Survey in Forbes

The survey conducted “What is the likelihood you will change jobs in 2010?” is featured in Forbes. An article was written on the 18th of January discussing the significance of the poll I conducted and I’m even quoted in the article. The article begins:

According to a random online survey* of 2,150 medical device industry professionals between January 4 and January 13, a full 55 percent are looking at 2010 as the year to make a job change.

Conducted by Legacy MedSearch, a leading medical device retained search firm, the survey posed the question: “What is the likelihood you will change jobs in 2010?” Twenty-eight percent of all respondents answered that they were either “unemployed” or “actively looking,” with an additional 28 percent indicating the “strong possibility” of a job change. A mere 11 percent expected no change in their employment under any circumstances in 2010.

The full  article can be found at http://www.forbes.com/feeds/businesswire/2010/01/18/businesswire134155943.html.

55% of Medical Device Industry Professionals Looking for New Job in New Year

ORLANDO – January 18, 2010 – According to a random online survey* of 2,150 medical device industry professionals between January 4 and January 13, a full 55 percent are looking at 2010 as the year to make a job change.

Conducted by Legacy MedSearch, a leading medical device retained search firm, the survey posed the question: “What is the likelihood you will change jobs in 2010?” Twenty-eight percent of all respondents answered that they were either “unemployed” or “actively looking,” with an additional 28 percent indicating the “strong possibility” of a job change.” A mere 11 percent expected no change in their employment under any circumstances in 2010.

Source: Legacy MedSearch

Paula Rutledge, President of Legacy MedSearch, says she was not surprised by the results.  “For the past eighteen months, professionals in all aspects of the medical industry have had to work harder – many times for less pay and with fewer resources – to make up for reductions in staff.  I don’t believe this trend is sustainable.  We anticipate a slight increase in hiring in 2010, particularly in the customer-facing functions like sales and marketing. With the FDA battening down the hatches on the PMA and 510(k) approval processes, we are also seeing a recent surge in positions associated with product approvals and liability such as quality, regulatory, compliance and clinical affairs.”

VPs and C Suite Most Likely to Change Jobs
In a breakdown of the poll results by title, 41 percent of vice president and “C” level executives indicated a “strong possibility” that they will change jobs in 2010.  This compares to eight percent who categorized themselves as “owner,” 13 percent who categorized their positions as non-executive management and 30 percent “all other” job titles.

Source: Legacy MedSearch

“With the capital markets and economic pressures constraining bonuses and incentives – and many stock options essentially worthless – many VPs and CEOs have shared confidentially that 2010 may be the year to start a new job with a clean slate,“ noted Rutledge.  “Once quarterly earnings are posted, there could well be a significant shuffle in the executive management ranks – both voluntarily and involuntarily.  Many companies are talking to us about making changes at the top as well, so we sense our 2010 VP and C-level searches to out-pace 2009.”

Product Staffers Least Upbeat on Current Jobs; Business Development and Marketing Most Bullish on 2010

Of all the job functions represented, respondents in product-focused positions expressed the worst outlook for their current jobs in the new year, with zero percent answering “excited about 2010.” Most upbeat about their current positions in 2010 were business development executives, 47 percent of whom were either “excited about 2010” or “happy where I am;” and marketing professionals, 43 percent of whom were either “excited about 2010 or “happy where I am.”
Source: Legacy MedSearch

Small Company Employees Rank Happiest

When comparing respondents in regards to the size of their employers, those at small companies were most likely to have a positive outlook on their jobs in the new year, with 21 percent reporting that they are “excited about 2010.” This compares to 10 percent at enterprise organizations, eight percent at large companies and just five percent at medium-sized companies.

Source: Legacy MedSearch

Legacy MedSearch client Derrick Johns, president and chief executive officer of DiFusion Technologies, commented on this finding. “Having worked at several larger device companies throughout my career, I think employees at smaller companies like ours may be happier due to the sense of ‘ownership’ they feel in their respective projects.  They also don’t need to deal with the politics and bureaucracy often found at larger companies, which means that they can be more nimble and effective. Despite the current recession, DiFusion is looking to hire in 2010. I’m not sure this is something our larger competitors can say,”

*This survey was conducted via the paid polling service of business networking site LinkedIn between January 4 and January 7, 2010. 

