Keeping hold of key members of staff has always been an issue for successful organisations. To avoid head-hunters, Anton Franckeiss explains valuable measures to increase employee retention and satisfaction.

Although the pharmaceutical industry is one that consumers tend to depend on to provide instant cures or magical remedies to our all too human frailties, it actually operates to a longer timeframe. Any new treatment for our remedies may take only seconds to swallow, but will have been in development for many years, and possibly even decades. But despite its foundation in long-term projects, the industry also experiences higher than average staff turnover rates – a circumstance that the industry shares with IT and financial services. While the requirement for specialist knowledge and professional skills is a common factor across all three of these sectors that should not be ignored, human resource (HR) professionals within the industry should resist the temptation to believe that there is a single cure that can be prescribed and administered.

Although the analogy may be a simplistic one, especially in the industry context, adopting a holistic view that sees retention rates as one of the vital signs of the ‘patient’ (ie the workforce of each pharmaceutical company) may be helpful. Recent surveys, both by Pharmaceutical Field and by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, have shown a slowing of staff turnover rates in the industry. Yet the reasons may be at least partly a reflection of the broader labour market and economy.

In an era of slow economic growth after a sharp recession, employees are seeing redundancies elsewhere – or even closer to home – and may have drawn the conclusion that the metaphorical frying pan might be a happier place to be for the medium-term than the unknown quantity of the metaphorical fire. There is, however, no room for complacency here. If the factors at play are limiting turnover rather than actively encouraging retention, the ‘condition’ could flare up again at short notice depending on movements in the broader economy: a chronic condition, after all, requires monitoring and management to ensure that any chances of it becoming acute are minimised.

Road to recovery

The analogy of a chronic condition, however, should be challenged. A continuing situation of poor retention does not imply that this either must simply be lived with or will inevitably get worse. There is no reason that the prognosis should be gloomy, although a combination therapy approach will be required and the regime will need to be maintained for some time before improvements in the underlying condition are secured. The key to success lies in the depth of understanding that the doctor – in this case the HR functions of companies in the industries – can acquire about their patient.

Without research, dialogue and communication, companies can too easily assume that they understand the retention factor priorities of their workforce, while the employees actually see the outlook rather differently. A 2006 survey by Talent Drain, for example, showed that employees rank ‘cooperation’ as the second most important factor, while employers listed this in ninth place.

Employers also typically overstate the impact of pay and financial rewards, while underestimating the importance to employees of opportunities for personal growth. What appears as a mission critical role contribution through one end of the telescope looks more like one component of an on-going personal biography from the other. In an industry that embraces great diversity of roles – from sales to scientific specialists – there is likely to be a similar diversity of outlook – the intelligent response is to seek understanding rather than to assume that a single remedy can be applied in all cases. Feedback to HR from line management in different operational areas could be helpful here, so keep lines of dialogue open.

The right prescription

Employee motivation and engagement requires similar treatment; although recent surveys say suggest turnover is reduced, they also suggest what an earlier Pharmaceutical Field article, called The Fear Factor, highlighted. Pro-actively seeking to increase engagement will enhance the chances of turning a cure into a preventative approach. The highly engaged will be less easily tempted away when external economic factors change. Again, an appreciation of potential complexity will be helpful. Scientific staff may be balancing a need to supervise and manage others and commercial encouragement from the organisation to develop their leadership skills with their personal commitment to their professional discipline. Acknowledging such a potential conflict of factors will be a far more productive way of identifying motivational approaches than failing to address it.

There are also industry-specific challenges to address, one of which was highlighted in an interview between the BBC’s Evan Davis and GSK Chief Executive Andrew Witty in the former’s recent book, Made in Britain: “One of the things we say to our scientists is that you have to be comfortable with failure. [There are] great scientists in this company who will never succeed in their entire career … Of 10,000 new molecules that we might synthesise, so that we might create 10,000 possible new drugs, probably one will be a drug.”

Strategies that promote innovation – the use of multi-disciplinary project teams where each can make their own distinct contribution and gain inspiration from other – can help here in other ways. But also allow staff with specialist skills to receive peer, as well as line management, feedback on the value of their contribution. It was a point by Alistair Flaister in a People Management article, Organisational learning: The social network, when he made the important point that: “The real engine of creativity and organisational success is to be found in internal networks of friendship and collaboration.”

Line managers have other contributions to make, not least in listening acutely and in building a supportive and encouraging team culture. It’s a point underlined in the 2010 Work Foundation report, Exceeding Expectations: the principles of outstanding leadership, which identified two elements common to the approaches of outstanding leaders in creating a working environment:

The first is the need to develop an open and supportive atmosphere to create the conditions for trust and respect, and the second is to ensure the workplace enabled success and satisfaction.

Part of the latter element may require support from HR in terms of fresh thinking. Depending on the severity of the case, HR might also ponder the benefits of making a referral to a specialist consultant. Helping specialist staff to make the transition to a leadership role is not simply a progression or promotion through a series of levels of leadership. It requires them to make a fundamental transition from development of a professional discipline to that of a broader organisational and commercial role. It also requires the transfer and application of new behaviours that challenge and enhance their performance and contribution. Two other factors that The Work Foundation found as common to outstanding leaders is a willingness to be flexible in their approach to process, and a willingness to adapt roles to give individuals the maximum opportunity to achieve personal growth and job satisfaction. An organisational willingness to be similarly flexible in role definition and organisational design can support good leaders within the company to deploy this approach successfully.

Never say no

Think of a talented individual that the company should seek to retain, and then imagine how they might feel if they heard the words “I’d love to be more flexible, but I’ve spoken to HR and they said …” It’s also helpful to remain mindful that disengagement is unlikely to be a proactive personal choice – employees are more likely to become disengaged as a reaction.

Ultimately, employee retention is not so much a condition as a symptom. An indicator that employee engagement is low, that opportunities to satisfy personal motivations are too limited, that opportunities for progression are overly limited or unclear, or that employees are not receiving positive feedback on their performance and/or contribution when praise is due. The answer is not to treat the isolated symptom, but to investigate the underlying condition and develop a comprehensive talent management strategy that will systematically improve organisational health. Even in an industry where specialist skills are a key requirement in many roles, an employee value proposition and a recruitment strategy that identifies employees with a strong cultural fit are still important requirements. Any industry dependent on innovation and intellectual property should appreciate that human resources are its critical input. And most employees – who will, after all, have chosen to make an application to join the organisation and done so in good faith – are ultimately looking for something relatively straightforward: regular reminders of several good reasons to stay. That, of course, is easy to say, but there’s something positive to be said for making it easy to do.

Anton Franckeiss is the Managing Director of ASK Europe.

For decades analysts have been trying to find the perfect formula for workplace satisfaction. Dr R K Powar explains how organisational behaviour can bring together essential cogs in the workplace to improve levels of productivity.

All businesses from the smallest enterprise to the largest of corporations consist of people designed to fulfil human objectives, and organisational behaviour seeks to understand how best to do this. Therefore, organisational behaviour can be described as the study of how individuals, groups and structure affect and are affected by behaviour within organisations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge towards improving an organisation’s effectiveness.

Management as a discipline, along with other disciplines, has been around for centuries. However, serious interest in the study of management did not emerge until the turn of the twentieth century, making organisational behaviour a relatively new subject. Also, the initial players interested in studying organisations were economists, who generally looked at management practices as efficient and effective, focusing on economic policies and industrial structures, rather than the internal structure of organisations.

