Blog - Ideal Steps

January 24, 2023in Recruitment

What is the Advantage for a Medical Sales Firm to Utilize a Professional Recruiter?

As a medical sales firm, finding the right medical sales representative is crucial for your success. The right candidate will help you expand your business and convert your prospects into paying customers. However, finding these types of candidates to fill the job positions in your medical sales firm is not easy. It takes a lot of time and resources to start the recruiting process, find the ideal candidates from a pool of hundred (or even thousand!) individuals, and interview them. This is where the role of an external medical sales recruiter comes into play!

Medical sales firms have to manage a lot of things at once. From assessing the clients and suggesting to them the right products to establishing meaningful relationships with your customers, it is indeed a stressful and time-consuming job. If you are a small firm that is just getting started, finding the time and resources to conduct the hiring process becomes more difficult.

Fortunately, an experienced medical sales recruiter can take the load of hiring off your shoulders and help you find the right employees without any hassle. In this blog post, we will walk you through the top 5 benefits of utilizing a professional recruiter.

Want to know more about medical sales recruitment or how professional medical sales recruiters can help you find the perfect candidate? Get in touch with us today!

5 benefits of enlisting the help of a professional medical sales recruiter

1. Medical sales recruiters bring a lot of market knowledge to the table

Medical sales companies working with professional medical recruiters or sales recruiting firms can get deep market knowledge from them. As a medical sales firm, you may not find the time to analyze your competitors and conduct job market research. In such a situation, medical recruitment firms can act as your eyes and ears and bring market information to the table for you,

Professional recruiters have years of experience working in the industry and helping multiple companies find the right candidates. They are always updated about the latest industry trends, new in-demand skills, current salaries offered to sales reps, and more.

They can share these valuable market insights with HR, thereby helping them design the right job description and offer to attract top talent.

2. Medical recruiters act as your partner as well as representatives

Just like you expect to know everything about a candidate before hiring them, the candidate also has multiple questions in their mind. They want to know about the reputation of your company, the benefits you can offer them, why they should become a part of your brand, and more.

If you don’t have a strategy to present your company in the best light, you will have a hard time attracting the best medical sales representatives who can sell exceptionally well. Fortunately, when you partner with medical sales recruiting agencies, they make sure that the candidates have a clear picture of the benefits of working in your company. They answer all the questions of the candidates and help them understand why working with you can be an excellent choice.

Do you want to partner with an experienced medical sales recruitment agency that can represent your business in the best way? If yes, then Ideal Steps Med Sales Recruiting can help you! Contact us today to know more about our medical sales recruitment services!

3. They help you find the candidates, not job applicants

Understanding the difference between candidates and job applicants is crucial. Job applicants are individuals who simply apply for a job through your adverts on various job sites, LinkedIn, or your own website. They may or may not have all the required skills.

Thus, you will have to spend time analyzing, testing, communicating, and interviewing the applicants. When your in-house recruiting team posts a job opening online, they attract job applicants and not candidates.

On the other hand, passive candidates are individuals who are at a higher stage of the recruitment process. They are pre-screened and pre-selected to match the requirements of your job opening. And even better they are making a decision that is based on advancing their careers.

Recruitment agencies bring such suitable candidates to you. You can simply interview them and hire the best ones for your business. It saves a lot of time and money!

4. You can access industry-specific networks

Most internal recruiting departments consist of staff with no prior industry experience; therefore they don’t have existing networks. This is why they rely on advertising, or posting, jobs almost entirely.

However, successful medical sales recruiters have worked in the industry and have a broad network of candidates within the market. This is where partnering with recruitment firms can be a game changer for you!

These firms can gain traction in a candidate search quickly, shortening the time to fill critical positions. So, by partnering with them, you can benefit from their experience and networks to hire the best industry talent as fast as possible.

5. They will work within your budget

An excellent thing about working with medical recruiting agencies is that you can find services that meet your budget range. They offer different types of service plans that are designed to meet the budget of all kinds of medical sales firms.

So, whether you are a small firm that is just starting or a large firm with enough resources, you will likely find the right medical sales recruiting service to meet your needs.

Wrapping up

So there you have it! These were the top 5 advantages for a medical sales firm to utilize the expertise of a professional medical sales recruitment firm. We hope you found this blog post helpful and that it gave you much-needed clarity about why you should consider working with professional recruiters for your medical sales firm.

