We are delighted to be attending the 2022 RQA International QA Conference taking place 9th – 11th November 2022, set to be Europe’s largest Quality Assurance event for the industry.
With 72 speakers and 50 sessions, the Conference will be focused around workshop sessions, panels, discussions and presentations, giving delegates the chance to reconnect, network and learn from one another.
Look out for some familiar faces from our Clinical team, Jim Gleeson and Emily Mills at our CK Stand.
Jim Gleeson
Jim moved into pharmaceutical recruitment in 1998 after a career in laboratories and has focused on the clinical arena for the past sixteen years, with Clinical QA recruitment being an area of particular focus. He’s a regular at the RQA annual conferences and is looking forward to meeting old acquaintances and new.
Emily Mills
Emily has worked in sales for the last 6 years and moved into recruitment specifically 4 years ago. She transitioned into the clinical division from the technical division earlier this year. This is her first time at the RQA conference and she cannot wait to experience it.
We recently conducted a LinkedIn poll asking whether you felt comfortable in negotiating your salary, and 49% said they did not.
The thought of negotiating your salary can be daunting and it is often difficult to know where to begin. To help bring confidence to such negotiations, here are our top tips for negotiating your salary.
1. Calculate Your Value
Before considering your negotiations, it is important to revisit your job description and calculate the value you add to your role. Looking back at your job description can offer clarity on additional tasks and responsibilities you now hold since joining the company in your current role. Considering how these additional responsibilities (and your attention to them) have benefitted the business may form the basis of your salary review.
2. Research The Market
To get a current and realistic view when defining your new salary goal, conducting market research is essential. Researching the salary range of similar roles, in the same location, and with a similar amount of experience as yourself, will provide up to date and factual evidence to inform your case. Knowing the market average helps define a competitive salary and bring current market trends to your employers attention.
3. Prepare Your Reasons
Once you’ve defined your salary range and value, you need to create a plan of action for your reasoning and research. Giving examples and factual evidence to back up your claims is crucial to successfully navigating your salary negotiations. Highlight your strengths as well as your research in order to show your employer how you match the criteria and evidence you are setting out.
4. Be Confident, Be Patient, Be Flexible
Once all the pre-planning is complete, you are ready to head into your meeting. Remember to be confident, patient and flexible.
After all the hard work is done, you should feel confident and reassured in your request. If you’re still feeling a little uncertain, practice your pitch by yourself or with a friend, rehearsing your content and responses to various different outcomes.
In some cases, your employer may not be able to give you an answer straight away. Be patient. Allow your employer time to consider your request and prepare an appropriate response.
Being flexible in the result of your salary negotiations means collaborating with your employer in their solutions or compromises. If an employer cannot directly raise your salary, they may offer alternative benefits or packages that may be as beneficial as a rise in salary. Consider whether these alternatives are a suitable compromise if your requested salary is not possible.
5. Don’t Be Afraid To Walk Away
If your employer is unable to offer you a higher salary, or their alternative benefits are not enough for you, do not be afraid to walk away if the negotiations don’t meet your needs or qualifications. Before walking away, ensure you have exhausted all avenues of negotiations and make an informed decision based on your research and personal circumstances.
Whether negotiations were successful or not, be sure to thank your employer for their time.
This weekend we held a CK Team Event for all employees across our 3 offices. Gathering together at Kelham Island (the 35th coolest neighbourhood in the world by TimeOut), the team spent the day catching up, sharing presentations, eating good food and having fun!
Hosting at the Chimney House, we were pleased to share the day with a few of our Talentmark colleagues as part of the Talentmark group. Our employees learnt about the history and future of Talentmark, shared their thoughts and ideas for the future of CK Group and worked together to create a branded company calendar with guidance from international photo-journalist, Jess Petrie, who led a presentation on a beginners’ guide to taking the best photos.
We all had a great time, take a look at some of our photos:
Last week on LinkedIn, we asked what you thought the most important aspect of a benefits package was. 48% of respondents said that flexible working hours were the most important part of the package to them. The results left us wondering whether our workplace preferences had changed post-pandemic?
