NEW JERSEY, September 10, 2001: Just ask your human resource director: It is tough finding good help these days. The question is -- when does the shortage of "new talent" in the Rx industry become classified as a crisis? Especially as many baby boomers are nearing retirement age, shouldn't we be looking into this situation, and coming up with rational solutions?

Although many clients and agencies claim to be "always looking," recruiters are facing one the slowest seasons on record.1 The fact is, talent is scarce, especially in this economy. Meanwhile, more and more key personnel are switching sides -- clients going over to the agency side and vice versa. "Oh, I worked with her when she was at..."

And forget the jokes about how small the industry is -- how many times have you been "introduced" to "our newest member of the team" -- and you realize you have already worked with him or her -- in "another life." Or three. Which is not to say that this is a bad thing -- "some people you love, some you just like, others you could probably live without...excuse me" (a favorite line from the film, "My Favorite Year").

The point is, there are many hats in this industry, but with a shortage of new talent, it seems like we're all wearing more hats than ever before. And the people we're looking for to fill some of those hats are extremely difficult to find.

How do we try to fill those hats? Run ads on the net, in the Times, offer incentives to employees to find people. But can turn up names that are already on file, or bring back some difficult memories. I heard one art director say, "If you're considering hiring him, I'll resign."

Some other companies invest in job fairs on college campuses.1 That's difficult too -- because you're vying for the attention of the top students amidst a ton of other like minded, talent seeking corporations. You may get lucky -- career days work -- but even when you can attract a new hire here, you're starting from square one, with no assurances that this will be a long term relationship.

Another avenue is to take someone from another discipline and "shape them into the job." More often that not, it doesn't work. Either because they never really break away from their original discipline, or the teammates with whom these newbies are paired know way more about the job -- and resent the extra time they have to spend "training" the new person.

Even summer intern programs are, well, summer gigs. A lot of the time the interns go back to school in the fall and are never heard from again.

Some advertising agencies have interesting solutions that go beyond the summer intern programs. Staff development programs ensure that motivated employees can grow and get promoted from within. It's easier to fill the entry level positions, so this plan makes sense. Other companies hire people right out of school on a look-see basis. The candidate and employer know up front that it's not permanent. Unless both parties want to continue the try out, they can move on to other things and other opportunities at the end of the trial period.

If you're in human resources, drop us a line. We'll follow up in a future issue of PositionInk.

NEXT WEEK: PositionInk #6: Ad testing: Making the most of the insights

PositionInk is a weekly column that addresses issues relevant to pharmaceutical marketing. If you want to contribute an article, or suggest one, please call 908-507-7379. Or email to info@rxme.com.

Pharmaceutical marketing executives use RxME: THE HIGH-POTENCY RxPORTAL: RxME is the pharmaceutical marketing executive homepage, and the premier online information resource for healthcare marketing professionals. Specializing in decision-support information for pharmaceutical marketing personnel around the globe, RxME is designed for pharmaceutical marketers of every type, inlcuding product directors, sales managers, sales representatives, advertising executives, writers, art directors, market research analysts, and all personnel involved in the marketing of ethical pharmaceutical products. The only Rx portal designed for pharmaceutical marketers by pharmaceutical marketers, RxME is dedicated to helping men and women in the Rx industry to build their brands, their businesses, and their careers. Edited by veteran pharmaceutical marketing professionals, RxME delivers relevant, potent content...unlike other sites featuring automatic content delivery, RxME selects only the news stories that are pertinent to Rx marketing. There's no need to dig though reams of news stories or layers of navigation to find the information you need. If you haven't already told your colleagues about RxME, we invite you to do so today. But we understand if you don't. After all, there can ony be one "smartest person in the meeeting." Thank you for visiting RxME. Just be sure and visit QD -- because the most important brand you're building is You.®