A brief history

The Scientific Management Approach: this was developed by F W Taylor, who worked on the assumption that human beings are largely motivated by money. Taylor advised that managers pay monetary incentives to efficient workers, making employees work harder and faster, reducing them to machines. As this approach did not take account of the human facet of labour, it was heavily criticised and today is considered inadequate.

The Bureaucratic Approach: while the scientific approach worked on the interaction between workers and the task, this theory focused on devising the best organisational structure for workers and managers. Max Weber, the theory’s most prominent advocate, proposed a ‘bureaucratic form’ of structure which he thought would work for all organisations.

The Hawthorne Studies: The above two approaches were heavily criticised as they failed to take into consideration that the human aspect was important in the workplace. Whilst the Hawthorne Studies have had their share of criticism, they had a dramatic input in the field of organisational behaviour, highlighting that workers are influenced by social factors and the behaviour of the individual is influenced by the group.

Over the years, the study and practice of behaviour in the workplace has developed from initial human resource theory to the system approach and on to organisational behaviour, which has grown through creating alliances with disciplines such as leadership and anthropology. Today organisational behaviour is highly influential in the business world with practitioners like Peter Drucker and Peter Senge, who turned academic research into business principles – please refer to the article on the concept of the Learning Organisation in the April 2010 edition of Pharmaceutical Field.

The importance to pharma

Organisational behaviour is important to help us learn about ourselves and how to deal with others. It needs to be noted that people are complex and, whilst they have a need to acquire, individuals are multi-faceted and work for several reasons, such as the need to grow and develop and bond with others.

The pharmaceutical industry, like all industries, is in a constant state of flux faced with business competiveness and the need for increased networking and globalisation – where there is a greater need for individuals to work with people from diverse backgrounds and cultural values. Consequently, the pharmaceutical industry needs to be increasingly concerned with organisational behaviour, as it needs all employees to perform well to sustain success and in a nutshell become more productive.

At a practical level, these are some of the advantages offered by organisational behaviour:

Having more self-insight and perceptual skills to bring about the desired outcomes: The various facets of organisational behaviour can be used by all of us to understand our own feelings and behaviours. Starting from the premise of understanding ourselves is important in helping us understand others. The concepts of organisational behaviour can be used to bring about the desired outcome behaviour in others by sometimes modifying our feelings and behaviours towards others.

The ability to do this would be beneficial in all walks of life, and especially in the pharmaceutical industry. For example:

• Manager to employee: Having a greater awareness/understanding and appreciation will help bosses modify their management style to lead their staff appropriately to attain goals and hence become more productive.
• Motivate self and others: Organisations that perform well have a culture that promotes ongoing growth, learning and development. At the core of organisational behaviour paradigms rests the notion of how to bring out the best in others, so developing a good understanding of the principles of organisational behaviour and putting them into practice can help with motivation.
• Managers and employees’ interaction with external customers and stakeholders: Having a good understanding of organisational behaviour can help managers develop a better understanding of processes. This in turn can help managers interact with the various individuals outside the organisation, such as suppliers, competitors and customers. Managers can gain a better understanding of the environment in which they are working by using organisational behaviour to help them appreciate how and why things happen, giving them the advantage of being ahead in today’s competitive environment.

The ability to analyse situations correctly: A good understanding of the concepts of organisational behaviour can help staff and managers analyse situations correctly. All too often misunderstandings arise when situations haven’t been correctly understood. This can prove useful in the following ways:

• Avoid/manage conflict: A small amount of conflict can prove useful sometimes. However, where possible, if it’s likely to be destructive it needs to be avoided in the first instance, or be managed appropriately. With the sheer size of most pharmaceutical companies, the number of employees and the numerous relationships with the various stakeholders the probability of conflict arising can be quite high. Therefore, being able to curb this is of significant importance for the human relations and media departments.
• Better observational skills: This can be extremely useful for sales teams that need to be able to pick up on the buying signals, deal with obstructions and work with the complex set of interrelationships and dynamics that exist within the NHS.
• Recruitment and retention of skilled staff: A great deal of time and expenditure is involved in recruiting the right staff and the majority of the techniques and methods to do this employ organisational behaviour concepts in the form of questionnaires, psychological profiling and role-playing exercises at interviews. People work for several reasons and a better grasp of organisational behaviour concepts could be applied to retain staff, instead of developing them and then allowing them to leave and take the skills and knowledge they have gained elsewhere.

Limitations of organisational behaviour

• Having an understanding of organisational behaviour can help in situations of conflict but not eradicate them completely.
• Organisational behaviour is resistant to change due to human cognitive processes and defensive routines which can lead to ‘behavioural biases’, where the focus is on satisfying employees but overlooking the objectives of an organisation.
• The law of diminishing returns also applies to organisational behaviour: as this needs to be practised to an optimum point, when that point is exceeded there is a decline in returns. This highlights that organisational effectiveness is achieved when all variables work together.
• In some cases the knowledge and techniques of organisational behaviour could be used in a manipulative manner.

The future of organisational behaviour

Organisational behaviour has evolved over the years: initially from the need to create productive organisations, followed by a philosophical desire by many people to create more humanistic workplaces. Although organisational behaviour has certain limitations, hopefully by building a better working climate for people there are many advantages which should have longterm effects, not only in the quality of an individual’s life, but in improved harmony among people and among organisations.

The future success of organisational behaviour revolves around the related processes of theory development, research and managerial practice in areas such as communication between and among foreign business operations, cultural differences and motivation techniques in different countries, career development in the global economy, and the differences in leadership and decisionmaking practices in various countries.

The challenge faced by the pharmaceutical industry is to employ organisational behaviour to bring the various stakeholders and actors involved with different values together to create processes by which it can be efficient and effective in exceeding goals and objectives.

Dr R K Powar is the founder of R11OSY CONSULTANTS.

Finding the best employer is like playing the dating game. No-one wants to be married to their job, but tying the knot with an employer is an important commitment. The strongest relationships can last a lifetime, while playing the field may not look quite so good on your CV. So what is it that attracts us to our employers? Do we marry for money, or is long-term fulfillment enough? And is a good sense of humour essential? Pf’s Emma Campbell-Kelly outlines some of the key criteria in identifying ‘The One’.

The summer months, particularly the holiday season, are often the time when most of us pause and reflect on where we are in life. That two-week break in the Maldives, or even just the back garden, can invariably provide the catalyst for some killer questions: Am I in the right job? Does my employer appreciate me? Do I appreciate my employer? Is it time for me to move on? For many, this period of reflection provides little more than confirmation that they are happy where they are. In the current climate, where job security is king and fear of moving jobs has bred a ‘better the devil you know’ approach, many workers are staying put rather than risking change. But for some, a ‘grass is always greener’ philosophy drives them towards the pursuit of new employment. But what do you look for in a new employer? What defines the perfect job and, indeed, an employer of choice? Where do you begin in the pursuit of professional happiness?

Searching for a new job can be a daunting endeavour. Whether it’s your decision to enter the vacancy abyss or not, the task can be arduous and time-consuming. Slim pickings are expected in such a precarious economic climate, but there’s still a world of decisions to make: location, role, salary and even whether you are looking in the right industry are all key considerations.

The experience is similar to becoming newly single, in the market for a new partner. Job sites and recruitment companies could be metaphors for dating agencies in this case, or a friend who’s trying to set you up, or a speed dating session.

And you must select employers from this pool of availability in a similar way to how you would approach someone to ask them out. Like a relationship, a job is an investment, and will define you for the period you choose to stay committed to it. You want the whole package: ‘The One’. It will stay on your record, your personal history, or rather your CV. No pressure then.