About Legacy MedSearch
Legacy MedSearch is a retained recruitment firm focused exclusively on the medical device and technology industry. The firm serves emerging, mid-sized and Fortune 500 medical device companies who require a specialized approach to placing C-level executives and senior managers in the areas of engineering, sales and marketing, research and development, product management, clinical affairs as well as quality and regulatory affairs. For more information, visit www.legacymedsearch.com.

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11 Sneaky (and Ethical) Ways To Research a Medical Device Company for your Job Search

11 Sneaky (and Ethical) Ways To Research a Medical Device Company for your Job Search

by Paula Rutledge
www.LegacyMedSearch.com

1. CHECK OUT THE COMPANY’S EARLIER WEBSITE VERSIONS
Look at prior versions of the company’s website. This is particularly helpful if the company is private, small, has been acquired or gone through an ownership change. By looking at previous versions of the website, you can compare iterations of branding and messaging, see what products have been launched – or retired – and check for older news and press releases that may give you a historical perspective of the growth – or contraction of the company.
·Site: www.archive.org)

2. RESEARCH USING MEDICAL DEVICE REGISTER
Use industry resources to see what products the company has on the market. My all time favorite for medical device research (and a site my researchers and I use everyday) is Medical Device Register. I use a corporate version, but you can buy daily or monthly access for as little as $50. Using MDR, you can see not only what the company’s products are – you can use the 3 digit product codes to easily find other companies with the same product. MDR also has information on 510(k) filings, subsidiaries and market segments (Cardiovascular, ENT, etc)
·Site: www.MDRWeb.com

3. LOOK THROUGH FORUMS
Forums are a wild, Wild West version of the water cooler – but on a global scale. They give you gossip, rumor, conjecture and hearsay on just about any company. One caution is that the information is wrong more often than not and some forums are filled with current and former employees either hyping – or blasting a company (and often its employees). Some of the attacks are personal and vindictive, others are humorous but pointless – but occasionally, you’ll find a nugget here and there to give you a peek behind the curtain. Just remember that because postings are anonymous, they tend to be unreliable, especially if they are unmoderated.
·Site www.MedicalDeviceGuru.com

4. BEYOND LINKEDIN – Using LinkedIn Company Profiles
I’m assuming that nearly anyone reading this has a profile on LinkedIn. But have you thought about using it as a research tool? Many companies now have company profiles on LinkedIn (as does ours: http://www.Linkedin.com/LegacyMedSearch. This is a great place to get information on the company you’re interviewing with. But take it a step further: Look at the New Hire and Former Employees area – does it show a lot of hiring? Are a lot of people leaving? What companies are the employees coming from? Do you know any former employees you could contact to get some insider tips from? Are any of the current employees in your network – or do you share a group? LinkedIn Groups, by the way, are a wonderful way to network to the company you’d like to work for. You can join up to 50 – and I’d encourage you to do so.

5. PATENT SEARCHES
While Medical Device Register provides information about current products in the portfolio, patent searches can give you an inside track on what may be in the company’s pipeline. If you’re an engineer, product development or R&D professional, you may want to research patents in the company name – and also look under the names of your potential colleagues to see what may be filed but not yet transferred. Also, look for similar products and categories to get a sense of what competing companies have in process.
·Sites: www.freshpatents.com
www.google.com/patents)(http://patft.uspto.gov);

6. FINANCIAL SITES
Yahoo Finance, BusinessWeek and all the news outlets (CNN, MSN, etc) have great tools that show basic information on publicly traded companies. But don’t forget the investment sites for great insight into companies. My personal favorite is The Motley Fool (www.MotleyFool.com) which breaks down financial terms (EPS, EBITDA, etc) into nuggets for those of us who are not analytical by nature. There are also moderated forums by industry experts who give their opinion on the prospects for many publicly traded companies.

