Regulatory Affairs

Relocation and its benefits are a huge topic within recruitment, especially when speaking about niche industries like: MedTech, Aviation and Aerospace, or Mining.

I spend 90% of my day getting to know professional candidates across Germany in the field of Medical Devices, especially in roles focussed on Regulatory Affairs and Quality. My primary goal is to get to know you better, and dive-deeper into, well, everything! I am inquisitive about your studies, curious about your thesis topic, why you chose a particular location, your family life, how you have been coping after the numerous lockdowns this year and of course, your career and professional experience. I do not expect to know this all in 30 minutes, which is why I focus much more on the longer-term connection and genuine engagement.We all know that recruiter contact in this highly competitive field is regular, persistent, and sometimes, I imagine, annoying. I’m sure you are getting at least several recruiter messages a week, right? How many of these messages actually fit your expectations or aspirations? I assume not too many…What differentiates our approach at Adaptive Life Science is that we are first and foremost focussed on ‘people relationships’ and ‘result relationships’ second. My aim is to understand you as your friends and colleagues might, so that I can be relevant to your career development and that I always make meaningful contact or at the very least, a nice conversation.How do I do this? It’s all about building a strong relationship from day one, understanding the expectations you have from me as your recruitment partner (long or short term) and asking the question that most candidates dread…“What is your dream job?”Common answers I hear for this are:1) More development opportunities2) A good company culture3) To continue work in RA/QM for medical devices4) Better package5) Rebecca, I have no idea!!If we have spoken before, you’ll know this type of answer won’t make the cut with me.I want to understand the deeper wants and wishes that you need in order for your career to excel. Development means something different to everyone, and as I mentioned we are ‘people first’ so we need to understand YOU. Here are my Top 10 questions to think about to ensure you can easily communicate what you are looking for and ensure you get professional fulfilment from your next job offers…1) Would you like to be more hands-on or strategic in your role, perhaps leading people, or projects?2) Are you more interested in being a specialist in one topic (ie MDR/IVDR transition) or covering worldwide registrations?3) Do you like working broadly across RA/QM or prefer to be more focused on one area of the device lifecycle?4) Are you currently in a large company, or start-up to mid-sized? What are you used to, have you seen the other side and the challenges/possibilities it presents?5) Within RA/QM for Medical Devices is a great start, but please, tell us more! Do you prefer to work in a dual department? Do you have a background in Clinical Research and want to pick up those skills again within RA? These are all viable options so don’t hold back on your ‘wish list.’6) Long term location – have you just built a house or planning to move in the future? How much working flexibility to you need? Is this an absolutely ‘must’ or a nice to have? If this is negotiable, please tell us. Otherwise, we might miss out on sending you an opportunity that ticks 90% of your boxes, that actually meets an even higher standard for you.7) What company culture are you used to, and what do you like about it or not so much? Do you prefer to be structured or free to plan your day? How much support do you really need?8) What products really catch your interest. If you have spent many years in ophthalmic, are you comfortable staying here or do you want a complete change? Would you like to reconnect back with your PhD topic? Tell us things like this and we will always listen.9) Financially, of course the more the better, always! What do you need though? If it is the ‘dream job’ would you consider a more flexible package? Are there any ‘must haves’ like childcare on site, bonus potential, days of vacation? I once had a perfect fit between a client and candidate fall apart right at the end, because she required a certain pension contribution – it was devastating for everyone involved because we did not know it was such an important factor.10) If you are struggling to think of what you do want, tell us what you don’t want! Are there parts of your role that you really don’t enjoy or want less of? This could help to point us in the right direction.It could be that you really are completely open-minded to what is available, and perhaps you are not even looking actively for something new. Either way, in a candidate driven market, you can choose to be selective and make the right choice for you, so it’s important to spend some time reflecting and think about what that is for you personally and professionally so that you can secure your future happiness. It does not mean we will only get in touch if we hit 10/10 on an opportunity, but there is more chance of us getting it right. Life and work are only getting busier, so our aim is to ensure any contact is entirely relevant, interesting and makes it a serious and exciting consideration for you.Thanks for reading and I hope it helps you to reflect over this quieter period about what your ‘dream job’ may, or may not look like.rebecca.stevens@adaptivelifescience.com