What do you look for? Materialistic features (financial details) are number one priority for most. Your interest in a job or person is sparked by judging at face value. It’s not necessarily shallow, because what else can you base your judgement on in the first instance? Being objective with your search is key to obtaining a job that will tick all the boxes for you.

So once you’ve landed your first ‘date’ with the desired employer, aka job interview, first impressions are too important to disregard. You dress to impress, revise your CV, and prepare answers to every question under the sun. Both parties want to impress, without coming across as too keen. But at the end of the day, you want this job, you wouldn’t have applied otherwise. And the employer wants the best they can get (which is you, obviously). After all, as Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s, said: “You’re only as good as the people you hire.” So it’s potentially a win-win situation, as long as you both get what you want.

Job satisfaction has always come top of surveys questioning motivation at work. Until now. It seems that such an insecure and volatile economy is making us tighten our belts (as if they weren’t tight enough already). Living costs are continuing to rise, a unanimous, desperate ‘Yes please’ is given in response to money. The prospect of a double-dip recession has hit us while we’re down, just as we were getting our hopes up.

With this in mind, it’s no surprise when perusing the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s (CIPD) recent quarterly Employee Outlook survey. The review showed that increased salary and benefit packages have overtaken job satisfaction as the number one reason why employees are looking to change jobs.

Out of 2,000 questioned employees, 54% rated higher salary and benefits as their top reason for wanting to change jobs, while 42% said that job satisfaction drove their career move choices. This is a sharp reversal compared to last year’s 61% voting job satisfaction over 48% monetary reasons to look for alternative employment. A shocking revelation from the survey showed that almost a fifth (18%) of employees completely run out of money before they’re paid, either always or most of the time. So the financial pressure is on, it seems.

But are finances what get us out of bed in the morning? We recall how the carrot beat the stick regarding the donkey’s motivation. But what does the carrot mean to you?

Is it salary, benefits, a fancy company car? For some people, especially those who are struggling financially at the moment, the answer would be a giant nod of the head. But what about the 42% who voted job satisfaction as their motivation to work hard?

For this group, an employer’s treatment of its workers and management skills really makes a difference. It’s the little things that contribute to their career happiness. A friend you can confide in, belief in your product, respect for your manager; the buzz of adrenaline when you know you’ve done a good job.

Company culture has always been a vital aspect of work life. Your co-workers are with you for a significant portion of the day, so team dynamics are important. Henry Ford of Ford Motor Company had the right thinking: “Our employees are like extended members of our family.” The company should run like a well-oiled machine at all levels, complementing and developing each other’s roles and responsibilities. Confidence and trust glue the team together and make everyday errands pass by effortlessly.

There’s no doubt about it, your happiness at a company is largely directed by what you do for at least 40 hours a week. And let’s face it – your working life is a long one, so it’s best to do something you enjoy. It’s been proven time after time that you’re more likely to work harder if you’re passionate about your job. Happy people are more energetic, proactive, creative and optimistic, and quicker to learn. In which case it’s in your employer’s interest to make you happy.

This is largely down to how you’re managed. Management and guidance at work largely affect your work ethic and the company’s dynamics. “Management is nothing more than motivating other people,” stated Lee Iacocca, Chairman for Chrysler Motors. Management is a crucial role to play, because your workforce implicitly relies on your motivation to work. Donald Trump once said, “Good people = good management and good management = good people.”

Money can only promise a limited amount of will-power from an individual; pride in their work will give them the edge and a hunger for success. Belief in your product, trust, loyalty and commitment to the employer are also invaluable attributes for an employee to embody, and are recognised by good employers. As Mary Kay Ash, Head of Mary Kay cosmetics, stated: “People are definitely a company’s greatest asset. A company is only as good as the people it keeps.”

So perhaps, most of all, we just need to feel loved. Being treated well, as in a committed relationship, ensures that we’re in it for the long haul.

In July, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published a report on what makes Brits happy. Not money, as it turns out. Health, family and friends topped the list when around 34,000 people were asked “What is wellbeing?” and “What in life matters to you?”

The survey was commissioned by David Cameron to help him develop future policies, but ironically critics have since complained that the £2 million to conduct the survey was a waste of money as the results are quite obvious. We’re never happy, are we?

But at the end of the day, as much as money is a necessity to live, happiness in yourself and at work increases quality of life, and helps boost your company at the same time. A happy workforce is a productive workforce after all.

From an employer, you want to be pushed to your full potential, appreciated for your effort, made responsible for important decisions, making you believe in your product and employer.

Working life is most enjoyable if you’re lucky enough to be in the position of not worrying about money. To have an enthralling occupation puts a spring in your step.

And as much as looking for a new job can be tiresome and sometimes feels like a dead end, just remember, it’s all in aid of finding ‘The One’, your soulmate that offers the whole package: an invigorating role with great prospects. And if the money’s good at the same time, all the better. So make it a good one with good people.

Could your next move be an international one? Relocating with your company to another country can bring adventure and new experiences, as well as a boost to your career. Pf tells some success stories.

This year’s depressing summer has probably inspired many of us to think of moving abroad.The beauty of working in a global industry is that, for many people, an international transfer is a very real possibility. Pf spoke to several people who have successfully relocated with their company, either long-term or temporarily, to find out what motivated them and what challenges they have had to overcome in settling in another country.

Sunshine and palm trees

Tim Kneen joined Merck Pharmaceuticals (now Merck Serono) as a medical representative working in London.Now, 15 years on, he is Managing Director of the Middle East business, enjoying a new life in the Dubai sunshine.

“I was keen to make the next step to managing director and to do this in a new country was an exciting opportunity,” said Tim Kneen, who was offered the role of Managing Director in the Middle East whilst working as Head of Marketing in the UK.“My wife had a list of requests, definitely sunshine and palm trees would be preferred but we had no idea where we would end up. As it turned out, the country definitely has sunshine.”

Up to this point,Tim had progressed through business manager and product manager roles and taken advantage of the opportunity to study an MBA, but nothing had quite prepared him for the challenge of settling into a whole new culture.

He described the feeling of leaving the UK behind:“You fly into a new country – you know nobody and have no personal obligations to anything. So you spend time creating a new life – relearning how to do a lot of things you have taken for granted. I miss old colleagues, but I do not miss those flat grey skies of London.”

Once he had grown accustomed to the customs of working in a Muslim country and the different working relationships,Tim found that the emphasis on partnership made a refreshing change to the UK.

“There is less short-term thinking, more long-term trusting relationships developed,” he explained,“but the most refreshing difference is that there is a real partnership between the healthcare profession and the industry in the Middle East. Long may this continue.” Looking to the future, Tim is optimistic about where his career will take him next:“The challenges I have faced in the Middle East have been so many and so very varied.The experiences will be of great help in my future career. Learning more about this fascinating part of the world and changing preconceived ideas has already been of great benefit.”

A new job, a new country and a new baby

Relocating to another country is hard enough, let alone with a new baby on the way. Noel Hanley and his wife were up to the challenge, however, and are glad they made the move to Hannover.

Noel Hanley was working as a senior product manager for Solvay when he was suggested for the role of Global Product Director, Cardiology in Hannover, Germany. Despite being eager for a new challenge, the decision to transfer was not a straightforward one: “The thought of moving to a new country and becoming parents within the space of a few months was daunting, but also exciting.The opportunity was too good to miss and both my wife and I had 100% commitment to the move. I believe that has been critical to us settling in as quickly as we did.”