A UK poll of 1000 workers conducted by EY as part of its 2021 Work Reimagined Employee Survey found that 4 in 5 people wanted flexibility in their work life. 47% told EY that they would go as far as considering changing roles if flexible working was not offered as an option to them.
But what are the benefits of flexible working for both employers and employees?
Employee Satisfaction & Increased Productivity
First and foremost, flexible working arrangements can mean higher employee satisfaction. A happy workplace equals a productive and confident workforce. Avoiding waves of discontent through the office creates a better environment for both employer and employee, reducing stress levels and avoiding burnouts.
A content workforce can also mean increased productivity rates. Having the freedom to work from home, or working flexible hours, may mean that employees can work more effectively without the distractions of the office or without lengthy commutes.
Employee Retention & Attraction of Top Talent
From an employers perspective, flexible working can lead to higher rates of staff retention due to satisfaction. It can also be a driving force to attract top talent as people’s expectations and behaviours adapt post-pandemic. Valuable employees seek valuable work life balance, so adding this culture into your company is an attractive part of a benefits package.
Whether you’re an employer or employee, flexible working is becoming a sought out aspect of a benefits package and could become one of the key factors when choosing/advertising a role.
PIPA are returning to an in-person event for their 2022 PIPA Annual Conference held on the 28th & 29th September for PIPA members.
The Conference will include joint pharmacovigilance and medical information plenary sessions, followed by PV, MI and Code Compliance presentations with workshops and experienced guest speakers to provide dynamic and topical sessions for all attendees. Look our for our recruiters Hendre Moolman and Katie Genever at our CK Group stand.
We are delighted to share that Jonathan Hart-Smith will be taking part in this year’s conference, leading a workshop session about developing feedback culture within your teams and organisations.
Jonathan Hart-Smith is Managing Director at the CK Group and is responsible for growth through existing business streams and the development of new business functions. His role is to ensure that CK promises are delivered, whether you are a candidate or a client. Jonathan is the founder of our USA division and leads the delivery of business critical projects for biotechnology and life science clients across the world – specifically Boston and surrounding areas.
To learn more, or book your place on the event, follow the link below:
The Royal Society of Chemistry hosts monthly webinars as part of their ChemCareers 2022 program. This month our Principal Recruitment Consultant, Sarah Farrow, will join the panel to discuss careers in pharmaceuticals.
Sarah Farrow is an experienced recruitment consultant with over a decade of experience recruiting into the Pharmaceutical Industry. She supports a range of clients across the UK, ranging from SMEs through to Blue Chip Organisations, with attracting candidates from Entry Level through to Senior positions. She is a qualified Scientist, who transitioned into recruitment after beginning her career working in Formulation Chemistry.
This webinar will focus on the broad range of job roles available in pharmaceuticals for chemists. The expert panel will discuss roles both inside and outside the lab, regulatory affairs, manufacturing, quality assurance, quality control, validation, in R&D, and those within sales and marketing. The webinar offers the perfect opportunity to learn about growth areas and opportunities you may not have considered.
The webinar with Sarah will be held on 21st September 2022 from 12:30-13:30.
CK Group sponsors ChemCareers who provide their monthly webinar series to give advice, career inspiration and access to industry experts and their knowledge to all who are members of the Royal Society of Chemistry. These webinars run once a month for approximately 60 minutes, including a panel of experts and the opportunity to put your questions to them.
Last week, we launched a LinkedIn poll to continue to find out about your CV habits. Our poll asked whether you add key words from job advertisements to your CV?
With over 150 respondents, we learnt that 63% do match key words from job advertisements to their personal skillset on their CV. Whilst over half of respondents do match keywording, an astonishing 37% do not.
Why should you add key words from job advertisements to your CV?
Adding key words from job advertisements to your CV is an important way of reflecting your suitability for the role to the employer. Selecting the appropriate key words that match your own personal skillset is an easy way to make sure you are talking about your area of expertise and signposting your areas of knowledge that fit the requirements of the role.
With limited time available for employers to consider individual CV’s, the inclusion of key words from the job advertisement is a useful way of helping your CV stand out in the crowd. Identifying your ability to meet certain criteria within the job role aids your chance of being successful in being shortlisted for interview.
