Posted By: Ralph on July 7th, 2010 | No Comments
Have you been actively pursuing everything possible to start a
new career in medical sales and feeling frustrated because it seems you aren’t getting anywhere quick? Are you close to giving up your dream?
The biggest problem that I have seen over my 30 plus years
in recruiting is that most people don’t really know how to
be objective and honest with themselves.
LETS BE HONEST!
Human Nature forces us to only see what we want to see and most of the time we just close an eye to what’s right in front of us. I believe that everybody needs a professional opinion, and more importantly guidance from either a career coach or veteran recruiting professional who has the insight and experience to give you the real facts.
Most of the greatest golfer in the world have a swing coach or a knowledgeable caddie by their side for advice and support.
There are excellent experts out there who can support your
career efforts if you are committed to making it happens.
Feel free leave a mesage here on our blog and we’ll offer recommendations.
tweet us at www.twitter.com/ralphsteeber
Posted By: Ralph on October 15th, 2009 | No Comments
Searching for a job isn’t as difficult as it used to be. With the Internet at your disposable 24X7, the searching process has become much easier. Now you can locate jobs that interested you and send your resume via Internet from the comforts of your living room.
Since job postings are online, it’s important that you teach yourself in the finer points of online job searching. If you’re not tuned in to the nitty-gritty of job searching online, you might find yourself getting frustrated and overwhelmed.
Once you’re online, start with niche job sites in your specialty, the biggest job boards can be cumbersome. To find the most number of job listings you might consider using sites such as Indeed and simply hired. They pull from all sites, newspapers and companies. Once you have spent a few hours you should get a good feel of where to spend your time most effectively.
Register your profile and resume with as many job agencies as possible. This also can be done online today. Once the recruiting firm reviews your background and feels you qualify for clients they represent they will be on the lookout for an opportunity that matches your requirements. The key to success in searching for a new career is to utilize all the options available.
While you are online surfing for a job, you may come across opportunities where your experience level may be slightly more or less than what they are asking for or your area of expertise may be a little different. Give it a shot, take a chance, go ahead and respond because they may want to interview you based on your experience and overall qualifications.
Do not send every job you respond to the same resume. Make changes that reflect your experience as it pertains and speak to the job in question. Customize your job resume to meet the requirements of each company according to their needs. Dress up your skills in such a way that it shows your biggest strengths.
And to make the necessary first impression you must read and re-read your resume. Make sure it’s right. Have a friend review if possible. A second set of eyes is always best. Do not have any grammatical errors. That’s the surest way to the proverbial trash can.
Use key words related to your skills or industry. Many firms will only look at those job applications that have specific key words and they’ll run it through a scanner to determine specified number of key words.
Always follow up if possible to see if your application has been received by the recruiter or company you have applied to and send a follow email saying you’re still interested in the job.
effectively using the online technology is the 21st century way but never forget to keep networking. GOOD LUCK!
Posted By: Ralph on August 27th, 2009 | No Comments
A Recruiter’s job is to find the “best person” for a position. Recruiters in general or specialty agencies are better known as Headhunters and specialize in matching a candidate’s skills, experience and personality to a particular job. Companies who want pre-qualified matches for their critical openings hire Recruiters to assist them in finding the best people.
Please Share your Good or Bad Experiences with Recruiters. Your recommendation could be very helpful to a fellow jobseeker
There are two basic types of Recruiters. A Retained Recruiter is a Recruiter who has a contract with a client to find qualified candidates and gets paid whether or not their candidates get hired. Usually Retained Recruiters have specific industry expertise and a proven track record in their profession before a company is willing to hire and pay them a quaranteed fee. The more common choice by agency users is to operate on contingency arrangement. The Contingency Recruiter only receives payment if one of their referred candidates is actually hired by the company. This model is often preferred by most employers because they can utilize multiple Recruiters, creating competition and speeds up the process, but they only have to pay the successful Recruiter who produces the person they want to hire.
In 2008 approx. 35% of all medical companies used paid recruuiters with contingency leading the way at 85%.
Posted By: Ralph on July 31st, 2009 | No Comments
This is one of those tricky and touchy subjects that no one likes to discuss, AGE!
The truth is this, although we would like to believe that “the age factor” should have nothing to do with whether you get consideration most companies do care.
If you’re making a 180 degree career change (example) spent 18 years in Industrial Widget Sales and you want to transfer those skills to Medical Sales it’s probably not going to happen unless the hiring manager is your brother-in-law.
It has been my experience that the “un-written rule” is generally mid 30’s OR 10-12 years removed from college as a benchmark no matter what your track record or field.
It’s not that anyone feels you can’t learn or do the job it’s simply a matter of FIT. Most hiring managers feel the person that fits better regarding money being offered, different sales habits and style, overall chemistry with the sales team is dependent on age.
Even though you bring great sales experience, desire and determination there are younger jobseekers that possess what’s necessary. The rule is that if a company (in their mind) is going to train their new hire then previous experience to determine as to whether you can get the job done is based on your performance over the past 3-4 years.
Now there’s always the exception to the rule and over my 30 years in recruiting I have seen people outside the norm get hired, usually a personal referral, great chemistry or simply in the right place at the right time.