As with all new jobs there were new processes and new objectives to get used to, as well as the additional challenges of settling in a different country and working on a site that is mainly German speaking. However, with the support of a ‘relocation assistant’, Noel and his family were able to settle legal and tax issues and set up new bank accounts.

“Our biggest personal challenge was, of course, the birth of our daughter, three months after we moved to Germany,” said Noel. “Fortunately, one of the maternity hospitals in Hannover is used by the British Armed Forces, so almost everyone there spoke good English.”

Reflecting on his decision to relocate to Germany, Noel has no regrets in terms of his career: “I have been involved in projects, activities and meetings that have given me exposure at the highest level of the company. One of the most interesting parts of the job is integrating with national organisations, understanding their different issues, challenges and successes and working together towards a common corporate goal.”

Noel confessed that, although their new personal life is not dramatically different, there are certain things that are harder to come by: “I do admit to missing curry and Guinness. However, the experience of living in a different country, plus working in the global offices of Solvay, has more than exceeded our expectations.”

The bigger picture

For Roche’s Steve Turley, experience in an international role provided a new global perspective and helped pave the way to a senior sales and marketing role back in the UK.

“I gained a really important breadth of experience and understanding of the global pharmaceutical arena,” explained Steve, who spent four years as an international business leader in Roche’s headquarters in Basel, Switzerland and is now Business Unit Director in the UK.“It all helps to open your eyes and mind to the bigger picture.”
While working for Roche as a group product manager, Steve had commented to a senior global manager that he would be interested in a global role.Three months later he got a phone call and within a week had been interviewed and offered a job.

“I was in two minds about pursuing a global role,” said Steve.“I enjoyed my job,my wife had a job and we had a six month old baby – everything was going well and moving abroad would be an upheaval. But I knew that it would be good for my career so when the opportunity came up, I went for it.”
Steve’s responsibility in Basel was within Roche’s global strategic marketing group, working with a range of departments to develop the marketing strategy for a new brand.

“It was not a massive culture shock,” said Steve.“The biggest challenges are for your family.Work consumed my time but my wife had a small child and knew no one.
It took a good three months to settle in but we ended up staying for nearly four very happy years.”

Now back in the UK, Steve is able to draw on his global experiences: “My main priority is the UK performance, but understanding the global agenda makes it easier to try to find the common ground when working with global colleagues. I have the understanding to challenge decisions at times and the relationships to help overcome certain issues.”
Instead of carrying bacon and sausages from the UK to Basel, Steve now returns from business trips there with a briefcase of his children’s favourite brand of Swiss noodles.

An American adventure

For Sarah Mewton, a secondment in Chicago opened the way to a whole new set of challenges and adventures, from adapting to a new market to running the Indianapolis half-marathon.

Since joining Abbott six and a half years ago, Sarah Mewton has worked in a number of roles, which offered a range of experiences, the most exciting of which was a seven-month secondment as a global marketing manager in the US.

“My own growth plan highlighted a desire to work overseas in a new environment,” Sarah explained. “My line manager was then able to help me find and pursue the relevant opportunity. Following a successful assessment and an interview with the head of Abbott’s international nutrition division, I was offered a secondment with the international marketing team in Chicago.”

Sarah’s move to Chicago was managed smoothly by a relocation team, and she found technologies such as skype and instant messenger were essential in keeping in touch with people in the UK.

“Staying connected with my family, fiancé and friends was a lot easier than I anticipated. However, I did miss smaller cars, smaller food portions, and hills. Also, in my first week in the US I found out that walking to the nearest supermarket was not for the faint-hearted, as there were no pathways!”

Her time in the US provided Sarah with the opportunity to learn about international markets, but also the chance to travel in her spare time and pursue different adventures, such as skiing in Salt Lake City and running the Indianapolis half-marathon. Sarah’s time in the US also provided a boost to her UK career:“The skills and experience I developed during my secondment meant that I was offered a new role within Abbott’s UK nutrition marketing team.The other benefit for me is that I have greatly extended my internal network at Abbott and I now have a wealth of contacts who can provide me with advice and insight on different areas of the business.”
Now back in the UK, Sarah is enjoying her new role and taking time to plan her wedding.

Parlez vous Français?

David Jones had worked as a second line manager with AstraZeneca for two years, and had several years’ previous experience in a range of roles in primary care, hospital management, training and marketing, when it was agreed that a short-term secondment as a brand lead would provide good additional marketing experience.

“The Belgium marketing company needed someone to put together a marketing plan for 2007 and work up a longer-term strategic plan while a permanent candidate was recruited,” said David.“The experience of working in a different culture was a big attraction.”

Because the role was short-term David was able to commute from Harrogate to his Brussels apartment every Monday morning and spend weekends with his family. “The main challenge was maintaining my energy levels after a 4.30am start each Monday. It was quite challenging leading almost two separate lives – working in Brussels during the week and then returning to my family on Friday evening. It was quite surreal at times.”

However, this was not the only challenge to overcome.David had to prove his worth to Belgian colleagues despite his limited marketing experience, and limited French. “While English is the prime language of AstraZeneca, all the HR and marketing literature in Belgium is in French,” he explained.“My French is now pretty good – a definite breakthrough was an area management business meeting, where I successfully understood and even answered questions in French!”

David found that other cultural differences made a pleasant change, such as getting the tram to work rather than driving, the heavy emphasis on work/life balance and having his own office. Since returning to the UK, David has been made brand leader of AstraZeneca’s product Crestor.

“Working in Belgium really made me step away from UK models of healthcare and think about how things could be executed differently in the UK.The training and development I received during my secondment undoubtedly helped fast track me to my current role.”

Top tips

• Think very carefully before accepting a job that involves relocating, especially if you are married and/or have a family. How will the move affect your family and your relationships with each other?
• Find out as much as you can about the country you are moving to before you go, that way you will hopefully avoid any surprises once you get there.
• Find out if your employer helps with where you will live, transport etc? What about schooling and healthcare?
• Consider any tax/legal issues, any documents/ visas you will need and bank accounts etc. How much help will you have from your employer with these things? Does your company use relocation agents?
• Once you’re there, make an effort to build a new social network with colleagues etc, as well as keeping in touch with old friends.This will help you to maintain a sense of identity, especially if you have relocated to a very different culture.

It’s time to sit back and take a good look at your professional life. Are you where you wanted to be at this stage in your career? If not, how can you get there? Could it be time to think about moving up to the next level, or even taking a step back? STAR Medical’s Lucy Randle offers some advice.

The modern attitude that we ‘work to live’ gives the impression that work shouldn’t be enjoyable, and many people are in jobs that do not allow them to fulfil their potential or are not in the area where they would like to be. There are various reasons for this: we fall into a routine, we get lazy, or we are so busy in our jobs that we don’t have time to consider whether we are happy or not.
Your job may have met all your needs five years ago, but is that still the case now? Remember, success without fulfilment is failure. If you disagree with more than a couple of these statements, you may be ready for a change:
• My job utilises most of my skills and experience.
• I feel valued at work.
• I am satisfied with the level of responsibility I have at work.
• I feel comfortable and happy working with most of my colleagues and manager(s).
• I do not have very much workrelated stress and my job doesn’t interfere with my family life.
• I do not feel bored or burned out at work very often.
• I am happy with my salary.
• I agree with company policies and am satisfied that what I do is legal and ethical.

