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Recruiting Scientific Employees
Recruiting & Staffing
Recruiting Scientific Employees
Exchange ideas about sourcing, screening, interviewing, finding passive candidates, measuring your results, and more.
Does anyone have fresh ideas about recruiting scientific employees - not people just out of college, but with at least 5 years of experience. Specifically, I need geologists and environmental engineer
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Forums » Topic Forums » Recruiting & Staffing » Recruiting Scientific Employees
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Recruiting Scientific Employees
posted at 6/13/2007 9:50 AM EDT
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Posts: 5
First: 2/13/2007 Last: 5/26/2009 |
Does anyone have fresh ideas about recruiting scientific employees - not people just out of college, but with at least 5 years of experience. Specifically, I need geologists and environmental engineers. We've tried niche websites (such as eceajobs and ihireengineers) and have had a limited response. Mostly very underqualified people fresh out of school applying for project manager positions. Not quite what we need! |
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Recruiting Scientific Employees
posted at 6/14/2007 5:26 AM EDT
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Posts: 1103
First: 3/16/2007 Last: 8/19/2011 |
What PSRoss hasn't shared is that they are a recruiter who is apparently is soliciting business.
have you identified Professional associations related to these specialties? If so they might be a good resource as well. |
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Recruiting Scientific Employees
posted at 6/14/2007 6:08 AM EDT
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Posts: 3870
First: 2/12/2002 Last: 11/2/2009 |
This is a hugely hot field right now. A friend of mine is the staffing director for one of the biggest environmental engineering firms in the country and he's pulling his hair out. He didnt' start with much, so it's becoming a problem.
Professional associations are a good way to go, as suggested above. You might also want to try some of the networking websites such as linkedin.com. This is well worth the upgrade price to find candidates. Get an AOL disk and sign up for the free trial membership. Then search the member profiles. Don't forget to cancel at the end of the month, of course. You can do the same with Juno's member directory as well. There are still usenet groups out there and you can probably find several that deal with your target area. These will give you email addresses; just make very sure you don't post a solicitation on those sites. You could try contractors with a regular employment option. CEWeekly is the primary source for engineering contract labor. As you know, you're in a very competitive recruiting market. You need to have a very, very good and quick summary that addresses more than one reason why someone needs to consider your company as their employer when they have so many choices. Also look at your applicant "experience". How easy is it for people to apply to your company? Do you ask them to fill out a lengthy online job application, or is it simply sending a resume? The more info you require an applicant to provide upfront, the more likely it is that good candidates will click out. There are a few other things you could try and you can be very creative. I had a lot of luck recruiting aerospace engineers by researching every email address I could find of people who worked at the target companies in a specific location and then sending a personal graphic email invite to them for a job fair. Good luck! |
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Recruiting Scientific Employees
posted at 7/12/2007 2:26 AM EDT
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Posts: 1
First: 7/12/2007 Last: 7/12/2007 |
Hi,
I am a scientific recruiter. I think the part that is missing in the discussion so far, is the fact that "scientific" is a huge field. I focus in a specific area of Pharma/ Biotech. The sharper the focus the better the results. If you/ your recruiters are buried in non-scientific positions or you have a labor intensive hiring process, you simply can't do it all well. Outsource the recruiting or hire a dedicated recruiter for the "scientific" positions. Additionally the tangible aspects of your jobs are very important. Where are the jobs located? Does this impact your hiring? Is your geography a particular issue, if so perhaps you need to get very creative and grow your own. If it is an issue of sourcing, widen the funnel and close the leaks. Absolutely use an applicant tracking system with a database you can search, so you don't overlook folks who applied before you had an opening. Start an employee referral program with good bonuses. Enlist top performers as designated alumni relations representatives to their alma mater. Start a mentoring program for new hires that is attractive to both the new hires and the mentors. And if you are large with multiple locations, rework the internal transfer process so it feeds your desperate sites and is rewarding, smooth and easy for the transferee. At the end of the day "word of mouth" is the most powerful and effective recruiting force. You can spend tons of money on job boards, database access and job fairs, and recruiters, but one referral from a happy employee fills the position. Hope this gives you some ideas, Stephanie |
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Recruiting Scientific Employees
posted at 7/12/2007 9:43 AM EDT
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Posts: 2
First: 1/9/2007 Last: 7/12/2007 |
I would suggest trying to reachout to continuing education sources. For example, Walden University has students graduating with technical degrees, but they may also have work experience. This is only one example, I am sure that there are many others.
Good luck in your search! Alicia |
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Recruiting Scientific Employees
posted at 7/12/2007 12:43 PM EDT
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Posts: 1
First: 7/12/2007 Last: 7/12/2007 |
We recruit for our biotech company mostly by word of mouth and reputation. We do that in the annual meetings and state meetings of the professional society. We are now the most attractive company in our small field, but that has taken 10 years. We are the most attractive because we have the best fun and now the best staff. My advice is to make sure you stand out and there is no dissonance between your position and the promotion, and the stand outs will seek your company. Word or mouth stuff is the other way. We visit all our customers regularly and we post to them out job adverts and ask marketing staff to talk to them in their contact with customers.
Low grade jobs go to the University recruitment and local papers or are placed from friends and acquaintances of existing employees, but we are in a 4 million person city so there is a good base to attract from. Interviews then become particularly important to ensure that the applicants are competent. Have fun... |
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Recruiting Scientific Employees
posted at 7/17/2007 3:34 PM EDT
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Posts: 1
First: 7/17/2007 Last: 7/17/2007 |
Every state has an agency (licensing board) that licenses and regulates the practice of engineering. If you contact the agency in your state they may be able to provide you with a list of active engineers who are especially qualified in environmental engineering with addresses so that you can send out your job announcements directly. In addition, many states also have a licensing board for geologists.
Keep in mind that the agency may charge you a fee for such lists. Good Luck!!! |
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