After initially embarking on an academic career in science, Joel Cridland joined Bayside Group as a consultant specialising in scientific and technical recruitment. In this Q&A, Joel reflects on how his science background supports his work as a specialist recruiter, and provides some tips for employers on what they need to do to attract and retain the best scientific talent. 

BG: What were you doing prior to getting into recruitment?

JC: Before I became a recruitment consultant I was working in a research lab at a university, studying population genetics in fruit flies. I’d finished my undergraduate studies and was making plans to do my Honours and a PhD. I was planning to pursue a career in academia. At a certain point however, I decided that wasn’t the path that I wanted to take.

How did your transition into recruitment?

I was exploring what options might be available to me when I came across an ad from Techstaff – which has been part of the Bayside Group for almost 20 years, but now operates under this brand name – who were advertising for a recruitment consultant and I was interested. I’d done a bit of sales in the past and had enjoyed it. The recruitment consultant role seemed like a good way to combine my passion for science with my passion for people.

How does your scientific background support your work as a consultant?

The fact I have worked in research laboratories, and have studied things like chemistry, microbiology and virology, helps me to better understand clients and their needs. When I visit a laboratory or a company that’s hiring scientific staff, I know the instruments they’re using, and I can even do some of the techniques myself. The job briefs for some of these roles contain a lot of technical language, but my technical knowledge (and that of other specialist scientific recruiters at Bayside Group) means I have a clear understanding of the role and what’s required. So when I do interview potential candidates, I can make an informed judgement on whether or not they’ll be suitable.

What kinds of developments have you seen in science during your time as a consultant? And how have these developments affected staffing and skill needs?

There’s a lot of change in the digital edge, in particular the way we record and share information. So things like database management skills and information management skills have become increasingly important. Everyone needs to be more computer savvy than they did in the past, which is true of a lot of different industries.

Another big change is that with pressures on bottom lines for companies that are trying to turn profits, many laboratory teams have been downsized. They’re often being asked to do a lot more, often on smaller budgets and fewer resources. That makes every single person in that team more valuable because if the testing gets behind there can be serious consequences.

For these reasons, finding the right scientist for a given role is more important than ever. Longevity in these roles is critical because when somebody leaves, you then need to spend months finding and training somebody new. It’s so important to hire people who want to be there, and communicate to them that you want them to be there and are going to look after them.

What advice do you have for employers seeking to attract and retain scientific talent?

We’ve got to value the scientists and give them the resources they need to operate effectively. Whether the work is in food safety or quality control, manufacturing, or testing for construction, we need to listen to our scientists, and understand what they need in order to do the job. A lot of the movement from one company to another happens when scientists don’t feel appreciated or don’t have the resources or support they need to meet deadlines to a high standard.

It’s a candidate short market, so when you have good scientific talent in-house it’s important to hold onto them. One way you can do that, apart from offering a competitive salary, is by providing lots of training opportunities, opportunities for advancement, and thinking about what you are offering as part of your overall employee value proposition.

Similarly, when you’re looking to bring people on, if a candidate can see that the company values its technical team, this will be attractive to them. It’s important to communicate with new starters that you do value them and there are opportunities for them. This helps give them confidence that they can really get stuck in, learn the business, and stick around.

However, the thing an employer can do right now to engage great talent is to be responsive during the recruitment process – prioritise time for interviews, understand salary negotiation leverages, and gain approvals prior to commencement so decisions can be made fast. We often see great candidates lose interest because the employer drags out the process.

Are you working with any particular groups of candidates right now who you’d like to highlight? 

I have a lot of people who came off contract a few months ago in pharmacovigilance and drug safety regulatory affairs. We’re also very active in food science, which means we have excellent candidates with food technology and quality control experience in the food industry.

I have candidates who are experienced and job-ready across all of those areas. You can contact Bayside Group’s specialist scientific recruiters if you’d like to learn more about these candidates or if you have any other scientific staffing needs.