Review your work time

Ask yourself which parts of your job you enjoy most and look at what proportion of your time you spend doing them. It might be worth making a list of the task, time spent on it and grading how much you enjoy it, for example: Administration, 6 hours a week, grade 4.
Presentations, 2 hours a week, grade 9.
Make sure that you consider everything you do at work and not just what’s on your job description – for example, if you have been spending a lot of time helping a new colleague or answering questions about your IT system, factor that in too. Similarly, you can include items that you don’t do but wish you did, for example, contributing to the design of marketing campaigns.

If you’re not already spending the majority of your time doing what you find most rewarding, think about what type of role would incorporate more of what you want. It might help to look at the career paths of the colleagues or friends you most envy and admire. Consider what it is about their career you find most interesting and the qualities that have made them successful in it.

Aim high

Think about where you want to be in one, three, five and ten years time. Don’t suppress your true ambitions because you’re scared they’re unrealistic. Admit to yourself what they are and then research the chances of succeeding in them. Be prepared to look into roles you hadn’t even known existed before!
As well as thinking about your time at work, consider your time outside of work – how much time are you willing to commit to your job, would you be happy to relocate, how much do you need to earn to live the way and do the things you wish to do?
If you know someone who is doing the job of your dreams, talk to them about how they went about it and try to get a ‘warts and all’ description of what it really involves. A good recruitment consultant is likely to be able to advise you on the pros and cons of the role you are interested in, as the chances are they will have helped someone into or out of it!

Consider internal opportunities

If you have concluded that you are not satisfied with your job, bear in mind the saying “don’t throw the baby out with the bath water!”Your current employer may have more to offer you, if you let them know what you want!
Talk to your manager about your ambitions and what you want to achieve.They may be able to help you to achieve your goals. Ask them about the possibility of promotion or secondment.
Sometimes people’s jobs incorporate many rewarding factors but in too small a quantity. If this is the case it may be worth taking a carefully compiled proposal to your manager explaining the benefits of reallocating your time (in favour of what you most enjoy). If it is advantageous to your manager and organisation, this may be possible. If there are new products in the pipeline or signs of expansion, there may be fresh opportunities on the horizon.

Seek Advice

Talking to friends and researching online may be enough to help you to come to a decision about your career but if it isn’t, further assistance is available.
A career coach will take a forward-thinking, goal-orientated approach to understanding your needs and creating a career action plan.They can address issues such as time management, advancing your profile at work, and confidence in the workplace.A good career coach will facilitate your decisions about which direction to go in and have a positive, re-energising effect on both your work and personal life.

Amongst other things, psychometric tools such as personality profiling analyse your characteristics and preferences at work, your strengths and weaknesses, communication and selling style. Sometimes our sense of dissatisfaction is somewhat amorphous: personality profiling can help you to improve your selfawareness, pinpointing what you enjoy and find most rewarding, thus giving you some direction about what to look for.

Be proactive

Of course, deciding what you are aiming for is only the beginning of the journey to attaining it!
Thorough research needs to be conducted into what experience and skills are required to do the job of your dreams. Look at the profiles of the type of company you would like to work for, find out what they want from their employees. If further qualifications are required you must be certain that you can put the time and money behind obtaining them. Think about what has contributed to the success you have already had and how you can develop and improve this to suit the demands of your desired career.
A conscientious review of your current job and aspirations will give you the courage of your convictions when seeking a change. Don’t be afraid to ask for the support of your manager, or a professional such as a career coach or recruitment consultant in moving towards your goals.

 

The STAR Medical team is ready and willing to receive your call and happy to offer guidance on any of the issues raised in this article. Up-to-the-minute vacancies can be found at www.starmedical.co.uk.

Starting a new job is intimidating enough, without the knowledge that you have three or six months to prove yourself worthy of the position. June Frame from medicalsalescv.com explains why she feels a probationary period doesn’t have to cause feelings of insecurity, but can be a positive opportunity to achieve early success.

The most important thing to remember when on probation is that your new company wants you to do well. Right from the start it will be supportive in helping you to adapt to your new role and to succeed in it. During these early days, your progress will be reviewed and any additional support that you need identified and provided for you. Without a probationary time, there would be a greater risk of new employees struggling or perhaps failing altogether, especially if they are inexperienced or new to the industry.
The initial training course (ITC) is an important part of your probationary period. Feedback on your performance while on the course, e.g. exam scores, will be shared with both you and your manager. Once you have completed your ITC, your progress continues to be monitored and reviewed in the field.

 

Setting objectives

How you are reviewed during your first months will depend on individual company methods, but generally you can expect an initial meeting with your manager, where:

• the probationary process will be explained to you, how long it will last and the criteria for success
• you will discuss any feedback from the ITC, and if any training or knowledge gaps have been identified, your manager will have recommendations how these might be met
• some objectives will be set for you to work on in your early days out in the field.They will be reviewed regularly, usually in one-to-one meetings with your manager and often involving a field coach.

From the outset, any objectives set at the start of your probation should be clear and agreed between you and your line manager.They will be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-based) and either quantitative, which are easily measured, or qualitative, which focus more on key behaviours and capabilities.

“I see the probation period as an opportunity to prove myself, to the company,my manager and peers. Achieving real success in the first three to six months is not only immensely satisfying from a personal perspective,but it goes a long way to becoming a top performer for the company”

Quantitative objectives are: sales against target, call rates on customers, number of meetings held, delegates at meetings, electronic recording of calls etc. There may be more, including achieving required scores in company core skills requirements, such as selling or product knowledge. Qualitative objectives focus more on the key competencies and behaviours expected by the company, such as team working and communication, attitude and business skills.

Reviewing performance

A typical review with a manager or field coach would involve:

• a review of current performance against objectives – acknowledging successes
• an opportunity to raise any concerns you might have
• identification of any areas where further support (training, mentoring, additional field coaching etc) might be beneficial
• documentation of the content of the meeting, as well as action points and objectives for the next review.

As with appraisals, there should be no surprises during these reviews and a good review will serve to motivate a new employee. It is important, therefore, to maintain ongoing and open communication with your manager, who, having chosen you for the role in the first place, wants you to do well. Critical to the success of a probationer is how they are managed. High achievers agree that the best managers are supportive, fair, consistent, motivational, and even inspirational.

At the end of the probationary period, when your manager is satisfied that all the criteria has been met, written notification from the HR department will confirm that you are now a permanent member of the team.

Voicing concerns

Generally, a probationary period should be a positive and motivational experience for all parties involved. However, there are occasions when the manager will have concerns about certain behaviours that are having a negative impact on performance, such as timekeeping or attendance, for example. If this happens, it would be discussed initially with the new employee to establish if there are any underlying factors which can be dealt with at a local level. If, despite all efforts in terms of support, the performance required has not been achieved by the end of the original timeline, the manager may decide not to confirm the post. It will then be necessary to determine whether, with additional support and training, the new employee can meet the required standard. If that is the case, the probationary period can be extended. In extreme cases, if it is clear that the individual is unsuited to the role, the line manager may then have to discuss termination of the appointment. This action is a last resort because many managers feel that the failure of an individual to complete a probationary period successfully represents a failure on their part too.

Getting the best start

Duncan, a highly successful healthcare representative in the North of England, is enthusiastic about what can be achieved in these early days: “I see it as an opportunity to prove myself, to the company, my manager and peers. It is beneficial in providing a focus on what is expected of me within a specific time, which translates to a sense of urgency in terms of getting to grips with the role and bringing in business quickly. Achieving real success in the first three to six months is not only immensely satisfying from a personal perspective, but it goes a long way to becoming a top performer for the company”.
To ensure a sucessful probationary period, use it as a platform to launch a successful career with your new company. Make the most of all the resources that are available to you and if you start to have concerns at any point – voice them straight away. Remember that you are part of a team and that for the team to be successful, you must be too.