Key words in your CV should be an addition to your information that allows you to further describe how you are using your selected key words in your current role and experiences. Key words should be more than just a definitive list and should offer opportunity to be descriptive of your skills, so that employers are immediately and effectively informed of your knowledge and capabilities for their advertised role.
When describing your skills using key words, consider using the STAR technic. STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result, and offers a clear process for ensuring you are being constructive in your descriptions.
Top Tips
When selecting key words from the advertisement, make sure you are being honest and realistic in your approach, ensuring the selected wording is an accurate reflection of your abilities.
You should also ensure the selected key words are easy to find for the employer. Often a designated skills section on your CV, and including key wording within your cover letter, is an easy way for recruiters to see your abilities quickly and clearly.
To find out more on how to optimise your CV, take a look at our candidate advice:
Last week on Linkedin, we generated a poll to learn more about your behaviour when applying for a new job role. We wanted to find out whether you edit your CV and Cover Letter for each new role you submit an application for, or whether you use the same documentation.
33% of respondents stated they modify both their CV and Cover Letter when applying for a new role, whereas 25% of respondents only edit their Cover Letter to suit the responsibilities and requirements of the advertisement.
In total, a massive 42% of respondents said that they did not, or only sometimes adapted their documents to suit the role they were applying for.
But why should you edit both your CV and Cover Letter when submitting job applications?
In our experience of over 30 years of recruitment, we’ve discovered it is essential to customise and tailor your CV and Cover Letter for each role of interest. If you are applying for a role with a view to be successful in being shortlisted for interview, it is important to spend the time modifying your documentation to compliment your skillset against the job specification.
Often recruiters receive over 100 applications per role, meaning time spent reviewing individual applications is short, and it can be deduced that applications will be skim read against the role requirements and qualifications. Therefore, it is important to populate your CV and Cover Letter with relevant key words. Recruiters are short on time when reviewing CV’s and Cover Letters for exact matches to the advertisement, meaning time will not be spend trying to work out the missing information of an individuals application.
Top Tips
Our top tip when editing your documentation is to read the advertised job description and pull out the key words that compliment your skillset against the job specification, and ensure these are featured in both your CV and Cover Letter.
To find out more on how to optimise your CV and Cover Letter, take a look at our application advice:
We are taking part in an exciting project to recruit for 20+ Clinical Trial Manager roles across Europe to join a rapidly growing and successful CRO.
The organisation
Become part of a global, multi-award winning organisation dedicated to supporting the development of groundbreaking drugs and devices, and provide hope for those living with debilitating diseases. Providing Phase I-IV clinical development services to the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device industries, their mission is to accelerate the global development of safe and effective medical therapeutics through it’s scientific and disciplined approach. With the drive to empower their teams to employ their unique talents and experience to take an assertive approach to research and problem solving, this global pharma will align the successful candidate to a project and therapy depending on their interests and expertise.
The roles on offer
We are recruiting for a number of Clinical Project Managers / Senior Clinical Project Managers, Associate Director’s and Clinical Trial Management across various locations including: Rotterdam, Leuven, London, Munich, Milan, Spain and Hungary / Czech Republic. These roles can be hybrid or remote working dependent on location and experience, please get in touch to learn more.
LinkedIn recently released its Global Talent Trends Report for 2022, taking a close look at the evolution of company culture and its future prospects.
The report revealed that 41% of the global workforce have said that they are likely to consider leaving their jobs within the next 12 months – if they haven’t already. In August of 2021 alone, 4.3 million workers across the world quit their jobs, causing labour shortages in all regions from China, to the United States, to Germany.
Alongside this, it also found that job seekers have become pickier than ever, and are viewing nearly twice as many ads before applying than they were in 2019.
As a result, companies are having to work smarter than ever before on their branding to win over top talent. The focus is no longer on tools and tech, it’s about mindset, desires and expectations. Candidates are looking for personalised messaging about flexibility, inclusive benefits and internal mobility rates – with posts seeing a 67% engagement boost when company culture is mentioned.
