MedReps.com publishes a quarterly Medical Sales Jobs Report in which we track the number of sales jobs posted online. While the medical sales industry certainly has some additional factors to consider, there’s still likely to be some correlation between medical sales recruitment strategies and sales hiring in other industries. Hiring and retention are becoming major issues for many organizations. As the country continues to emerge from the recession, organizations across every industry are expanding their sales forces and tweaking their recruitment strategies – so competition fro the best talent is fierce.
Sales Hiring is Picking Up
The implementation of new legislation could potentially impact hiring in medical sales, but for now, medical sales hiring velocity seems to be increasing. MedReps.com has seen rising job counts in 2014, with a 27% increase in overall medical sales job counts in April 2014 compared to April 2013. This increase would suggest medical sales hiring is trending upward, along with the other industries.
The Pressure to Improve Recruitment Strategies is Intense
There’s certainly a lot of talk lately about creating jobs, and based on our survey, most companies are doing exactly that – creating sales jobs. In April 2014 the number of pharma and biotech jobs available increased 32% compared to the previous year. But it’s not enough that these job openings exist – they must be filled with strong candidates if companies hope to grow their businesses. As a result, recruiters, talent acquisition specialists, and other human resource professionals are feeling increased pressure to find new recruitment strategies and fill sales job openings quickly with top talent.
Of course, as a majority of companies plan to expand their sales teams, the competition for talent is increasing. With this emerging “war for talent,” it may be difficult to increase it. Companies must not only plan for how to recruit new talent, but also how to ensure the talent they have is not recruited away by competitors.
It’s fair to assume the pressure on sales recruiters falls in line with that reported by participants in the MedReps surveys. An annual survey of MedReps.com members consistently reveals approximately half of healthcare sales job seekers are currently employed in the industry. How active they consider their job search varies, but the fact is, these employed sales professionals pay a fee each month to at least “keep an eye” on the healthcare sales job market, suggesting they are open to new opportunities.
What does this mean for your sales recruitment strategies? Well, recruiting talent away from the competition is a viable option, but there’s also a good chance at least some of your current sales reps will be lost to what they perceive as better opportunities.
How Recruiters Can Keep Up
There are four primary ways recruiters can enhance their recruitment strategies to keep up with the increasing demand in the jobs market:
- Go After Passive Job Seekers
Candidates that are already in the workforce would consider switching jobs and it’s imperative that you deploy a recruitment strategy that targets the candidates in this talent pool. - Communicate
A recent survey found that over half of all job seekers share good hiring experiences on social media, and half also report they receive no feedback from recruiters. Be open and communicate with your candidates to ensure news of your company is spreading. - Always Be Searching
Even if you’re not hiring, always be on the lookout for candidates so you’re a few steps ahead of the game when a position does open up. - Utilize Mobile
Our 2014 Mobile & Social Medical Sales Job Search survey found that 90% of medical sales job seekers are looking for jobs on their mobile device. Make sure your job postings and applications are optimized for mobile to ensure you’re reaching those candidates.