 

Medicalsalescv.com specialises in working with individuals to secure their ideal job within the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. From writing compelling and concise CVs and cover letters through to personal coaching for interview, we offer solutions for candidates which greatly increase their chances of succeeding in the application and selection process.

Love them or loathe them, assessment centres are here to stay.You may never actually look forward to attending an assessment centre,but with Pf’s comprehensive guide, at least you’ll be prepared for whatever the day brings.

When changing company or first becoming a medical rep, it is a racing certainty that you will be required to go through an assessment centre.These extended interviews usually encompass several activities and can last for anything from a few hours to a couple of days. But what tasks are you likely to face, how can you prepare and what should you do on the day to maximise your chances of success?

Tasks

You will be expected to participate in a number of activities designed to allow you to demonstrate different skills.Typically, these will include an interview, a teamwork exercise, a selling exercise, aptitude tests, some written work, some form of business analysis and a presentation. Some of these may be combined, for example, the written exercise and business analysis, and some may not be used at all.

The interview will normally be competency based, you will be asked to give examples of when you have demonstrated particular skills such as self-motivation, problem solving or creative thinking.Try to think of the different kinds of skills you will need for the role before the day and prepare some answers so that you don’t have to fumble around for examples while under pressure.

The teamwork exercise is normally quite straightforward. Your team will be given a task to complete or a problem to solve. Completing the assignment is not as important as you might think; the exercise will be designed to assess how well you can work with others, rather than your problem solving skills. Make sure you contribute fully to the team’s efforts but don’t dominate the proceedings. Let others have their say and encourage them to contribute if they are taking a back seat.You will get credit for showing leadership skills.
All your tasks are important but none more so than demonstrating your selling skills. you will be expected to do will vary from company to company. On one occasion I was asked to sell fictional drugs to actors playing doctors, on another I had to sell any object in the room to the person interviewing me.Whatever you are asked to do, the principles are the same – sell in a structured manner, ask questions, listen for answers and show that you have heard what they are saying. Finally, and crucially, ask for the business! It’s amazing how many candidates forget to do this, so if you close the sale it will help you to stand out.

Aptitude tests are difficult to prepare for, but as long as your literacy and numeracy skills are reasonable you shouldn’t have any problems. Often a written exercise and some form of business analysis will adequately show how good your maths and English are and will also allow you to demonstrate your analytical and critical thinking, so aptitude tests seem to be less common than they once were.You might be given a set of sales figures and be asked to say where you would focus your efforts to maximise sales on a territory, or you may be asked to write a plan for your first six months on territory.There will be a time limit but you will have time to think. Plan what you will write, don’t just start in a panic and keep going until you have finished. If you do this, your work will lack structure and coherence and you may miss something important.

Finally, and this is the activity which seems to cause more anxiety than any other, you will probably need to do a presentation. are many subjects you may be expected to present on, it might be the business analysis you have done that day or you may be asked to talk about your hobbies for fifteen minutes.Whatever the subject, your presentation skills are as important as the content. Stand up straight, speak confidently and audibly, don’t fidget and make sure your audience knows where things are going. Remember – say what you are going to say, say it, then say it again. Don’t forget to invite questions and don’t forget to be enthusiastic! It is impossible to enjoy a presentation delivered by somebody who doesn’t care about their subject (see Pf issue 87 for more presenting tips).

Preparation

Thorough preparation is essential but very difficult.You will not know what you will have to do until the day, but there are some basic things you can do to be ready. I have already suggested that you prepare some interview answers for the day, why not prepare some questions as well? You should get a chance to ask about the company you are attempting to join and intelligent questions will show that you are interested.
Don’t wait until the assessment centre to have all your questions answered, do some research beforehand. Which products will you be selling? Are there any new products on the way? What are the company’s strengths? A lot of information can be found on the internet but not all of it.Try to find a rep that works for the company you are trying to join and ask them for some information.They will generally be happy to tell you what you want to know, and you will be able to find out more about what it would be like to work for that company.
If you are not an experienced rep it is also worth practicing your selling technique, either in a mirror or with a friend, and do the same with your presentation skills.
Other than this there is not too much you can do to prepare. Be ready to think on your feet, this is an important aspect of being a medical sales rep anyway!

Improving your chances

If you get to the assessment centre stage you already have a great chance. It means your CV or your first interview showed you have potential. However, even the most brilliant candidate can have an off-day, so don’t get complacent. If you put the effort in you are more likely to get results. If you are keen and interested on the day this will show.
Don’t worry about the other candidates.They may not be competing for your job and even if they are you can only do your best. If they are showing off about how well things are going they are probably nervous and are trying to convince themselves.
Remember you are not always being assessed, but at the same time you are always being assessed! How you behave between activities is important. You may not get the job by what you say and do between tasks but you might lose it if you act like an idiot. Maintain your professionalism throughout the whole assessment.This is particularly good advice if there is an overnight stay and a bar involved.
My final piece of advice is not to worry about your assessment centre. Stay calm and you’ll be fine. If you panic you will not perform well. I know it is easier to say than do, especially if you really want the job, but breathe deeply and remind yourself that there is nothing to worry about.You are capable of handling everything that is thrown at you.

Good luck!

As competition for jobs increases, your response to those tricky interview questions could make the difference between a job offer and a rejection. Medicalsalescv.com’s June Frame offers some advice on how to impress your potential employer.

It is much tougher to get a job in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors today. Recruitment is a major investment for any organisation – successful employees are naturally pivotal to the success of any company. But for the candidate, being interviewed can be stressful and feel more like being on trial, facing a barrage of difficult and tricky questions and trying not to be ‘caught out’ on the answers.
As competition for the best jobs increases, employers are comparing more and more applicants for each role and asking more tough questions. Those candidates who do well at interview generally have the distinction of having prepared thoroughly beforehand. They know that the day is not won purely on skills and merits alone, but on how effectively these are communicated to their potential employer, and can demonstrate that they are ‘best fit’ for the job as well as someone who will contribute to the company.

 

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Case study 1
Sarah, an acute specialist from London, feels that her response to this question let her down in previous interviews – “I had valid reasons for wanting to move but I didn’t demonstrate enough enthusiasm for the company I was applying to. Once I researched more into the company, I was able to show the interviewer I wanted to work for them, rather than just get away from my current job. This made all the difference to how I answered his questions and let me ask some of my own that reinforced my keenness to be part of that organisation.”

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In the course of an interview you may be asked a lot of questions that are searching, probe into your work history, skill and experience, and some that will test your confidence and quick thinking.
They are designed so that your potential employer can gather information to make decisions in key areas such as:
• Can you do this job? – Is there a match in your skills, experience and achievements?
• How will you fit in with the existing team/company? Being able to do the job is one thing, fitting in and making a positive contribution another.
• Will you be motivated to go that extra mile in your work?
• Will you be easy or challenging to work with and manage?
Recognising what the interviewer is looking for is the key. Employers are looking for someone not just to do a job, but to fit in and make a contribution. They are also on the lookout for talent for growth and development and therefore need to identify certain traits, competencies and capabilities which straightforward questioning might not reveal.

