By Jennifer Maffia, Owner of Advanced Recruiting Partners

I hear two frustrations regularly in life sciences recruiting.

From employers: “We can’t find the right people.”

From candidates: “I can’t find the right opportunity.”

Both can be true. But after years of working with candidates and hiring teams across clinical research and biopharma, I’ve found that the problem isn’t always a lack of talent or opportunity.

Sometimes, the two sides simply aren’t aligned.

A recent BioSpace article explored this disconnect, including challenges around hiring processes, AI, transparency, and compensation. From a recruiter’s perspective, I see another important piece of the conversation: many of these problems can be addressed before the first interview ever takes place.

Get Aligned Internally Before Going to Market

One of the fastest ways to complicate a search is to begin recruiting before everyone inside the organization agrees on what they’re looking for.

The hiring manager may prioritize one skill set while HR is screening for another. An executive joins the process and introduces new requirements. A qualification that began as a preference suddenly becomes mandatory.

Meanwhile, candidates are interviewing.

Before opening a position, I encourage companies to answer some basic questions. What does this person absolutely need to know on day one? What can they learn? Who is making the final decision? How many interviews are necessary? What is the realistic hiring timeline?

The clearer those answers are internally, the easier it becomes to communicate the opportunity externally.

AI Is Making Human Evaluation More Important

AI has made it easier to write a polished job description. It has also made it easier for candidates to tailor résumés and applications closely to those descriptions.

That creates an interesting recruiting challenge.

A résumé may contain every keyword an employer wants without necessarily telling us how deeply the candidate understands the work. At the same time, an excellent candidate whose résumé doesn’t mirror the job description perfectly can be screened out too early.

This is why I believe conversations matter more than ever.

Ask candidates about the projects they worked on. What problem were they solving? What decisions did they make? What changed because of their contribution?

Recruiting cannot become an exercise in matching one collection of keywords against another. We still need to understand the person behind the résumé.

Transparency Is Part of the Candidate Experience

Candidates are asking more questions about prospective employers, and I think that’s reasonable.

They want to understand the pipeline, leadership, organizational changes, growth opportunities, and, particularly in emerging biotech, the stability and direction of the company.

That doesn’t mean employers need to have perfect answers.

In fact, I’ve seen candidates become excited about opportunities that involve some degree of uncertainty because they believe in the science, the leadership, or what they could help build.

The important part is allowing them to make an informed decision.

Trying to sell an opportunity by avoiding difficult realities may help get someone through the door, but it doesn’t create the foundation for a lasting placement. BioSpace similarly highlights the problems that can arise when candidates discover important information only after joining an organization.

Talk About Compensation Before It Becomes a Problem

Few things are more frustrating than reaching the end of a lengthy interview process only to discover that the employer and candidate were never financially aligned.

Compensation conversations don’t need to be adversarial.

Companies should understand what they can realistically offer, and candidates should have an opportunity to communicate what they need to make a move worthwhile.

That conversation may also extend beyond base salary. Depending on the opportunity, benefits, flexibility, equity, PTO, career growth, and other factors can influence how someone evaluates an offer.

A recruiter can help establish those expectations early, before both sides invest significant time in a process that was unlikely to work.

Recruiters Should Be Translators, Not Résumé Forwarders

This is where I believe recruiting partners can bring tremendous value.

Our job shouldn’t simply be to receive a job description, search for matching keywords, and send résumés.

We sit in a unique position between candidates and companies.

We hear what hiring managers say they need, but we can also ask the questions that reveal what they actually need. We hear what candidates say they’re looking for and can explore what matters most to them in their next move.

Sometimes we identify a disconnect before an interview takes place. Sometimes we help clarify expectations. And sometimes we recognize that a candidate and company simply aren’t the right match.

That isn’t a failed recruiting conversation. It can save everyone considerable time.

Better Alignment Creates Better Hires

Not every difficult search is a talent shortage.

Sometimes the requirements aren’t clear. Sometimes the interview process is too complicated. Sometimes compensation expectations are too far apart. And sometimes neither side has enough information about the other to make a confident decision.

The solution isn’t convincing two mismatched sides to say yes.

It’s creating enough clarity that the right company and the right candidate can recognize one another.

Because ultimately, the best placements happen when both sides understand exactly what they’re saying yes to.

About Jennifer Maffia
With over 20 years of experience in clinical staffing, Jennifer Maffia connects pharmaceutical, biotech, and life sciences companies with top-tier clinical talent. She is known for building lasting client relationships, supporting tenured recruiters, and driving impactful hiring strategies. Through industry partnerships and active board involvement, Jennifer remains committed to advancing the life sciences field and improving patient outcomes.