Graduates and professionals to benefit from life sciences career portal

Biocareers, a South African online life science job board and career centre, has recently been launched to address the lack of a dedicated recruitment and career guidance tool for job seekers and employers within the life science and biotechnology sectors. The portal is a joint initiative between Human Alliance, a professional human resources and recruitment company, and the Cape Biotech Trust.

Cape Biotech MD, Dr Mark Fyvie, says, ìevery year hundreds of life science graduates face the same dilemma. Having just qualified, they realize there is no dedicated medium to help them find appropriate jobs and career guidance within South Africa. Even life scientists who are already established within the field face the same problems.

ìThis is one of the key obstacles to developing strong life science sector, and tends to result in the loss of some highly skilled people from the market. Job-seekers do not know where to find the right employment information. Sometimes it is easier to find work overseas or in alternative industries needing scientific skills.î

This brain drain is problematic for life science companies, who already find it difficult to source and retain the right people to remain globally competitive in the growing life science and biotechnology industries.

Through Biocareers, job seekers will have their own dedicated career channel, where they can search for jobs, upload their resume and skills profile, make use of career resources, and become part of the South African life science career community. Organisations will also benefit. They will have access to a dedicated communication channel, a talent sourcing strategy, and a digital recruitment system.

Fyvie: ìthe creation of a virtual channel, which seeks to match employees and employers, is critical to the growth and development of these industries. If organizations want to be globally competitive, they need to utilize tools that attract the right talent. The portal has the potential to attract world class employees, which will assist in narrowing the skills gap and change current perceptions about job opportunities in these industries.î

The online job portal has become one of the most effective ways of recruiting staff from around the globe. Online recruitment is cheaper and faster, enabling companies to source and retain the best employees, and job seekers to access the best opportunities in a highly competitive world.

Cape Biotech and Human Alliance combined forces a year ago to develop an industry solution to meet the dual needs of South African life science organizations and job seekers. They created a national internet based life biotechnology career portal, known as SA Biotech Careers. The site has been redesigned and re-branded as Biocareers, (www.biocareers.co.za) a full scale national life science careers portal for South Africa which combines cutting edge recruitment technology with industry needs.