What you say and how you say it

The interviewer is going to throw in some tricky questions that may catch the candidate off guard (they are supposed to!) and it’s important to understand it’s not just your answer that matters, its how you answer. Questions looking at reasons for wanting to leave your current job, how you deal with disappointments etc are all designed to see if you are made of the right stuff.
The main thing is to present every answer in a positive way: every ‘negative’ experience has a spin-off that can be used to your advantage; interviewers really want to see a positive ‘can do’ attitude, so it pays to demonstrate that you have learned lessons from the past and that makes you more effective now.

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Case study 2
Vicky from the Midlands repeatedly got this one wrong: “I was very keen to get into marketing once I had some sales experience in a pharmaceutical company, but managed to give the interviewers the impression I had no interest in sales whatsoever and wanted promotion almost immediately! Making a career plan showing a clear progression from sales to marketing helped me not only to answer that question better, but to put it into action to attain my goal.”

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Tougher questions and how to handle them

“Why did you leave your last job/are you leaving your current job?”
This is a common question, so it is important to have an acceptable reason for every career move, such as:
• You were unable to grow professionally in that position. There was no possibility of advancement.
• You had taken the role as a means to advance, say for a promotion, a chance to take on new responsibilities, e.g. first line management; now you have a successful track record, it’s time to make a move to a company where you plan to develop your career over the next few years. (Do have relevant reasons for choosing the particular company you are applying to?)
Avoid at all costs any negative comments about your boss or teammates. This starts alarm bells ringing in the interviewer’s mind: they want a team player and someone who will not be a nightmare to manage!

“How do you deal with missing targets/disappointments?”
A trained interviewer will ask about disappointments: they are different from failures and give the interviewee an opportunity to shine. It gives you the chance to show how you benefited from a negative experience, turning it into a learning experience – it’s a good idea to sum up your answer with an analytical response, looking at what happened, how it happened, what you have learned and would do differently next time.

“What weaknesses do you have?”
What you need for this one is a weakness that can actually benefit the company, demonstrating the qualities of an ideal candidate. Therefore, the weakness you mention should not be in one of the areas you need to demonstrate strength to succeed in the available job. An example answer would be a tendency to spend too many hours at work, jumping in to help team mates with projects, trying to attain perfection etc.

“Where do you see yourself in five/ten years?”
Here, the interviewer wants to know that your longer-term goals are compatible with his or her company goals or interests; the most senior person interviewing is also looking for talent to join the organisation. You may be fiercely ambitious but it’s important to let them know that you are keen to prove yourself in the job you are applying for, contributing to the company by focusing skills and energies into areas that are key to success.
It’s a good question to ask yourself too; having a clear career path in mind will help you to handle this question well. Allowing around two years for each job before the next promotion will clarify in your mind where you want to be within that time scale.

“Why should I give you the job?”
This question needs a succinct answer. Briefly summarise the key responsibilities of the job, highlighting your experience and skills to match them, and finish your answer with a couple of key personal attributes, e.g. being a good team player, a great problem solver etc.
There are many tough and tricky questions, but by understanding the purpose of those questions and preparing to present your skills and experience in the most compelling light (and win over the interviewer while still being truthful) you are on your way to turning a job interview into a job offer!

 

www.medicalsalescv.com specialises in working with individuals to secure their ideal job within the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. From writing compelling and concise CVs and cover letters through to personal coaching for interview, we offer solutions for candidates which greatly increase their chances of succeeding in the application and selection process.

If you started the new year or returned from your summer holiday feeling restless in your current role and determined to secure a better job, you’re certainly not the only one. June Frame of medicalsalescv.com explains how to ensure you stand out against other applicants.

So it’s a new year, and you are ready for a new job. Your updated and highly polished CV is ready to send off to a potential employer, but competition for good jobs is fiercer now than ever before and your application will be just one of many landing on the recruiter’s desk.
So how do you make a great first impression on your potential employer and convince them to read your CV and want to meet you? Even the most compelling and polished CV is still a fairly impersonal document – a generalised checklist of your achievements, skills and experience.
To clear that first hurdle and increase your chances of being selected for interview you will need a good, distinctive cover letter. One that grabs the reader’s attention and arouses his or her interest to want to know more about you.

Why write a cover letter?

To get yourself noticed and secure an interview. Consider the volume of CVs sent out everyday by recruitment agencies. A customised cover letter, tailored specifically to the role you are applying for, will help you to stand out from the crowd. It makes you real to your potential employer by revealing the person behind the CV. It is also a chance to show your writing skills. The better crafted the letter – the more memorable the CV the more likely you are to get a positive response!
In other words, a cover letter is an advertisement for your CV. Through your letter you are trying to establish an immediate connection with the reader, to ‘sell’ this person the idea that they want to meet you and ensure that your CV is read thoroughly. A well-crafted cover letter allows you to make your mark as a person and helps shape the hiring process to meet your needs and objectives. So even if you have just been asked to email your CV, don’t forget a covering letter – it’s not an optional extra.

“Through your letter you are trying to establish an immediate connection with the reader, to ‘sell’ this person the idea that they want to meet you and ensure that your CV is read thoroughly. A well-crafted cover letter allows you to make your mark as a person and helps shape the hiring process to meet your needs and objectives”

How should it look?

Be brief, straightforward and concise. Three or four paragraphs should be enough to convey your motivation, experience and personality. The job of the letter is not to replace your CV, but to summarise your suitability for the role by matching your skills and experience to what the recruiter is looking for. Edit your letter so that it fits on one page. This will keep you focused on the key points (and shows respect for the reader’s time).

A general outline

First paragraph – State clearly why you are writing and mention the specific role you are applying for.
Second paragraph – Introduce your experience and skills and link them as closely as possible to the role.
Third paragraph – Mention why this role/company is (genuinely) of interest to you, if possible include any personal recommendations or articles etc that have led you to apply to them specifically.
Fourth paragraph – Sign off with confidence and a call to action. A letter (unlike a CV) allows you to ask for a response such as a follow-up phone call or interview.
Be upbeat, this is not rude, (if done politely) and employers expect it. After all, the goal of the letter is to get your CV looked at and secure an interview.

The golden rules

For your cover letter to open doors it helps to keep the following rules in mind.

• When highlighting key skills and experience, focus on the needs of the employer – your cover letter should demonstrate that you will contribute to the company and provide solutions – but again, keep it brief! The biggest challenge will be to keep your letter short and focused.
• Display some knowledge of the hiring company – the internet is a great source of information, so do some homework on the company, its ethos, challenges, market place, products etc. Evidence of research into a company is not as common as it should be, but it will impress the recruiter.
• Any cover letter should be absolutely error free, remember this is where first impressions are made! No spelling mistakes, grammatical errors or poor layout. If sending by email, it’s best to include the letter as an attachment as you would with a CV. If you have to write your letter as an email, make sure that all the key bullet points are in the first screen so that the reader doesn’t have to scroll down.
• If sending a hard copy, use a laser printer and good quality paper.
• Always send your letter to a named individual, no ‘Dear Sir or Madam’. If this is not clear on the job advertisement, the HR department at the company you are applying to will be able to give it to you. It makes the letter more personal and helps if you want to make an enquiry when following up on the application process.

