Navigating the scientific sales job market in 2024.

It's late 2024 and I'm speaking to a lot of commercial scientific candidates who are at risk of redundancy, facing uncertainties or are generally unhappy in their roles following a few turbulent post-covid years.

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If there's rumours of layoffs at your current company or if you've already been made redundant, your numbers aren't where they need to be and things aren't improving… what can you do in the face of uncertainty?

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Firstly, don’t beat yourself up – sometimes things are out of your control and often board level decisions are based on numbers and not personalities. Change isn’t always wanted but embrace the chance to explore new opportunities (or just be shit at your job ??) ??

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Take a step back and determine whether it’s fixable – is there any room for personal improvement that might help boost performance? Is it the company/products/management? Is it the market?

If you think it’s fixable, great. It might be best to stick around, dig deep and focus on the achievement of your goals and work on putting healthy work boundaries in place.

If not, gaining clarity around why it’s not going to plan may help guide your actions ?moving forward.

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It might be the time to consider a move but finding a new role can be stressful and can introduce more uncertainty at a time when you just don’t need it.

One thing I’ve noticed in candidates who have a great mindset and remain positive despite setbacks, rejection and hitting brick walls left, right and centre is that they continue to focus on "extracurricular" activities where they CAN win or make progress.

I'm working with candidates who are writing a book, training for marathons or even just maintaining a healthy daily routine whilst looking for a new role. Naturally, any progress you're making outside of work (no matter how small) can help boost your self-esteem and confidence which should transfer into your day-to-day and may help create some much-needed order amongst the chaos.

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Other than keeping your eye on company websites/LinkedIn for new job details, it’s also worth polishing up your CV and reach out to a recruiter to discuss new opportunities, current industry hiring trends or to just have a chat about potential new career pathways. Making this connection might not give you the outcome you'd like straight away and it might even turn out that its best to stay where you are until the market improves… but, networking with the right people might lead to a more fruitful conversation later down the line when a new opportunity pops up. ??

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In a digital age where you can get ChatGPT to write your CV and describe how you’ve “spearheaded” every achievement since birth (yes, we see you) followed by a 1 click application process, the human connection can be lost. A good recruiter can help provide guidance, feedback and updates with the ultimate goal of helping you land a new role without losing too much hair in the process.

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I’d be interested to hear about any other successful ways in which you’ve managed to navigate the scientific jobs market in 2024 – feel free to reach out to me directly or leave a comment.