I’m happy and not looking for a new job right now. Why should I connect with a recruiter?Another InMail in your inbox… beginning to feel a little fed up? You’re not actively searching for a new opportunity so why should you spend your time answering recruiters and connecting on a call with them?Read on to find out why it might be more beneficial to connect than you think…*N.B. Before we get started, it’s important to clarify that I don’t recommend being in touch with every recruiter that contacts you, especially if their message isn’t personal to you or job offers irrelevant, and certainly not if their outreach includes ‘send me a CV’. I’m talking about connecting with the good ones who try to make a deeper connection, focus on you as an individual, and work in your specialist area.   Thinking ahead. Sure, you’re not looking for the next opportunity right now. You have a project that you worked so hard on, and you just cannot imagine leaving before it’s finalised. But what about 6 months, or a year down the line? Situations can and do change and wouldn’t it be great if you had already connected with someone who had asked you those all-important questions and knew about your interests, wants and, not only that, your personal requirements, the locations that fit best and the flexibility you need to fit around your family life. It’s never a bad idea for someone to know these things and have you in mind for when a great opportunity comes up. What’s even better? When the time comes to consider a new opportunity, which it likely will someday, you might not even have to search at all if someone with all this knowledge is doing so already. Give yourself visibility.Some individuals believe that there is little point in connecting with a recruiter; in their mind they think, “if I want to find a job, I can simply look online for job advertisements!” - but did you know that a huge number of job opportunities are not even advertised? Many companies rely on recruiters to support them as it saves a lot of time having to filter through huge pools of candidates who may not be the right fit for the position. This means that your dream job could be waiting for you to be discovered but you would never even know. Clarity.Even if you are not actively looking, speaking to a recruiter about your career, sharing more on the aspects of your career that you love and the elements that perhaps aren’t so satisfactory can really help to you to clarify things and realise what you want. A good recruiter doesn’t have the sole aim to just place you at a company and move on, a good recruiter wants to build long-term relationships and will take time to understand your goals and help you get closer to achieving them – they are passionate about driving your career forward. Take time to connect with a trusted recruiter and you will reap the benefits. It’s a common feedback after an initial conversation that voicing things really helped a candidate to visualise what could be next for them in their career pathway.  Support.If you do decide to explore an opportunity through a recruiter, you’ll have a support system throughout the entire process. Someone on your side with “insider knowledge” about the company, who can prep you before any interaction, tell you all about the personalities of the hiring managers and share information with you about the interview structure and questions that will likely be asked - use it to your advantage! This takes away so much pressure and the “fear of the unknown” that you usually have before that first meeting with an interviewer, allowing you to focus on having those interesting conversations and making new contacts in the industry! Hiring for your own team.Perhaps you really are not considering a new opportunity but are in a leading role at your current company. By connecting with a recruiter, you can see the approach they take to working with candidates and decide if this is someone you want to have onboard to represent the growth of your department. Did they motivate you, show real interest, have industry contacts, and add value to your career even from a first call? Work with this recruiter to meet your company and professional goals! Especially if you are often recruiting in a limited candidate pool, building these contacts and a list of excellent recruitment partners will help speed up the process when you come to hire, since you’ll already know who to trust to get the job done and give candidates an excellent hiring experience. There really is nothing to lose.The bottom line is, there is nothing to lose from connecting with a specialist recruiter in your industry. Avoid buying into the thought process that you should only talk to recruiters if you are actively looking - this is simply not the case (it’s almost better to connect when you’re not in a rush to find a new job). There is no need to feel pressured, as a recruiter will simply be there to ensure that you are informed and have visibility of great opportunities within your industry.