And some mistakes to avoid…

• Highlight your skills, but be factual, avoid sounding arrogant. Avoid statements such as “I am the ideal candidate”, in favour of something like: “I believe that my skills and experience make me a strong candidate”.
• Don’t highlight career goals – this is a time to display that your experience and skills match the role you are applying for. You are presenting yourself as a solution to the recruiter’s problem (in this case, a vacancy), so they may not be impressed by your career aspirations at that point.
• Never EVER mention salary. Employers sometimes use salary histories to screen out candidates who are too expensive or not experienced enough to have reached certain pay scales.
• Don’t introduce your reasons for leaving your last job – even if you feel you were treated unfairly, use your letter to shine not whine! Questions about employment history may well arise at interview and that’s the appropriate time to deal with them.
• Similarly, don’t point out any weaknesses in your experience. You need to give the employer a reason to interview you, not screen you out, so don’t be self-effacing.

And finally…

A good cover letter, even an outstanding one, will not compensate for a poor CV.
Remember that the job of the letter is to arouse the recruiter’s interest to read your CV, so if it lets you down, and doesn’t demonstrate that you are a match for the role, you will still be unsuccessful. The combination of a concise and compelling CV, coupled with a well-written cover letter, will give you the greatest edge over the competition.

 

medicalsalescv.com specialises in working with individuals to secure their ideal job within the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. From writing compelling and concise CVs and cover letters through to personal coaching for interview, we offer solutions for candidates which greatly increase their chances of succeeding in the application and selection process.

It’s a recurring nightmare that shocks you awake sweating – the inevitable certainty that, years from now, those sexed-up highlights you sneaked into your CV will come back to haunt you. Peter Fryer explains why there’s no such thing as a white lie when it comes to CVs.

It is common wisdom that what goes around, comes around. Which can make lying on your CV one of the scariest experiences of your whole life – what if it actually works?
What if, like the man who applied for a position out East as an English language expert, you actually get the job, complete with impressed “oohs” and “aahs” at your amazing capabilities? Wonderful isn’t it, that good fortune smiles on you? So easy to forget – and life goes on.
The years pass. You rise up through the ranks – head of section, head of department, all the way up to the very highest position. And now, as a special accolade – and with famous Oriental courtesy – your employer celebrates your appointment to top office by inviting you to lead a group of respected colleagues back to the UK to visit your old alma mater, say, the University of Kent at Canterbury.
All that honour and privilege; a very public salute to your brilliant career. You’ll have to show them the sights, take them to your old drinking-holes. Except that you’ve never been to Canterbury ever – that was just a little tweak to make your CV sparkle.

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An Employer’s Perspective on your CV
Things to think of when you write it:

• I don’t know who you are.
• I don’t know your background.
• I don’t know if you can be trusted.
• I don’t know who you’ve worked for.
• I don’t know your performance record.
• I don’t know what your capabilities are.
• I don’t know your professional reputation.

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Found out!

The ultimate horror? Count on it, it WILL happen. If not now, then at some time in the future. It’s become an unfortunate fact of life; so many people lie to get ahead that running a background check is already routine.
OK, so there’s the short-term gain of actually landing the job. But it’s a long way to fall after forty years of success – with a family, friends, a house and brand-new Toyota Prius to lose.
Of course that lie could be a mistake, a little over-claim so that maybe something looks like more than it should. Heaven knows, there are mistakes enough in most CVs – so many, in fact, it’s a wonder any are accepted.
Your name, for instance, is that a lie or a spelling mistake? Don’t laugh, so many people forget to check their own information, getting their own name wrong just happens.

 

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Items to support your CV:

Cover letter
Like the CV itself, it needs to be short, sharp and businesslike. One page only, three short paragraphs maximum – and loaded with keywords to turn your recruiter on. Why? Because although they’re essential, cover letters get even less attention than CVs. They’re also scanned rather that read, the only way to get through thousands of them quickly. Read the job spec carefully and use keywords to make you look like an asset.
References
So many people misrepresent themselves, you need reliable proof that you’ve worked where you say you have, done what you say you’ve done, and your ex-boss thinks you’re a good bet. Like the rest of your package, references should be short and to the point. And no pally stuff from friends, this is business.
Proof of ID
There is an increasing number of people who are not necessarily who they say they are and do not have the necessary permit to work in UK. Even if you’ve lived here for generations, make sure you have yours.
Qualifications
In the computer age it’s become too easy to dummy up a degree, so genuine copies are going to come in handy. O-levels/GCSEs, A-levels and NVQs might be checked too – no employer can afford to take chances any more. Provide copies of course, not originals (as long as they’re authentic!), you don’t want them to go astray.
Competency certificates
Look at yourself carefully from the capabilities angle. You’re more than the person you were when you started work, aren’t you? And somehow you’ve picked up a whole load of skills, all of which are necessary in modern business, particularly working with computers. Through an online test facility like ClickATest.co.uk, you can now verify these skills and prove them with internationally-recognised ISO 9001-2000 certificates – hard evidence of your work-related capabilities.

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Step away from your desk, sir

Actually, if you do lie on your CV there’s a pretty good chance it won’t get picked up – unless you’re going through an agency. That’s because CVs get scanned more than read, and with sometimes upwards of 3,000 applicants applying for the same job, that’s hardly surprising. Agencies are more likely to check you out. They could get hit for fraud if they misrepresent you, enough to put them right out of business. Which means they have to be sure. They have to verify your ID by law in any case, so checking your qualifications, job history and references is par for the course.
Because CVs are scanned more than read, a lie can get both missed by a HR manager under pressure to get results and picked up by a computer doing a routine background check.

Doing it the hard way

Your CV is also scanned to assess your match against a job, so don’t go creating screeds of persuasive prose. It won’t get read anyway – and without nice relevant subheads to classify your claims by category, a computer will miss it too – or dismiss it as irrelevant. In fact, praise be for those systems that ask you to input section by section, line by line – where ‘all boxes are mandatory and do not exceed 1,400 characters’. Because all those fields demand values against them, your skills can be picked up and noticed, your track record recognised and recommended.
Fill them in and you stand a better chance of being found, matched against a job specification and offered a position. Yes, it’s a pain, but do you want the job or don’t you?
You should in fact be thankful. All those boxes prevent waffle – and just maybe discourage you from lying in the first place. Not that you ever would of course, but it’s good to reduce the temptation.

Plane common sense

Don’t try sexing up that personal image of yourself either, even the smallest throwaway can bring you down. One hopeful put down skydiving as a leisure activity, intending to look like a determined go-getter. Three days later – surprise, surprise – the interview panel included a skydiving enthusiast. Exposed by questions about conical canopies versus PDAs and how to exit a Twin Otter DHC6, another otherwise promising career hit the ground hard.
So how DO you come across well in a CV? If it’s scanned not read and everything is going to be checked, how do you stand out from the possibly hundreds of others applying for the same position?
One sure way is to point to your achievements, what you actually did in your previous jobs when you had them. Even the lowliest job can demonstrate initiative and drive. Just stick to the facts, without embellishment. Think about it as if you were the boss. You don’t really want to know what somebody HAS done, do you? You want to know how much they CAN do.
It’s about attitude. The world’s most brilliant whiz-kid scores zero if there’s no heart behind the talent, or passion to drive forward. Show commitment and staying power, and suddenly you’re just as competitive as anyone else.

 

Peter Fryer is PR & Communications Executive at ClickAJob.co.uk. ClickAJob is one of the UK’s largest online job search engines, with over a million job vacancies. The company is part of a dedicated Human Resources group that includes ClickATest, an online test centre and CAJ:Associates, a highly personal recruitment consultancy that combines traditional face-to-face service with web-based back-up and access 24/7.
Peter can be contacted on 01932 871 904 or pfryer@freshactionpr.co.uk.