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India has the potential to become a “global innovation hub” for the biopharma industry, but without greater investment and regulatory reforms the opportunity may not be fully realized.

A report by The Boston Consulting Group released last week says the country must encourage greater investment and activity in bioinformatics, applied research, and translational research to maximize opportunities for R&D in the life sciences. Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve all had them. Jobs we did just for the money. Maybe you took it thinking it might grow on you — and, for a lucky few, it did. Or figured you could parlay it into something you really wanted to do. In no time, even if you didn’t hate the work, you found it was boring or unrewarding, and you were going through the motions.

Contrast that with your dream job. You found it exciting, fun, and stimulating, and hopefully still do. Mondays are something to look forward to. The days rarely drag. Read the rest of this entry »

This is to honor the nurses of America.  You are the women, and the men who staff our hospitals, tend the sick, comfort the dying, perform triage at disaster sites and emergency rooms, and manage the hundreds of details that make modern medicine function.

This is your week — National Nurses Week — the seven days when the hundreds of millions of us, thank the 3.1 million of you for being there when we need you.

It’s amazing that it took almost three decades from the first seed of a suggestion that nurses should have a special day to the Congressional act declaring May 6th National Recognition Day for Nurses. In 1990, the day became a week that now includes May 8th as National Student Nurses Day.

Nursing has come a long way from the days when Florence Nightingale made her nighttime rounds of injured soldiers during the Crimean War. The work is still demanding, the material rewards are better, but it is the calling that is still the same. “God,” wrote Nightingale, “called me in the morning and asked me would I do good for him alone without reputation.” Read the rest of this entry »

Avoiding regulatory and compliance issues when building or discussing operational infrastructure of an alternative asset program is a mistake, says Deborah Prutzman, CEO of The Regulatory Fundamentals Group. “A proactive approach differentiates a manager from the pack,” she says, “and can allay those often-unspoken investor concerns that frequently delay an initial allocation, reduce its size, or prevent it altogether.” FINalternatives

The question of whether outside pharmaceutical sales reps should get overtime  made it to the U.S. Supreme Court last month. A ruling, which will affect the estimated 90,000 reps working in the U.S., is expected by the end of June. Two federal courts came to opposite conclusions on applying the Fair Standards Labor Act to the pharmaceutical industry. The FLSA exempts outside sales people from overtime requirements, so the issue before the Court is whether PSRs are covered. SHRM

Hiring by staffing and employment agencies continued its upward trajectory during April, but even the strong showing couldn’t overcome the generally sluggish hiring by American businesses last month.

The U.S. Department of Labor in its monthly report out this morning said 115,000 new jobs were created in April, well below the 160,000 or so that economists, on average, were expecting. Read the rest of this entry »

Who hasn’t thought of launching a startup?

With the business press awash in articles about startups fetching valuations in the millions, not to mention the behemoths like Facebook being priced in the billions, it’s a wonder everyone isn’t tinkering in a garage.

What we rarely hear about though, are the failures. Incontrovertible data is hard to come by, but those who study business success say the failure rate for startups can be as high as 95%. If merely surviving for five years is your measure of success, the odds are about 50-50. Read the rest of this entry »

You’ve built your network, developed a brand, and polished your resume. You’re ready to conquer the job market. But hold on there, says Allison & Taylor, the professional reference-checking firm. Your references are a valuable part of your marketing program, so don’t overlook them.

Even the best references can seem ordinary if they don’t actively sell you. HR departments will typically limit what they say to verification of the essentials: name, rank, and employment dates. Sometimes ending salary. And very occasionally, a reference checker may be told if you are eligible for rehire.

Consider HR mostly for verification of what you’ve said on your resume, job app or in an interview. A real reference is someone who knows you; knows your abilities, and will champion you to the caller. That’s not going to happen in HR, where corporate policies get made and enforced. Instead, or in addition, “provide references that can actually speak to your abilities,” counsels Allison & Taylor.

Here’s where you need to invest some effort. You want to make sure you talk with your reference long before you put them on your list. You want to make sure, of course, that what you think they’ll say is indeed what they will say. Once you’ve verified that, it’s a good idea to remind them of your accomplishments, and the special projects you worked, and the results you got. It’s easy for busy people to forget things, especially if it’s been a while since you two worked together.

If you’re on LinkedIn or other business networking site, suggest that they review what’s there. It may jog their memory, or, you may find they don’t recall things quite the same way you do. Better to amend your profile now, before you start interviewing.

This is as helpful to the recruiter as it is to you, since it provides a clearer — and honest — picture of your abilities, and may even fill in some details you overlooked. You  may need to prompt your reference into volunteering information, particularly if they’re not accustomed to reference checks, or if they lean toward the laconic.

Depending on the position, it can be completely appropriate to use co-workers, customers, subordinates, even suppliers as references. As workplaces grow ever more virtual, the people who best know your work may be other members of your team. Use them, but follow the same guidelines: ask permission; review your accomplishments; let them know who may call, and; follow-up with a thank you.

It’s also wise to have multiple references. People go on vacation, get sick, or leave without telling you. So be prepared with alternatives in case your recruiter is unable to reach someone. If you are job searching in more than one field, having different references who can talk to your expertise in specific areas only makes sense.

As you reach out to prospective references, brief them on your job search. They become part of your network and may even be just the referral that leads to your next job.

Are you an extraordinary boss?

That might as well be one of those rhetorical questions, since who would answer ‘No?’ Truth is, most of would fall into the average group. We’re pretty good at some things; not so good at others.

But business writer and sales guru Geoffrey James has a different take on what it means to be “average,” and “extraordinary.” In a recent post on Inc., James lists eight “core beliefs” of extraordinary bosses. Drawn from his years interviewing countless CEOs (including, presumably, many who are merely “average”), James paints a stark picture of the difference between average and extraordinary. Read the rest of this entry »

Talking with a recruiter doesn’t always mean you’re looking for a job. While recruiters aren’t a substitute for a career coach, talking with one can help you gain insights about your career, and industry trends. It can also be an opportunity for you to help a talented friend who is looking for a new job. So, even if you aren’t looking for a change yourself, or if you are, here are five reasons to talk with a recruiter the next time one calls. RecruitingBlogs