7. SUBSCRIPTION BASED COMPANY INTELL
There are several subscription based services (my favorite: www.WetFeet.com) that sell company profiles on large, usually publicly traded companies. Wet Feet, as it’s name indicates, is geared to entry level positions – but purportedly conducts interviews with applicants, current employees, and past employees to give the job seeker a roadmap into the interviewing process for major companies – as well as a “what you can expect when you’re hired”, which may be helpful to both early-career stage and more seasoned hires.
·Sites: www.hoovers.com, www.zoominfo.com, www.wetfeet.com

8. ANALYST PUBLICATIONS
One great tool we use to prep senior level candidates may be valuable to anyone with a serious interest in a specific company or industry: Analyst reports. Ranging in price from single company or sub-segment reports for $40-150 to full industry reports from $1000++, we get great perspective from powerhouse research firms like Frost & Sullivan, ECRI, Millennium, and various reports from VC driven resources like Windhover (my personal favorite bang for the buck for great research for a reasonable subscription fee) and specialty publications from the Stanford Group. If you’re a mid to senior level executive, these are valuable tools to prepare yourself for deep-dive interviews.
·Sites: www.frost.com; www.ecri.org; www.mrg.net; www.windhover.com; www.stanfordgroup.com

9. YOUR STOCKBROKER
Again, for publicly traded companies, you may tap into your stockbroker for data and research on companies you may be interested in. Many times this information can be found simply by logging onto your brokerage account and researching the company ratings (Buy, Hold, Sell) and comparative financial and competitive data relative to the market.

10. YOUTUBE
Don’t forget to check YouTube for both clinical/technical/scientific data AND for company fodder. For instance, one well-known device company posts videos of company picnics, “news you can use” and often entertaining snippets of company life to boost morale (it appears to be working).

You may also find testimonials of patients who have benefitted – or not – using a particular product or treatment. Some I recall are of a woman in her mid 40s who chronicled her laser treatments, a brave man who posted his video diary of deep brain simulation for a movement disorder and several honest and heart-wrenching accounts from people undergoing experimental therapies for life threatening illnesses.
·Sites: www.youtube.com

11. PATIENT SUPPORT and ADVOCACY GROUPS
Reading through the logs, blogs and Q&A sections of Patient sponsored websites (sometimes called “Advocacy Groups”) can give you insight into the side-effects and alternative therapies for the company you are interviewing with. Patients’ groups can sometimes provide a unique perspective into how a company treats its true constituents (positive and negative) particularly in newer or unproven treatments and modalities.
·Sites: www.lynxcare.net/lynxlinks.html

The Medical Device Fee is a Bad Plan for Job Growth in It’s Current Form

The Senate Finance Committee’s healthcare reform bill is a topic of much concern for medical device professionals because its enactment could cut jobs in our industry. The Senate’s plan puts additional financial pressure on medical device companies by way of an annual aggregate fee on the medical device industry of $4 billion. Many experts believe this financial burden could cause more people to lose their jobs. The reasoning behind this plan is to generate $40 billion over the course of 10 years to go toward healthcare reform. John Engelhardt of Ortho Knowledge wrote a great article that breaks down a lot of the numbers here: Orthoworld Article (Thanks John)As the president of a recruitment firm within the medical device industry, my business’s livelihood depends on placing people for these jobs that could be lost. Needless to say, I’m a little worried, even in light of the incredible uptick in hiring in the past 60 days within our business.

That said, I read an interesting article from ModernHealthcare.com (Modern Healthcare Article) which states that the House is proposing a compromised version of the Senate’s bill, and it appears to be much less taxing (no pun intended). According to the article, under the House’s bill, rather than an aggregate fee, a 2.5% point-of-sale tax would be applied. The House’s plan aims to bring in $27 billion from the medical device industry over the course of 7 years beginning in 2013.

In the House plan, medical manufacturers would be able to reduce the total fee they incur by deducting the tax from annual corporate tax filings. Companies wouldn’t have that benefit with the Senate’s aggregate fee plan and would end up paying all of that $40 billion as it currently stands. The lesser of two evils (in my opinion) is still evil and would stunt the job growth just starting to take seed now. Worse, it could drive further off-shoring in our global economy where US chartered companies are looking to save operational and developmental costs. (Note: we have had 4 new operations/ manufacturing positions added in the past few weeks with increase emphasis on lean and out-sourced/off-shore manufacturing management. Not sure this is all coincidence).