I always advise people that it can happen but have plan B working also. If you’re reading this and it applies my suggestion is to broaden your search base and you just never know what can happen.
If you can share any stories or experiences on this subject please sign in and use the comment area.
Ralph Steeber, CPC
Posted By: Ralph on July 14th, 2009 | No Comments
great article for us on the cell phone all day!
By MADISON PARK, CNN.COM
If your pinkie and ring fingers tingle or feel numb, you might not want to pick up that cell phone to call the doctor.
“I thought: ‘I’m turning old and falling apart,’ ” Malloy said.
Constant cell phone use could “stress out the ulnar nerves,” said Dr. Leon Benson, an orthopedic surgeon and spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. The ulnar nerve, which travels through the forearm and branches into the hand, can become weakened and scarred after being stretched repeatedly.
“The more you bend it, the more it stretches,” Evans said. “It diminishes the blood supply, and the blood is not flowing through the nerves.”
While the nerves are designed for stretching, “it’s not normal to be in a position to be stretched for an hour,” Benson said.
People with severe cases of cubital tunnel syndrome, like Malloy, require surgery. But most cases require simple behavioral changes. The condition is not as common as carpal tunnel syndrome, which affects nerves in the wrist.
This doesn’t mean that cell phone use is dangerous, doctors said.
“It’s like anything else, any sporting activity,” Benson said. “You can hit balls at the driving range — just don’t hit 300 of them, because you’ll be sore. So common sense would dictate not to talk on the phone for hours if your small and ring fingers go numb.”
After surgery, Malloy said her hands are “fine now. It doesn’t bother me.” She still talks on her cell phone, but she uses a Bluetooth headset.
Cubital tunnel syndrome doesn’t affect only cell phone addicts.
Elderly people who rest their elbows on the arm of a chair can develop the syndrome, as can truckers and people who use wheelchairs who lean on their elbow, Evans said. Some people who sleep curled in a fetal position with their elbows overly bent can develop the syndrome. Another factor could be occupational. People who type in front of a computer, with their elbows bent tighter than 90 degrees, could damage their nerves.
Bending the elbow tighter than 90 degrees for an extended period of time will stretch the ulnar nerve by 8 to 15 percent, Evans said. The remedies are simple.
– Avoid activities that require the elbow to be bent tighter than 90 degrees.
Too much cell phone use can lead to overextending nerves, causing what doctors call “cell phone elbow.”
Orthopedic specialists are reporting cases of “cell phone elbow,” in which patients damage an essential nerve in their arm by bending their elbows too tightly for too long.
When cell phone users hold the phone to their ears, they stretch a nerve that extends underneath the funny bone and controls the smallest fingers. When talkers chat for a long time in that position, it “chokes the blood supply to the nerves. It makes the nerves short-circuit. The next thing you know, there’s tingling in the ring and small finger,” said Dr. Peter J. Evans, the director of the Hand and Upper Extremity Center at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio.
When that happens, the advice is simple: Switch hands — before it gets worse.
Posted By: Ralph on March 7th, 2009 | No Comments
prepared by Ralph Steeber, CPC
During the past year many people have asked us if we had any statistics or hard data on what choices experienced medical sales professionals use when they are looking for new career opportunities. We felt that we had a pretty good idea, but not anything that we would put our seal of approval on. We then decided to program a ”simple survey” to our jobseeker registration form.
After more than 5000 responses we were very surprised with the results. Recruiters and Job Boards made up 78% with Recruiters holding a slight edge 41%, followed by Job Boards at 37%. Third place was 3rd Personal Networking capturing 14%. What was most surprising was that Newspapers came in last at 8%. In defense of newspaper advertising, which just a short 5-7 years ago was probably #1, is that many local and national newspapers are tied or partnered with the job boards in package advertising and therefore the original advertisement is accessed via the Internet.
In conclusion, after reviewing the data myself and relying on my more than 30 years experience in this recruitment industry, the tide appears to have changed. But when you really read between the lines, the actual methods, although disguised with technology, haven’t really changed much.
What’s your opinion? We love you to offer your thoughts. It will be helpful to visitors and fellow medical sales jobseekers. Select the comment button below it easy and quick.
Posted By: Ralph on February 3rd, 2009 | No Comments
During my more than 25 year career in Medical Recruiting when asked by both experienced and beginners in medical sales “What’s the Best Market” I always ranked them this way during the 80s & 90s (1) cardiovascular (2) orthopedics (3) specialty OR products. Now that we’re in the 21st century and there are new factors such as baby boomers, rapid advances in medicine and practiced preventative health I might just add a few more areas to that answer.
Although the above would still be appropriate choices you can now add Rehab, Oncology, Diabetes, BioTech Pharmaceuticals to mention just a few.
YES, the factors of aging population, technology and overall life style are changing the landscape of healthcare in general and you should find challenges and opportunity in most areas of medical over the next few decades.
So if you’re seeking a new jobs open your horizions and you might be pleasantly surprised.
If you have any opinion to share with our readers I hope you will take a minute and register your thoughts.
Good luck in your job search!!!!!!