The report also says that companies need to give agency to their employees to carve out their own work life that best complements their personal situations. Investing in the onboarding process is a great way to do this, by personalising for new hires and offering a support structure for success.
Failure to do these things could drive down employee satisfaction levels, and drive them towards looking for other employment in the ‘Great Reshuffle’.
CK Group was one of 28 suppliers recently recognised at a virtual ceremony by KellyOCG, the outsourcing and consulting group of Kelly, with a Supplier Excellence Award. The award celebrates the superior workforce solutions that CK has provided, with a focus on service, results, and a strategic partnership that have made a significant positive impact on the KellyOCG business.
Award winners represent top-performing suppliers across North America, EMEA and APAC, and make up less than 1% of the total KellyOCG supply chain – which includes 3000 active partnerships across 140 countries.
The tenth annual event celebrated this year’s honourees, which included four diversity-owned suppliers within the KellyOCG Supplier Excellence and Going the Extra Mile award categories, as well as a Rookie of the Year award recipient.
CK Group was one of 26 Supplier Excellence Award winners. Winners in this category are evaluated on performance across several programs for hires, response and hit rates, legal compliance, and operational partnerships with Kelly Stakeholders.
“Our global supplier community is essential to supporting our customers with talent solutions that solve their most challenging workforce needs, and move their business forwards. We congratulate all of our 2021 Supplier Award winners and thank them for their ongoing partnership and support” said Pam Sands, Vice President of Product Management and Partnerships for Kelly. “CK Group is among an elite group of high-performing suppliers who are critical to the work of the future. We’re honoured to recognise them for their expectional performance connecting customers with the full spectrum of top talent around the world.”
Jonathan Hart-Smith, Director of CK Group, said “We are delighted to have won the Supplier Excellence Award for the seventh time, an award that is received by less than 1% of the global supplier base. I would like to congratulate and thank our Key Accounts Team for all of their hard work and accomplishments, they have made a real difference to many peoples’ lives.”
This week is Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK, which each year aims to help people understand and deal with issues relating to our mental health.
This year, the theme is loneliness.
One in four adults say they feel lonely some or all of the time. Unfortunately, there’s no single cause or solution, and some individuals are more at risk than others. It continues to be exacerbated across the nation by the lasting effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, including hybrid or fully-remote working.
Whilst loneliness within an office environment can be tackled more easily, by having a good work-life balance or going for lunch with a friend, it can be more difficult for those who work from home some or all of the time. It becomes not only harder to overcome, but also harder for others to spot the signs.
We put out a poll on LinkedIn to find out how those who work remotely deal with loneliness, and what they’ve found to be the most helpful for tackling it.
Here’s what they said.
Scheduling regular catch ups with your manager
This was our top response
By now, we’re all well-versed on video calls and virtual meetings. But taking some time out of your job to have an in-depth catch up with your team leader can be incredibly important and helpful. Use this time to speak about any concerns you have, or areas where you may need more support.
Doing this regularly will help you feel less lonely, and more listened-to. Issues will be resolved quicker, and you’ll build a stronger bond with your colleagues.
Working outside of your home for a day
Another popular response on our poll.
Whilst remote working offers many benefits, including reduced travel time and costs, it’s not always helpful for our minds.
It’s good to get out of the house for a change of scenery and to meet with people face-to-face, rather than via a screen. This gives the benefit of being able to work more collaboratively and spend lunchtimes with others, without pressure forcing you to be there.
If your employer no longer has a physical office, you could look for coffee shops or co-working spaces in your area to meet up with colleagues, such as through WeWork or Spaces. These offer relaxed, social environments where you can work at your own pace, in your own way.
Organising social events outside of work regularly
Whilst you may not want, or be able, to meet up with your colleagues within a work environment, scheduling social events out of hours can be a great way to combat loneliness.
This can help you feel more like part of a community, as well as force you to put the laptop away once the work day is over. To add to that, team building events can be a great way to get to know your co-workers on a more personal level.
It’s not all about work, so ensuring you have a good work-life balance is imperative to a healthy mind.
For more information on maintaining good mental health, visit the Mental Health Foundation online here.