Whether or not the House will have any impact on the Senate remains to be seen, but I remain optimistic that there will be some change in the current plan if it continues to be contested. I understand that no companies are excited about getting further taxed. It’s just my hope that the additional tax won’t place the burden on consumers and cause healthcare reform to hurt the very people it’s trying to help. However, by 2013, things could change. Let’s hope for the best.

Paula Rutledge
President, Legacy MedSearch
www.LegacyMedSearch.com

ABOUT LEGACY MEDSEARCH
With 25 years in the medical industry, our recruiting expertise extends to most areas of surgery, diagnostic & therapeutic imaging & radiology, including MIS & LIS procedures. We work with manufacturers of a variety of implants & technologies: IMD, AIMD and Class I, Class II and Class III devices with special emphasis on orthopedics, neurosurgery, radiology, neuroscience, cardiology and cardiovascular and other emerging medical technology (PMA, 510(k) & IDE device classes).

__________________
Paula Rutledge is the President of Legacy MedSearch, a sponsor of Medical Devce Guru. Legacy MedSearch is a retained recruitment provider to emerging medical companies.

 

www.LegacyMedSearch.com
407-898-4440

• MEDICAL DEVICE (510K, IDE, VC, Incubator stage)
• IMAGING (CT, MR, Ultrasound, HIFU, Fluoroscopy, PACS, Mammo, Molecular, CR, DR)
• NAVIGATION (IGS, CAS, DBS, IGRT, RF, Robotics)
• EMERGING AND CONVERGING Radiologic & Surgical Treatment Solutions.

Interview guide for Software Development Positions

Software Development is an extremely competitive field. It doesn’t help that several of the major industry players are starting to move offshore to countries like China and India. Let’s say that despite all these challenges, you still landed an interview. Congratulations! Now that you’ve made it this far, I’m going to give you some tips to make sure that you can get that dream job.

I’m Paula Rutledge – President of Legacy MedSearch, a retained executive search firm working exclusively in emerging medical technology. In this issue of Medical Career Magazine, and I’m here to help prepare you for the challenging and rewarding field of software development.

So. Let’s say you’ve read my other blogs or watched my videos on YouTube and have done everything right up to this point. All you have left to do is ace this interview and seal the deal. To make sure that happens, let’s review some typical questions that may appear in the interview. Some questions asked might be:

• How do you drive software development to support your company’s business?

• Describe your ability to multitask and prioritize when faced with a conflict.

• Briefly outline your philosophy regarding SDLC (systems development life cycle).

• Are you more interested in program development or program implementation? Why?

• Are you familiar with ASTM standards? Do you have any ASTM related certifications?

Now that you know a bit about the interview itself, let’s go over some interview etiquette that may seem obvious, but that many interviewees still forget!

First arrive early, no excuses. Make sure to dress professionally or (even better) try and research the company’s dress code and conform to that. This will help show that you will fit-in well in the working environment. While you’re in the interview, show passion for software development as well as genuine interest in the company itself. A great way to appear involved is by asking questions and being engaged. Some good questions to ask might be:

• Tell me about your version control.
• Tell me about your bug tracking system.
• Tell me about your Quality Assurance.
• How much training per year do you offer?
• Do you have a Wiki to share developer knowledge?

Finally, show confidence both in your responses and your body language. Be decisive, maintain eye contact, and have good posture. No one wants to hire a shy, quiet, software engineer who isn’t confident in their abilities!

If you follow all of this advice, you’ll have the best shot possible at landing that software development job!

Don’t forget to check out our forum www.medicaldeviceguru.com or our website at www.LegacyMedSearch.com for some more great tips.!

How To Stay On Our Radar

I love the recruiting business. But, in the past few months, with this oddly strong need for fearless and unflinching leaders in our Client companies, I find myself struggling to stay in communication with viable due to the large volume of people contacting me. I’m Paula Rutledge, President of Legacy MedSearch, an executive recruiting firm focusing exclusively in medical device technology. In this post , I’ll teach you how to maintain communication with your recruiter!

