Finding and securing talent is a huge task, especially if you’re a biotech startup or scale-up, and you’ve got more established firms going after the same talent as you.

You’ve got to get creative when it comes to your approach if you’re going after high-calibre candidates that companies with bigger budgets are also eyeing up. Here’s how you can level the playing field, effectively compete for this talent, and win over candidates as a startup.

1. Get to know your competitors

First things first—you need to know who you’re up against. If you’re aiming to attract talent from competitors, it’s crucial to understand what’s going on inside those companies.

• Identify who you’re up against: Think about where you’ve hired from before, or where you’d like to hire from in future. It doesn’t have to be companies that are exactly like yours—just ones that have the kind of candidates you know you’d hire. When we’re engaging with a client for the first time, we’ll identify 5-10 competitors we know share a talent pool with them. For biotech hotbeds, this might be even more.
• Keep tabs on them: Set up Google Alerts for these companies. You want to know if they’re going through big changes—new leadership, mergers, product failures, or if their share price is taking a hit. These are all potential signals that candidates might be receptive to move.

2. Act on the signs that candidates might be ready to move

Timing is everything. We’ve engaged multiple candidates on the back of a company revealing they’ve had poor clinical trial results, for example. We’ve monitored the news, called the candidates, and often they were already considering a move.

You want to catch people when they’re most likely to consider making a move—here are some more potential signs:

• Leadership changes: When a new CEO or exec team comes in, it can shake things up. We recently had a senior scientist approach us after her company brought in a new CEO with a completely different vision. She felt out of place, and wanted to hearing about what else was out there.
• Financial shifts: This is especially true for senior leadership. With so many firms offering stock as part of their EVP, if a company’s share price drops, those within the company might start worrying about their stock options.
• Project setbacks: If a competitor’s key project hits a roadblock, people might start worrying about a product’s viability, or even the company’s future. It’s a signal that candidates might be more eager to understand what other opportunities are available to them.

3. Approach candidates like a human, and avoid the immediate sales pitch

When you reach out to potential candidates, don’t jump straight into selling a job. People can spot that from a mile away, and it’s a potential turn-off for passive candidates. Instead, think of it as starting a conversation.

Offer to talk about their career goals instead of diving into what you’re offering. The vast majority of people aren’t 100% satisfied with their current job, and they’ll appreciate someone taking the time to understand what they’re really looking for.

We want to put the candidate at the centre of the process—too often it’s the role we’re working on that’s considered first. By shifting the goal from getting the role info in front of them to just getting your foot in the door of an introductory conversation, you’ll likely find candidates to be far more open to a chat.

4. Understand your EVP as a startup / scale-up

There are risks in joining a startup, but there are also some great perks. You’ll need to be able to address both, especially if you’re targeting talent that is used to working within more established firms.

Understand why people would want to join your company specifically—and if you don’t know, speak to some of your recent hires or applicants. Uncover why they joined, why they stay, and what made them consider you in the first place.

As a starting block, are some of the main reasons we see candidates leave large corporates for smaller firms:

5. Use LinkedIn to build your network and brand

If you’re not actively using LinkedIn, you’re missing a huge opportunity to stay visible and engage with your potential next hire.

Most people just scroll through LinkedIn without really engaging—and 99% of users never actually communicate with the networks they’re building. Don’t be one of them!

I’ve seen a huge difference just by posting regularly and commenting on industry news. When I get engagement or profile views from those within the biotech sector, it effectively becomes an inbound lead list for potential new candidates—and depending on what they engaged with, I might already have a conversation starter.

I’ve seen the same work for internal recruiters too. We’ve worked with talent acquisition professionals who’ve been building a candidate network for years, but have never posted content for them to see. After a few weeks of consistent posting, they’ve achieved a huge increase in inbound requests and interest in the company—so don’t just sit on a potential captive audience.

6. Final thoughts: play to your strengths

Recruiting for a startup or scale-up isn’t easy, but it’s incredibly rewarding when you find the right people. The trick is to play to your strengths and make sure you’re approaching candidates at the right time with the right message.

It’s all about finding people who are capable, but who also really get what your company is trying to do and the nature of life as a startup. When you focus on that, you’ll build the team that’s really going to help drive your company forward.