Job Skills Report: What Pharma Employers Want from Managerial Candidates
February 25, 2016
By Angela Rose for BioSpace.com
Every year the writers at Bloomberg survey recruiters across a number of industries as part of their process for ranking the nation’s best business schools. They recently released their latest survey results—including the attributes employers most value in managerial candidates—within The Bloomberg Job Skills Report 2016.
When recruiters were asked what skills they consider most important in candidates applying for managerial positions such as director of clinical operations, associate director of regulatory affairs, product manager, account manager and validation manager, those employers ranked communication as the top skill. Collaboration, strategic thinking, leadership and analytical thinking rounded out the top five.
Skills Recruiters Consider Most Important in Candidates Applying for Managerial Positions
However, when recruiters were asked to rank the same list of skills according to the difficulty they have finding them in pharma candidates, the results were quite different. This time around, work experience came out on top, followed by leadership, adaptability, communication and creative problem solving. Collaboration and analytical thinking, which both ranked highly in importance, are apparently more common among candidates. Only communication and leadership ranked near the top in the results for both questions.
Skills Recruiters Have Difficulty Finding in Pharma Candidates
What does this mean for you as a pharma professional searching for a managerial position? In addition to combing the job postings for potential keywords you can work into your cover letter and resume—and ensuring you can meet the employer’s credential and experience requirements—you may benefit from highlighting a few of the highest-ranked skills in each of these lists in your application materials. Once you’ve made it to the interview stage, you’ll have an even greater opportunity to demonstrate that you possess these traits. Make sure you’re prepared to tell stories that illustrate your mastery of these skills.
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