I’ll be honest, sometimes we recruiters can be a bit difficult to get ahold of. We’re trying, I promise! I frequently speak on my headset with one candidate, email another, and set up an appointment with a third all at the same time! That being said, here are some tips to make sure I’m getting your message!

1. Be brief! I do care, but if I can get a 15 second voicemail with all your information, I can get back to you more quickly. Name, most recent company, phone number (said twice), and purpose of your call are enough!

2. Be flexible! Please don’t leave me a message telling me you’re available between 4 and 4:15 next Tuesday… Like you, I schedule my appointments weeks in advance, and odds are next Tuesday is booked!

3. Apply online! When you apply for a specific position, it flags you and puts you at the top of the heap for one of my recruiters to contact you within a day or two. It’s much easier to get a response from us this way. Don’t ask me to look over your resume and see if I have anything open… I have about 3,291 of these requests right now…

4. Look at our forum, www.meddeviceguru.com. It has nearly 5000 articles, tips, news stories, and ideas that we update daily!

5. Polish your resume! Make sure it’s pristine, descriptive, and follows the tips that we’ve discussed in other issues of Medical Career Magazine.

6. Link to me on LinkedIn! It’s a great way to contact me.

7. Recommend other people to us. Someone might return the favor! Our single biggest referral source for senior level positions is your boss, so keep that in mind!

8. Be Patient with us! The medical device industry is still hiring at a strong pace. In fact, my firm has had a 40% growth from this time last year. However, the bar is being set higher for candidates. Remember we’re not miracle workers. Give us some time to find you that perfect job!

9. Touch base with us. I add a caveat that touching base means every week or so… not every hour or every day. This is especially true if you’re in active consideration for a position and haven’t heard anything from us in a while. Things do occasionally fall through the cracks, so don’t be shy about contacting us!

10. Do your homework! Once we have an interview scheduled for you, we’ll do a verbal prep with you and send you materials on the client, but you can increase your odds by doing some work of your own. We’ve created the Interview Prep Guide for Medical Device Careers as a help. It’s a free 24 page packet chock full of great information! You can find it on our website.

The industry is looking strong, but no company is going to grow without smart, dedicated, and creative talent!

That’s this issue of Medical Career Magazine. Don’t forget to check out our website at www.legacymedsearch.com or our forum at www.meddeviceguru.com for some more great tips. I’m Paula Rutledge, thanks for joining us.

Why to use a retained recruiter

This week my inbox has been flooded with responses to Monday’s post regarding the July unemployment statistics. One response in particular interested me:

 “I had an unfortunate incident recently.  A recruiter wanted to present me for an opportunity.  However, the hiring organization told her that they would not pay her for my candidacy because they had me in their database already from when I submitted an application earlier in the year.  Had the company ever considered going through its own database to find candidates?  Probably not because they are too short-staffed.  This is a no-win situation for all parties:

• The hiring organization never realizes that they have superb candidates already in their databases.  Like having gold nuggets in the stream behind your house but only panning in other parts of the world.  It reminds me of the recent story in the news of the daughter who replaced her mother’s old worn out mattress only to find out it had hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash stuffed inside. 
• The recruiter is losing opportunities for income even though they can provide great value to the hiring organization by cutting through so much useless clutter to find a candidate.  (They found the mattress stuffed with cash.)
• The candidate in the job search now must consider whether or not to EVER apply directly for a job.  I have only ONCE been called by an internal recruiter who has taken the effort to seek candidates for an opportunity.  (It came through LinkedIn.)  In my experience, company recruiters have neither the level of motivation nor the expertise to identify talent that may not exactly fit their candidate profile.

From now on when I find an interesting opportunity, my practice will be to be presented personally by one of my trusted recruiters who has a relationship at the hiring organization.  I would like to have you as one of those recruiters.  Let’s talk. “

Of course, I love positive feedback, but the incident Tom detailed troubled me. Employment opportunities are increasing and, according to Careerbuilder, 13% of hiring managers and 24% of job seekers expect to use recruiters in Q3. This means that situations similar to Tom’s are going to increase in the coming months and candidates need to be wary of which recruiters they choose to work with. An easy solution is to work exclusively with retained recruiters that have a personal relationship with hiring authorities. This will help avoid miscommunication between the prospective employer and the recruiter that could result in a candidate losing out on a great opportunity.

