that your resume is properly tailored to the job description’s requirements is vital. Unfortunately, this can also be a long-winded and tedious process and having to make individual applications for each post can be frustrating. This is why so many prospective candidates choose to use the services of a dedicated recruitment agency. Xplore Life Science is a recruitment consultancy that specializes in finding suitable candidates for organizations within the life sciences sector. Thanks to our expertise in the industry, we’re a top choice for MSLs at any stage of their career who are looking for the most exciting and lucrative opportunities. Whether you’re seeking an entry-level position for your first medical science liaison role, or whether you’re taking your next step up the career ladder, you’re sure to find that our talented and committed recruitment team are best-placed to find the ideal position for you. Contact our recruitment team today and send us a copy of your up-to-date resume. We’re looking forward to helping you learn more about how to get a job in medical science liaison, and to finding out more about your unique requirements and preferences when it comes to matching you with the perfect post for you. Give us a call now and you could soon be on your way to the job of your dreams.

How To Get A Job In Medical Science Liaison

I’ve been keeping track of how COVID-19 is likely to transform the way in which we work and particularly within my core interest in Medical Affairs. The key area I believe will be impacted both now and in the future will be the role of the MSL. To that end, the report from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.themsls.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: windowtext;">The MSL Society</a>&nbsp;provides a really interesting insight into the impact this pandemic is having on the role of MSLs. One of the main things which stand out to me:57% of MSL Managers / Directors of MSLs / VPs of Medical Affairs believe there will be a permanent long-term impact or changes to the MSL profession as a result of the COVID-19 pandemicMany of the factors within this report you may already recognize within your own departments. Others perhaps not.Additionally, there are some great insights, ideas, and tips on how engagement may have changed and how these obstacles are being overcome. Read the Report&nbsp;here. <a href="https://www.xplorelifescience.com/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-msl-activity-a-study/gary@xplorelifescience.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: windowtext;">Please reach out if you’d like to discuss this further and your talent acquisition requirements.&nbsp;</a> The Xplore team have a podcast exploring Medical Technology and leaders across in the industry, check it out:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.xplorelifescience.com/podcast-med-tech-talks/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: windowtext;">Xplore Podcast</a>

Xplore Insights.