by Jody Barnes

Created on: August 06, 2008   Last Updated: June 13, 2009

Even though your hard work and skill have boosted you to be a top manager in medical or technological device manufacturing, when it comes to recruiting new talent for your department or organization, you are still on your own. Smaller companies often do not have a human resources department to assist in the hiring process, placing most or all of the responsibility for recruiting, reviewing, and interviewing potential candidates squarely on your shoulders, carefully balanced on top of your many other responsibilities.

You need to find a qualified applicant who believes in your company's vision, and also has the skills and experiences necessary to get safe, high quality products to market. You are not just hiring a project manager or a QC/QA director, but you are selecting an individual who can be trusted to fully understand regulations and navigate the approval system, knowing when and how to submit a product for 501k or Premarket Approval, among other regulations. Making the wrong hiring decision can be detrimental to your company and your own credibility. In 2007, after a spike in trial violations discovered by the FDA, Michael Maracarelli, director of the bioresearch monitoring division of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, expressed that during the PMA process "some individuals and some companies, whatever the motivation is - money, lack of time, sloppiness, lack of supervision - are going to skew the data a little bit."

Searching for ethical, talented, highly-skilled individuals to fill high-level positions is practically a full-time job, but while searching for the perfect candidate, you still must juggle your other assignments and responsibilities, especially at a smaller company or start-up. While large organizations have the luxury of an internal HR department to pre-screen potential candidates, most mid-size or small companies have limited resources and need the ingenuity of hiring managers or executives to screen, interview, and select candidates. Interviews take significant time, and when you have many qualified applicants or multiple positions to fill, it seems like the only way to get through the rush is to give up lunch, weekends at home, and even daily bathroom breaks at the office. However, a streamlined interview process can greatly reduce the stress on your valuable and limited time, and may even get you home in time to catch the evening news.

The secret is to strategically plan and execute your interviews, taking time to prepare

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