Don’t forget to check out our website at www.legacymedsearch.com or our forum at www.meddeviceguru.com for some more great tips.

Best Regards,

Paula Rutledge

What the July Unemployment Statistics Mean for the Medical Device Industry

The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that U.S. employment fell by a less than expected 247,000 jobs in July – obviously good news. But its even better for those of us in the medical device industry… (Read Full Report at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.htm)

After studying the unemployment report issued this morning, I wanted to share some thoughts on the prospects for medical device hiring for 2010-2011.

UNEMPLOYMENT FOR COLLEGE GRADS is 4.7%
Best news of all – total unemployment among degreed professionals with a Bachelors or higher is 4.7%. While it doesn’t speak specifically to advanced degrees, my anecdotal data tells me that Masters or higher status unemployment may be a hair less. (Remind me to send this to my kids…- and yes, Lauren, I’ll pay for law school….).

HEALTHCARE HIRES GROW BY ANOTHER 20,000
The derivative allocated to Healthcare showed an increased by +20,000 in July, which is about the average monthly gain for the first half of this year but down from an average monthly increase of 30,000 during 2008. Keep in mind that “Healthcare” includes data from SIC codes attributable to clinical, acute and long-term care are other sub-segments and that data (best I can tell) for the SIC codes we are most associated with from our recruiting practice (the 38XX codes) fall into manufacturing in some cases.

NEW GRADS SKEW JULY FIGURES A BIT…. BUT….
And while the unemployment rate for management, business, and financial operation occupations (non specific to medical, of course), remained relatively steady at 4.7 for degreed professionals, the unemployment rate for other professional and related occupations, however, jumped from 5.1 to 6 percent after a similarly sized jump last month, most likely the result of new graduates entering the still stagnant job market..

MINIMUM WAGE JUST ROSE: WHY THIS MATTERS TO YOU
While this doesn’t directly affect our level of candidate and clients, effective July 24, the U.S. minimum wage increased from $6.55 an hour to $7.25 an hour with economists estimating that it will impact 2.8 million workers earning between the current federal minimum wage and the new standard. However, the 2.8 million figure doesn’t account for the millions of workers whose wages are tied to the minimum standard and may also go up in a “trickle up” effect.

WHAT I’M HEARING FROM SENIOR EXECUTIVES IN MEDICAL DEVICE
The conversations I’m having with our clients in the past few weeks are vastly different from even Q1, especially in light of the July 5, 2009 study released that indicated that a full 54% of U.S. said they are likely to look for new jobs once the economy rebounds. WOW. This blows me away – but mirrors the conversations I’m having with Mid to Senior level people EVERY DAY. I guess companies will be saving on “gold watch purchases….”

HIGH DEMAND FOR QA/RA/CA
Last year, 71% of our hires were on the “Commercial” side (Sales/ Marketing/Product Management/Operations, etc). This year, as we just closed out our 1H of 2009 – it is nearly directly inverse. I’m still quantifying exact ratio, but about 4/5 of our hires this year, so far, have been on the Pre-Commercial side: R&D, all aspects of engineering, QA (very strong) RA and more and more clinical affairs.

HOWEVER, our upcoming assignments for Q4 look increasingly like a tilt back to commercial hires.

MARKETING AND SALES ARE PICKING UP .. BUT..
As a salesman for JNJ 20++ years ago, I remember the then President saying to a company-wide gathering of top salespeople “You are the only department in the company that BRINGS revenue to the table, so you will always be compensated fairly.”

Things of changed in many ways – and companies are now increasingly deriving revenue from other sources. For instance, Service Revenue is growing appreciably, and one senior level executive from a Fortune 100 medical capital equipment company told me just this morning that Service accounted for 44% of revenue in FY 2009 just ended.

That said, judging from the surge of calls from exhausted salespeople covering twice the territory they used to with half the clinical and technical support, sales hires will again be a strong component of 2010-2011 hiring. (Incidentally, the “I’m overworked but happy to be employed refrain is one that I hear at all levels).