In case you want to hire one such recruitment agency today, we at, Ideal Steps Med Sales Recruiting have the right services for you. Visit our website to learn more!

Searching Job Online Ideal Steps Med Sales Recruiting

January 18, 2023in Recruitment

Do NOT Hit the Easy Apply Button for Your Dream Job

When people are in a job search it is easy to get lulled into a false sense of security with all the job openings found online. There are a plethora of sites and open positions listed. But too many job seekers rely on applying online as their primary, if not only, strategy. It seems like a logical approach in a career search. It is easy to do and feels like a meaningful activity.

But most things in life that are easy aren’t necessarily the best option.

As a seasoned recruiter I would strongly advise anyone in a job search to take a more strategic and effective approach. Here are a few reasons you may want to reconsider relying solely on applying to jobs online.

Most companies’ Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are a “black hole” of candidates who have applied online or via other sources. Internal recruiting departments are swamped with applications and have a hard time keeping up. They frequently miss even highly qualified applicants due to sheer volume. I have personally witnessed very strong, qualified candidates who applied online yet were not found by the internal recruiting team. They were in the system, had the right mix of experience and qualifications, but the internal recruiter didn’t even know they were in the system until I called their attention to it.

Another common occurrence is many jobs have been filled by the time the company gets around to posting it online. It could be because someone was promoted internally, came via referral from an existing employee, or came from an external recruiter, like me. The position was vacant and before the company got around to posting it a candidate was already identified and offered the position. Why do they post it after the fact? Soley for compliance reasons (EEOC, legal requirements, reporting, etc.).

And believe it or not, some companies post jobs that don’t even exist. Why? Because they are “trolling” for candidates they may need in the future. This is a common practice internal recruiting teams utilize to always have a pipeline of candidates by stocking their ATS. Sounds terrible, right? It’s real, trust me.

In other cases the internal recruiter responsible for the position may have a “favorite” candidate they want to move through the process based on their own preferences. It could be someone they interviewed previously that they developed a rapport with, or even a colleague they know from prior experience. That means you will never be presented to the actual decision maker, the hiring manager. Internal recruiters want to look good to their bosses and hiring managers by being part of the decision process. Again, trust me on this.

This is a short list, but there are other reasons you should not rely on applying online. Your best bet is to find someone who can be your “bridge” into the company via referral. If you haven’t read “What Color is Your Parachute,” by Richard Nelson Bolles, I would highly recommend it for this very reason. While it was written in 1970 it has been revised annually since 1975 and the 2022 edition has updated content relevant to today’s online world. One of the most valuable concepts is to make connections in the industries and companies you are targeting. These connections can be influential advocates who introduce you to the individual actual making the hiring decision.

A recent Wall Street Journal article cited statistics that 30% of hires are made by job seekers finding someone to network within the company. And that is only one source of networking much more effective than hitting “Easy Apply.”

One of the best things about being in a job search today is the speed at which you can increase the size of your professional network. Early in my career our options were limited. Developing personal and professional contacts and attending actual networking events were the best approach. You literally had to meet people in person, shake hands and exchange business cards. Today job seekers can do this very efficiently online through networking sites, especially LinkedIn. With the right strategy and approach your professional network can expand very quickly. Finding jobs online is simple and efficient. It is the specific steps you take after you find the ideal company or dream job that makes all the difference in your career search.

January 10, 2023in Recruitment

Building Winning Recruiting Practices in a Labor Shortage

It is obvious taking too long to fill jobs costs organizations money and often prevents them from hiring the best talent. But did you know a bad hire can cost up to 30% of the employee’s wages the first year, according to the US Department of Labor? Bad recruitment strategy and process cost companies a lot of money.

It is commonly understood employees are critical to an organization’s success. What is not well understood is how dysfunctional many organizations recruiting and hiring practices are.

Why is that?

Most lack leadership and focus in this critical area.

This lack of attention on hiring is expensive. It is obvious taking too long to fill jobs costs money and often prevents you from hiring the best talent. But did you know a bad hire can cost up to 30% of the employee’s wages the first year, according to the US Department of Labor? Bad recruitment strategy and process cost companies a lot of money.

Understanding Your Organization’s Recruitment Philosophy and Strategy

Do you know your company’s recruitment philosophy and strategy? If you are an executive, attracting and retaining top talent in your industry should be a top priority:

How long does it take to fill a key position?
What is your recruiting strategy for key positions?
When your company evaluates potential hires, what are the top three criteria and how do you assess them?

