Let us recruit the professionals needed to bring your product to market
Know what you are looking for
Be honest and be transparent. Know what you are looking for and what you can afford. We know that early employees within your startup will need to wear multiple hats but have a clear expectation and realistic understanding of the primary responsibilities of the position. Go out and find that skill-set and then vet them for additional capabilities. The key is to cast a wide net, attract multiple candidate profiles for the role and the company, and then move quickly and with intent to go after the best fit.
We also recommend allowing yourself lots of time to attract and interview candidates. The average length of time to fill a position is twice as long for STEM roles. Don’t make a bad hire beacuse you ran out of time, startups do not have the luxury to miss on a crucial position.
Always be recruiting…ALWAYS!
Startup CEO’s and Founders are always selling their product/service/biologic and their vision for the company. To always be recruiting is the logical next step and it doesn’t require a lot of additional effort. Some will argue that recruiting is equally important to the startup CEO as funding and product.
Build positive relationships with all past, present, and future candidates. Get your company’s name and vision out there and turn your candidates into recruiting tools in the community. Biotech startups come to fruition in the usual hubs and the network is tight. The goal is for your startup to be top of mind when someone is looking to make a change, has their contract run out, or is downsized due to a negative clinical results or FDA ruling.
Be honest and humble, and work to overcome objections
Anyone that has ever recruited for a startup has a story (or 10) about recruiting a candidate with a near perfect background, attitude, and references who decided not to sign an offer letter. This happens with more established companies as well but having a candidate drop out of consideration whether it be in the beginning or the end of the recruiting process is very discouraging. Work to overcome objections and questions that you know the candidate is going to ask.
Candidates considering employment at a Startup will be concerned about: compensation, stability of the company, sources of current and potential funding, working on tasks outside of their comfort zone, reputation of the CEO and senior management team and advisors. Be sure to have well-thought out responses to these potential concerns and be sure to paint a picture in the candidate’s mind about their role, and what that role might grow into in the future.
Biotech recruiting resources for startups
1) Fill out our Biotech Recruiting questionairre and give your input on startup recruiting in Biotech. We hope to survey candidates, hiring managers, and other biotech professionals in academia and industry.
2) Connect with us to see if we can add value to any searches you have underway. We have placed biotech professionals at early and late stage startups on both coasts. We know how to vet and close candidates for biotech startup opportunities.