This month, former Territory Manager, Ketan Patel, joins the Recruitment Team.
“I hadn’t considered Recruitment before”, he says “but having spoken to both Sarah and Danny, they felt that I may be a good fit. I have enjoyed working for Star OUTiCO, which helped sway my decision.
“I am currently on my fourth week in the role – becoming familiar with the role, systems, and procedures – and I am enjoying it so much.”
We sat down to talk career transition, key candidate issues in today’s healthcare environment, and decorating.
Hi Ketan, first, tell us a little bit about you and the area you’re recruiting for.
I have been working within the industry for around six years. During my career I have had the opportunity to work various roles to get a wider and deeper understanding into the pharmaceutical industry. I have had the opportunities to work both as a Territory Manager covering the East midlands and East of England, as well as working as an E-detailer covering national accounts.
Now, I have the pleasure of working as part of the Recruitment Team, and I can easily say that everyone on the team has been very welcoming and friendly. They are always there to help when required.
I am part of Sarah’s Pharmaceutical team, due to my experiences and connections on the pharmaceutical side, covering the Scotland territory.
I took some time to decide on what I wanted to do and felt that if there was a time to try a different role, now would be the time.
What strengths do you feel that you bring to your role as a Recruitment Consultant at Star OUTiCO?
A lot of skills and attributes which pharmaceutical representatives possess are very much transferable to Recruitment. I believe that having the knowledge and background of working within the roles allows me to source candidates that could be very suitable for our clients, as I can understand what they will be looking for.
I mentioned that the skills and attributes are transferable – the reason I say this is that instead of promoting products to my target customers, I will now be presenting people to my clients, who will meet their needs.
As someone who’s previously worked at the coalface of the industry, what do you feel are the key issues for candidates in today’s pharm/MedTech climate?
One of the biggest and ongoing challenges candidates are facing in today’s Pharmaceutical and MedTech climate is that we are just coming out of a pandemic. Over the past two to three years, many HCOs and HCPs have been stretched and trying to get access to these key customers can be a challenge working within strict time constraints.
Our staff members who work within the NHS have been working non-stop. Even now they are still inundated with patients who have not been seen for the past year or two.
In essence, time is the key issue with today’s Pharmaceutical and MedTech environments, which is why the most important role for a rep is to be able to bring value to each and every call, and make sure they are collaborating as effectively as possible with HCPs to facilitate the best patient outcomes.
I wholeheartedly believe that if you can present your data to your customers which shows value to them, you will be remembered, and these customers will be more than happy to share some of their time with you as they know you will bring value to the meeting or call.
… time is the key issue with today’s Pharmaceutical and MedTech environments, which is why the most important role for a rep is to bring value to each call.
What do you like to get up to when you’re not working?
So, I have recently started back at the gym. It’s taken some time to get back into it, as with my last role I was finding that I couldn’t make time due to work and home commitments.
Me and my wife have also bought a house and are in the process for redecorating, which has been great, although it has been difficult once again to find time. I am hoping that with my new role I will have the flexibility to be able to get myself into a positive routine, which will allow me to balance work, gym, and decorating.
Connect with Ketan on LinkedIn here.
Browse our latest vacancies here.
