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Topic: Med comm recruiter experiences?
| Author | Message |
| j212 | Posted – 11/10/2008 1:18:10 PM | show profile Has anyone had any recent dealings with recruiters and/or temp agencies that specialize in medical communications (phrama, advert, CME)? Specifically the likes of David Yontef, Helen Akullian, SHS/Tim Jadwin, Roz Goldfarb, cgr7, KLK Staffing, etc. Any insights or tales to tell -- good, bad, or ugly? Are they worth going through, or is it best to contact companies directly for freelance editorial work? Thanks! |
| Wolf Shadow | Posted – 11/13/2008 6:27:07 PM | show profile Hi, Okay I am not sure how to answer the question -- most of the recruiters I know work with people who are looking for fulltime work (with some exceptions). I'll answer the question for fulltime first. Pick one recruiter and go with that person; in medical education there have been cases of a few recruiters turning in a CV to the same company. When that happens, the company will not touch you (because the recruiter will have the "right" to get $ when you are hired, and the company does not want to deal with 2 or 3 recruiters arguing over that $ and threatening the compnay) -- I know a few people who had that exact scenario happen to them and they could not be interviewed. If you know temp agencies that work with med ed, would you post that I haven't seen any. Where do you live (eg, I have stumbled on several companies hiring in NYC--I can point them out to you). Depends what you want out of a recruiter. I just wanted a recuriter who could find me lots of interviewers so I could get hired quickly. David Yontef did exactly that for me -- I had several interviews lined up, and a job pretty quickly. I used him as a recruiter a little over a year ago. I heard bad things about KLK from another coworker who tried to use them -- but who knows, maybe they have learned how the field works now. Now from the assumption of freelance editorial work -- there are brokers who can find you work (haven't tried it). I have been contacting companies directly and gotten replies--but this is for medical writing I don't know as much about freelance editorial work. Good luck. |
| j212 | Posted – 11/18/2008 1:48:46 PM | show profile Hi WS, Thanks for your feedback, much appreciated! Fulltime is not out of the question. But I'm not really looking to get hired so much as just working some days a week here and there. The few "temp" agencies I've dealt with in the past have often tried to pressure me to go fulltime or dangled a gig in front of me but then hit me with the provision of temp to perm. Those agencies were primarily graphics firms that serviced these med comms; editorial was like a side business for them. I've heard varied things about Yontef (as one will of course with any of these recruiters); but for the most part, he gets a positive rating. Lately, Yontef has been advertising that he has a number of freelance spots available. I wonder though if it's not the ole bait-and-switch. Sounds like for me it's best to bypass the recruiters and agencies and take the direct line with med comm companies. (For one thing, nobody would take their cut.) I live in New York City. You mentioned certain NYC companies you could point me to...? Thanks, j212 |
| Wolf Shadow | Posted – 11/25/2008 12:38:14 AM | show profile Hi, Sorry for the delay was out of town - The companies that I stumbled on -- please note that this will depend on the type of work that is your specialty and your background. One company called BGB -- www.bgbnewyork.com wanted people to work in office. I am not quite sure what they do other than they do not need people to write manuscripts for medical journals. Another company is Harrison and Star -- they have a lot of business and work right now. They also wanted someone to work inhouse (and full time) - but I would contact them and see what is available. Good luck! PS: Thanks for mentioning that Yontef has freelance stuff posted - I may check that out too. My first preference is to get stuff from the companies myself, but if he has interesting projects... |
