Specialization Inundation

Needed: Molecular biologist. Requirements: CHO cell biologist with bioreactor experience of greater than 200 liters. Recruiters provide an antidote to life scientists who barrage biotechnology companies with resumes for every job posting: Niche hiring. By helping companies filter for a particular forte, recruiters quickly identify exactly what their clients want, such as a CHO cell biologist with bioreactor experience of greater than 200 liters. For a position like this, most scientists with only academic experience are out of luck, because often only another private company can afford to maintain expensive equipment. File PhotoDavid G. Jensen "Employers follow this path because the nature of the product development in biotechnology demands it," says David G. Jensen, principal consultant for Search Masters International, based in Downers Grove, Ill. "But employers have complicated niche hiring themselves by filling jobs only with extremely specialized people where there may have existed the option to hire those who could quickly and efficiently be brought into the system." Not only does niche hiring shut out good people from jobs, but it also can drain creativity, according to Leo Kim, a consultant and former executive vice president and chief technical officer for Mycogen, a biotechnology company in San Diego, Calif. Managers could build a better workforce by hiring creative, critical thinkers as well as good implementers, and giving people a chance to broaden their experience, rather than simply recycle a niche skill, Kim says. "Creativity should go on at the bench, often when the lead investigator isn't there," he says. "So scientists who are not mechanical, who are creative and critical thinkers, are truly valuable to the company." Niche hiring stems, in part, from an oversupply of life scientists with PhDs. A Fall 2000 study by the National Research Council confirmed earlier surveys when it showed that in 1997, for example, the US economy needed only about 1,571 PhD life scientists--less than one-third of the 5,420 who actually entered the workforce that year. The same study found that 75 percent of those employed worked in postdoctoral and temporary positions. Stuck in overcrowded academic labs with little chance for advancement, many scientists see biotech and the pharmaceutical industry as paths to advance their careers. One recruiter reports receiving as many as 300 applications for every job advertised. Large companies such as Amgen, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Covance, and Biogen, may receive more than 3,000 resumes a month. With such largesse, companies can afford to get picky. During the last 15 years, human resource professionals have developed hundreds of job categories in the life sciences that require applicants to bring particular skills to the bench. Jensen estimates that 70 percent of all biotech jobs go to people with narrowly specialized experience. Other recruiters put the niche jobs at 60-100 percent of all openings. Needed: Senior Scientist. Requirements include: PhD with 5 years pharmaceutical industry experience or BS/MS with 10 years pharmaceutical industry experience. Thorough knowledge of common analytical procedures and equipment including HPLC, GC, FTIR, dissolution. Experience in method development and validation. Minimum of 5 years experience in a CGMP analytical laboratory and thorough knowledge of regulations that apply to CGMP analytical methods development and validation. Design and execution of analytical development experiments. Not all scientists are shut out of senior scientist jobs for lack experience such as FTIR dissolution. Some may simply fail to emphasize a certain skill set on their resumes or curriculum vitae. Experience with "ELISA" assays, "mAbs" and "FACS" analysis, and CellQuest software is fairly typical among scientists, but that's not always clear to screeners examining stacks of resumes. Often, the first person reviewing the resumes simply follows a keyword checklist. If the keywords don't pop up on the first page, the resume can be deep-sixed. Yet, the screeners may lack scientific knowledge. "They can't necessarily extrapolate that somebody who's done sample prep can easily learn how to do HPLC," says Marilyn Sundberg, account manager for New Horizons Recruiting, in Somerset, N.J. Sundberg recommends candidates tailor their resume or curriculum vitae for each application. It's important, she says, that skills not get buried, so a summary at the top of the resume that highlights a particular proficiency may be helpful. And even if candidates don't have the skill requirements for a job, they can emphasize crossover skills. "It's not a one-size-fits-all market," she says. "You can't write one resume or C.V. and shoot it out and expect any response. You have to take a specific approach to specific jobs." Scientists can develop sophisticated niche skills on the job by taking associate positions, observes Brian Reynolds, the national biotechnology business development manager for Kelly Scientific Resources. A new PhD can work in quality control, starting out with as simple a task as fact-checking the content of genetics material, for instance, or ensuring compliance with regulations. Learning good manufacturing and clinical practices as low-level employees can lead to other more specialized experience. Smaller or less established companies may also be resources for developing niche skills. These companies can be flexible in hiring, because employees may have broader responsibilities, says Ellie Cantor, president of CJ Resources, a scientific recruitment firm in Malvern, Pa. Developing a skill that is in high demand can mean a job for a person with just a touch of experience in a niche discipline. The pool of bioinformaticians and tissue engineers does not satisfy the need, for example, and companies may be willing to train scientists for these positions. Working with a recruiter can help, too. Cantor says she often persuades hiring managers to stretch the job requirements for particularly desirable candidates. "I may ask a hiring manager if it's possible to broaden the terms of the job description," she relates. "I may ask, 'where can we compromise?'" Jennifer Fisher Wilson (jfwilson@snip.net) is a contributing editor for The Scientist

Specialization Inundation

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