Most executives outside of HR would not be able to answer these key questions. They should. They have a vested interest in getting recruitment right and should be at the table for this important conversation. World class organizations know recruitment is a foundational element that transcends the entire leadership team and institution.

As a leader you should be able to say with confidence, “THIS is our recruitment philosophy and strategy, and it is a core tenet of our entire organization ”. Or “THIS is why people want to come to work for us”. If you don’t know what THIS is, you have a recruiting problem.

Recruiting vs Advertising

One reason recruiting is an afterthought for many executives is not understanding the difference between recruiting and advertising. It doesn’t help that technology gives a false sense of security. We live in an era of virtually unlimited information and automation, which has led many to believe algorithms will save the day for all their recruiting needs. This is nonsense.

Posting a job online is no different than purchasing an adver- tisement in the local newspaper back in the dark ages of recruiting. You hope someone will see and respond. Is that strategic? This person we hope will respond also needs to be qualified, desirable, and affordable. While technology makes this more targeted and effective than those old newspaper ads, the concept and practice are otherwise identical. In recruiting jargon it’s called“ post and pray”.

How is recruiting different? In almost every conceivable way. In recruiting, a human being takes ownership of the position requirements and applies experience and judgment in discerning applicants. The recruiter seeks out and engages another human being through targeted communication to explore qualifications and the potential for an employment match. The more informed and skilled your recruitment team, the more successful an organization you will likely build. Artificial Intelligence cannot and does not do that. If your strategy is advertising jobs online sifted through by an inexperienced team, you have a recruitment problem.

Is your interview process introducing noise and bias into your hiring decisions?

The more informed and skilled your recruitment team, the more successful an organization you will likely build.

Designing an Effective, Efficient Interview Process with Less Bias and Noise

Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman (along with Olivier Sibony and Cass R Sunstein) wrote an intriguing book, “Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment” that takes a hard look at interview process and decision making. The authors delve into the traditional standard interview and lacklustre performance in making effective hiring decisions (Kahneman et al. 2021). Something as simple as identifying the definition of success in making the decision is often unknown or not agreed upon by those involved. Our experience with successful companies is they clearly identify what they are looking for on the front end and establish an effective interview process to assess candidates on those metrics. The hard part comes up front, which makes execution more efficient and effective.

Kahneman and his team cite numerous examples of standard, unstructured interviews creating noise and bias, yet executives and candidates alike remain enamoured with them because they value their intuition. They apparently don’t realise their intuition can be biased.

We have observed companies who introduce so many interviewers into the decision making process it creates indecision and delays. Others entrust interviewers who are inexperienced or poorly trained in conducting interviews. How can an organization make good hiring decisions if the people making the assessment do not know what they are looking for or how to objectively evaluate it?
Kahneman references Google transforming their hiring process from as many as twenty-five interviewers down to four. Less is more in this case. They also require interviewers to rate candidates independently instead of a group discus- sion to increase validity. Kahneman’s own research using struc- tured interview strategies showed higher probably of selecting a better candidate (65-69%) from unstructured interviews (56-61%) (Kahneman et al. 2021).
If your team has too many people involved in an unstructured decision-making process, you have a recruitment problem.

Conclusion

Recognizing the importance of recruiting and hiring is not enough in today’s competitive talent market. Attracting and hiring the best talent must be ingrained in the company culture, a way of life. Decision criterion and process should be fact-based and measurable in an objective and repeatable manner. Interviews should only be conducted by those who have appropriate experience and are well trained in a struc- tured, well-defined process.

January 6, 2023in Recruitment

Companies Working with a Recruiter

Most companies have internal recruiting capacity as part of their HR team. The larger the company the more resources they typically invest in an internal team. The one thing usually lacking is the ability to recruit for the difficult positions – executive leadership positions – highly compensated, specialty roles – confidential searches. This is when an external recruiter is needed and valuable.

Internal recruiters usually rely on posting positions online – on company websites, job boards and LinkedIn. One thing many don’t realize is posting a job is advertising, not recruiting. External recruiters are “headhunters,” meaning they look specifically for the type of candidate required for the position and do direct outreach. There are many benefits to this including attracting “passive” candidates who were not necessarily looking to make a career change. Passive candidates can make great hires because they are “running to” something versus “running away” from a problem or a job they are dissatisfied with. This does not mean active candidates do not make good hires. It means a targeted candidate search will provide you with more options than simply posting a job to see who applies.