.COMPANIES ARE RAISING THE BAR ON MARKETING HIRES TO INCLUDE “NEW MEDIA”In terms of marketing there has been a strong uptick in requests for resumes of marketing professionals with formal marketing training AND those who have served in a consumer marketing company like P&G or Coca Cola or in a consulting company like BCG or Bain. The rationale seems to be that social media marketing is creeping into healthcare in insipid ways – and that a pedigree MBA or MSME/EE with 3 years at Dell or Microsoft or Target early in his/her career and knowledge of how to move the needle strategically will impact revenues. For the most part, I agree. The “medical marketing experience only” factor seems to be quieting for more senior level Marketing hires as companies are looking to expand their knowledge base. Just today, Biomet announced an “outsider” as the new President of 3i – Maggie Anderson – who has an engineering degree and ten years with General Motors as well as a Consulting/VC background. Top talent transcends industries.

THE ‘OBAMA-CARE” FACTOR IS STARTING TO RISE – plus a new wrinkle….
One of President Obama’s growing initiatives includes passing healthcare legislation that would reform our current system. I’m not sure what to think of this – but I have a pending assignment for a Business Development / Clinical Marketing position with a new criteria I’ve not seen before: “3+ years in a consulting, lobbyist, public policy or government affairs function….” Wow. Can’t wait to get started on this one…

DOJ, INCREASED REGULATION AND LESS TOLERANCE FOR “GRAY” ETHICS
Boy. Conventions and Trade Shows aren’t as fun as they used to be. At AAOS this year, one of my friends from Smith & Nephew commented that entertaining surgeons was like “curfew check at a Catholic Girls School : One minute past 5:00 and you were in deep trouble.” (I loved that phrase!). Today (August 7, 2009) it was Stryker’s turn in the hot seat with another subpoena from NJ seeking information on the financial interests and arrangements of the physicians participating in clinical trials. Medtronic and JNJ got hit this week, too. I had a very talented Product Management executive get fired over a comment made in a public forum by a surgeon who went “off script” and former Synthes colleagues facing significant legal matters. Our clients are asking more and more for “clean” candidates in senior level positions – and they are less concerned about college infractions than more recent actions that could result in stiff fines. It’s a whole new world out there.

TURNOVER IN MEDICAL DEVICE
There were lots of 10-Qs and earnings calls this week. I listened to several of the earnings calls and reviewed the reports in our sector and found that “employee retention” for FY 2011-2012 is a topic on lots of Executive Compensation Committees’ agenda.

Did you know that, on average, it costs a company 130% of an employee’s salary to replace them? That number goes up if the employee leaving has significant company knowledge or possesses a unique and/or rare skill set.

RETENTION IS BECOMING MORE OF A CONCERN FOR 2011-2012
The Hansen Medical 10-Q filed yesterday was among those who made mention of employee retention” as a component of earnings for the near future.. Page 39 of the filing said: “…in the third quarter of 2008, the first quarter of 2009 and in July 2009, we reduced our work force. This may make it more difficult to retain and attract the qualified personnel required, placing a significant strain on our management. Accordingly, retaining such personnel and recruiting necessary new employees in the future will be critical to our success. There is intense competition from other companies and research and academic institutions for qualified personnel in the areas of our activities. If we fail to identify, attract, retain and motivate these highly skilled personnel, we may be unable to continue our development and commercialization activities.”

Has the tide turned? Maybe. Is there still alot of head-count pressure on medical device firms (especially in big-ticket capital equipment driven companies). Yes. Have we seen the bottom? Who knows – but I do know that my conversations are just starting to change in complexion and tone. It’s an early indicator. But I observed first hand that the most of the truly great companies used this recessionary period to peel off a lot of non performers – and several super stars were caught up in consolidation and cost-cutting measures. And great people will ALWAYS be in demand. ALWAYS.

Best Regards,

Paula Rutledge

Resume Don’ts

Let’s say you’ve done everything we’ve talked about so far with your resume. You’ve quantified, clarified, qualified, and all that other good stuff. That doesn’t mean you’re out of the woods yet! I’m Paula Rutledge, President of Legacy MedSearch, an executive recruiting firm focusing exclusively in medical device technology. In this post I’ll tell you what NOT to include on your resume!