Finding the Right Recruiting Partner

When the time comes to select an external recruiter, choose wisely.
First it is important to find someone who is familiar with and has a broad candidate network in your industry. While not mandatory it will allow them to gain traction more quickly. They will also already have a solid understanding of the jargon and specifics of your market and they will know how to connect with candidates.

Next, make sure they are experienced and familiar with the job function. Again, this allows them to recognize the types of candidates that are the best fit. For example, if you’re recruiting sales reps it is extremely helpful if the recruiter knows what to look for and how to effectively screen candidates. Another important factor is the recruiter’s ability to effectively represent your company in the market. Remember, they are essentially selling the passive candidate on why your organization and the position would be a good career move. Credibility really matters with candidates and creates a much better experience.

Finally, make sure the recruiter has a good strategy and strong, repeatable recruiting process. If not, you are less likely to attract top talent.

How Do You Partner with an External Recruiter?

Many companies utilize external recruiters in a highly transactional manner. In some cases, they assign multiple recruiters to the same position, creating a “free for all” environment. Here are some tips to make sure you use this valuable resource wisely.

The first thing to address is the actual agreement. Most companies use contingency search agreements which are highly transactional in nature. With a contingency agreement the external recruiter is only paid a fee if they successfully fill the position. This causes them to behave in a very transactional way, meaning that they are likely to only work on positions they have a high probability of filling. When things get difficult, they will almost certainly move on to other positions that have a higher success rate. Retained agreements will create a high degree of commitment to the search process and also holds the recruiting partner accountable to completing the search. But retained agreements are expensive and mostly used in very high level, executive roles. Another creative option is to have hybrid agreements that ensure some compensation is guaranteed for the external recruiter. Hybrid agreements can take different forms including a “container” payment which means the company commits to a small percentage of the fee up front and that amount is deducted from the final payment. For example, if the total fee is $20,000 for a successful placement the recruiter may request a $5,000 non-refundable “container” payment that is credited at the end of the search. This creates a much greater incentive for the recruiter and allows the company to hold them accountable for results. Another option is for an external recruiter the company does repeat business with over the course of a year. The company and recruiter agree to an annual retainer amount and the recruiter bills against that during the course of the year. Again, this creates a true partnership and accountability between company and recruiter.

Limit the number of recruiters assigned to each position, ideally one per position. If you have multiple recruiters, including your internal team, interacting with candidates it creates confusion in the search. If a candidate is contacted by more than one recruiter, it makes your company look disorganized and inefficient. It also means you are not holding any of the recruiters, internal or external, accountable for the results. And to make matters worse if external recruiters discover they are duplicating efforts with candidates they will likely stop devoting resources to the search.

Another critical factor in effectively partnering with an external recruiter is communication. Regardless of the type of agreement you enter into, it is imperative that the company provide adequate details and information for the recruiter to be successful. Successful not only in knowing what to look for in candidates, but also in marketing the company and position to ideal candidates. The hardest part of an effective search is on the front end, detailing what you are looking for. I’ve always said it’s much easier to find what you are looking for if you know exactly what it is.

The final component of effective communication is providing timely and meaningful feedback to the recruiter on candidates they have submitted and after interviews have occurred. This allows the recruiter to refine their search efforts in real time and it also allows them to convey that feedback to candidates. Even candidates you are not interested in hiring deserve feedback and closure, and it will create a good candidate experience that benefits the company in future recruiting projects. And it’s the right thing to do.

Successful Outcomes

What do successful outcomes look like when you have a strong partnership with the recruiter?
For the company it means you will fill important positions more quickly and efficiently. You will also increase the likelihood of finding the best talent for your organization because it is strategic and targeted towards your desired outcomes.

For the candidate it will be a great experience. For the candidate you hire they will join your team feeling good about how you conducted the process and be more likely to stay longer and prosper. There is nothing worse than hiring someone who is frustrated with the way they were hired and onboarded to your company.

For the recruiter you will have a trusted resource who will want to do business with you again and likely be on the lookout for top talent proactively. For all the bad things you hear about recruiters (and there is a lot!) much of it is caused by a highly transactional engagement and process. Treating external recruiters with respect and ensuring their needs are met is creating good karma for everyone.