The job market is so tight right now that hiring managers will look for any reason at all to exclude you from the huge pile of resumes on their desks! There are a couple of things that you should never include on your resume if you want to be taken seriously as a candidate.

1) An objective. Objectives serve no purpose! Employers don’t want to know what you want from them, they want to know what you can do for them. They want to know your professional strengths and skills. An objective just takes up valuable space on your (presumably) already crowded resume. Hiring managers probably won’t read them anyway! So skip the objective and include some useful information!

2) Jokes. While showing some humor in an interview might be a good idea, your resume is not the place to start showing off your incredible wit. Your potential employer will want to know that you can be serious and professional when need be, and your resume is a great place to show them that.

3) Negative statements. Your potential employer doesn’t want to know what you won’t do, can’t do, or refuse to do. Including these things on your resume make you seem high-maintenance and will have the hiring manager tossing your resume in the trash. Bring out the positive attributes about your skills and career. Make sure to emphasize your accomplishments. These reflect much better on you than coming off as a negative Nancy.

4) References Available Upon Request. Again, a space waster. Employers assume that if they ask you for references, you’ll provide them. You don’t need to include your references on your resume either…

5) Religious/Political Affiliations or Sexual Orientations. None of these affect your ability to do a job. In most cases, your employer could care less about any of these things. They want to know about your career and your abilities, not your personal life.

6) Unprofessional e-mail addresses. You’d think that people would have learned by now. You’d be wrong. We get resumes all the time that ask us to contact them at “hotmary3423” or “studmuffin340235012.” It’s smart to create a professional email identity such as firstname.lastname@gmail.com in order to keep track of your job search communications. It’s free to create a professional email, so you have no excuses! Remember, the difference between a good resume and a great resume can be a job offer.

Don’t forget to check out our website at www.legacymedsearch.com or our forum at www.meddeviceguru.com for some more great tips. I’m Paula Rutledge, thanks for joining us.

How to Write A Cover Letter

You’ve found the position you really want, but how do you make yourself stand out from the crowd? An easy way to do so is a really great cover letter. I’m Paula Rutledge, President of Legacy MedSearch, an executive recruiting firm focusing exclusively in medical device technology. In this post, I’ll give you some tips from The Resume Group on how to really make your cover letter shine and land you that interview!

There are 5 steps to creating a great cover letter:

1) The Rule of 3.Your cover letter needs to tell a potential employer three basic things:

1)     Who you are

2)     What you can do

3)     Prove that you can do it

You’ll want to have a statement that indicates your level in an organization and provide some of the skills that you possess that are relevant to the job you’re targeting. You should include two or three examples of your most notable achievements.

2) A call to action. Make sure to indicate what the employer should expect next from you. If you’re planning on calling or emailing in a few days, say so. You can also ask that they review your resume and then contact you to arrange a meeting. Don’t leave it to chance!

3) Customize it. There have been several issues of Medical Career Magazine about the horrors of sending “Dear John” or cookie cutter letters and resumes to a potential employer. Remember, targeting a specific position is the best way to get a foot in the door! Make a custom cover letter for each position you plan on applying for.

4) Contact information. Make sure you’re sending your information to the right person! You can use the corporate website, a social networking site, or Google to find the name of the hiring manager or recruiter in charge of your position. For that matter, don’t forget to include your own contact information!

5) Spell Check. I can’t say this enough: spell check and proofread everything you even think about submitting to a potential employer! I’ve gotten so many cover letters whose misspellings made me laugh out loud. I think my favorite was the man who left the “L” out of the word “public…” Even after you’ve proofread it once, do it again! It’s too easy to make un-retrievable mistakes that could cost you an interview or a job. Ask other people to proofread it for you, and if you don’t feel comfortable doing that, read it from the bottom to the top. Reading each sentence in reverse order will make it easier to spot mistakes.

Following these 5 easy steps should make your cover letter shine like new. For more information, check out The Resume Group at www.theresumegroup.com.

Don’t forget to check out our website at www.legacymedsearch.com or our forum at www.meddeviceguru.com for some more great tips. I’m Paula Rutledge, thanks for joining us.