A Biotech Exec: Job Hunting is Now a ‘Leadership Challenge’
Written By:
Nina Dahlblom
Apr 01, 2026
Photo: Elise Renkonen
Nina Dalhblom interviewed Elise Renkonen who both hires and leads teams in the pharma industry and her message is clear: navigating today’s labor market increasingly resembles a leadership challenge. Candidates must position themselves strategically, mobilize networks, communicate their value clearly, and continuously develop new capabilities.
Reality Check: A Radical Shift in the Labor Market
Elise Renkonen, Biotech leader with PhD in medical genetics who has spent nearly two decades in the pharmaceutical industry, leading global portfolio and product strategy and product development for cancer drugs and diagnostics, has witnessed these changes firsthand.
During her career in the United States at companies including Foundation Medicine, Roche, and Genentech, she has hired teams, mentored professionals, and coached candidates navigating complex career decisions.
“Over the past year, as I’ve been thinking about people’s next career moves, I’ve seen very concretely how the number of open roles has shrunk dramatically,” she says.
“If you look at roles comparable to my own job description, the number of open positions across the entire United States can sometimes be counted on one hand. It’s easy to imagine the volume of applicants in a country of more than 300 million people.”
Strategic shifts, mergers and acquisitions, and organizational restructuring have become routine across industries. Even candidates who have reached the final stages of recruitment may find opportunities suddenly disappearing.
“In this environment,” Renkonen says, “job seekers need a new strategy and a broader toolbox.”
The New Rules of Job Searching
The mechanics of job searching have changed dramatically.
Today it is common for candidates to use AI tools to optimize their resumes and submit applications at scale. With minor adjustments and a few clicks, hundreds of applications can be sent in a short period of time. Some of those applications make it through automated screening systems resulting in a pool of so-called “cold, warm and hot candidates” — a heterogeneous group that includes both highly experienced professionals and junior candidates who understand how to navigate keyword-based filters.
From a hiring manager’s perspective, the outcome can be frustrating.
“The list generated by the system often includes many candidates who are still quite junior when it comes to strategic leadership, experience, and the ability to see the bigger picture,” Renkonen explains. “At the same time, highly experienced candidates may be overlooked if their profiles are not optimized for keyword-based systems. That’s why human judgment remains critical.”
For recruiters, the challenge today is not the lack of applicants — but identifying meaningful signals in a flood of automated submissions.
The Hidden Job Market
In response, many senior professionals have chosen a different path.
Rather than applying for publicly posted positions, they focus on what is often called the hidden job market: roles that emerge through networks, executive search consultants, and direct outreach.
Renkonen emphasizes the long-term value of professional networks.
“A network built deliberately over years — including advocates, sponsors, and mentors — becomes a critical asset when times become difficult.”
Young professionals can begin building those networks early through informal meetings and conversations with potential employers.
“These conversations are valuable even when there is no open position,” she says. “They are opportunities to learn about organizations, understand the work, and build relationships. That becomes the capital that helps you later in your career.”
She also recommends developing relationships with executive search consultants over the long term.
Turning LinkedIn into an Opportunity Platform
Optimizing your LinkedIn profile is essential. Renkonen recommends using AI tools to strengthen their positioning.
“Feed AI examples of your dream job postings. Include the five to seven most critical skills required for those roles and ensure that these competencies are clearly visible in your profile.”
“The goal is to make your profile visible and relevant to the types of opportunities you want to attract,” she says.
“LinkedIn has seven sections that should be optimized if you want to turn it into a channel that generates job opportunities.”
“It’s not just a digital CV — it’s a visibility tool,” she says. “You need a strong, up-to-date photo, a clear headline, and an ‘About’ section that explains your value. Your experience, skills, and education should be easy to understand at a glance, and everything needs to be aligned with the roles you’re targeting.”
She adds that keyword optimization is critical. “Make sure the right keywords show up consistently across your headline, summary, experience, and skills. The goal is simple: when a recruiter looks at your profile, it should be immediately clear what you do and where you add value.”
She also recommends optimizing your resume.
“Upload both the role description that interests you and your resume to the free Jobscan.com scanner. It analyzes five different areas and provides scores for both hard and soft skills. You quickly see what areas should be emphasized or adjusted. This helps ensure that your resume includes the information recruiters are looking for and provides an additional layer of confidence.”
For informational meetings, Renkonen recommends even more carefully tailored resumes. “If you are interested in two different types of roles, optimize separate resumes for each. It’s also useful to keep one general version ready in case there isn’t a specific open position. AI makes creating different versions fast.”
Preparing Strategically for Interviews
“When you reach an initial interview, AI can be extremely useful in preparation,” Renkonen explains.
If you have a summary of the company’s news from the past twelve months, an overview of its products, their development trajectory, and the competitive landscape, you can already identify much of the critical expertise and actions required in the role.
She also recommends analyzing your own network.
“Check whether you have connections to the company within your network. Then consider who could help confirm the key criteria that would allow you to credibly position yourself as someone who can solve the company’s challenge.”
And you can turn your network to evaluate if the organization the right fit culturally, strategically, and from a career development perspective. Try to visualize the team and consider whether the role and the team would help move your career forward. Then reflect on what experience you bring to the table and how it would support the next strategic phase of the team and the company.”
Finally, think about how you can mobilize your contacts, sponsors, and advocates.
Beyond AI, leveraging your personal network remains essential.
“If you don’t see anyone you know directly in your LinkedIn network, check whether a second-degree connection knows someone at the company. Ask openly whether they could help forward your resume to the right hiring manager.”
If that option is not available, Elise suggests identifying the contact person listed in the job posting and reaching out directly.
Interview Simulators Can Help with Practice
Renkonen has already described how she prepares candidates for interviews by developing practical examples of situations they may be asked about. However, she also recommends AI-based interview simulators.
“For example, LinkedIn Learning offers AI coaching where you can select interviews tailored to specific roles. You can record your answers and receive feedback.”
Candidates can practice both short screening interviews and longer 30- or 60-minute interviews.
The feedback analyzes storytelling, vocabulary, pace, and clarity.
When researching a company, candidates can also ask AI to generate ten role-specific interview questions.
Write your responses and ask AI for feedback.
You can also use the same method to prepare thoughtful questions for the recruiter.
Renkonen emphasizes that candidates should also prepare for surprises.
“Sometimes expectations can turn completely upside down. I once had an interview where the Chief People Officer threw out the typical interview structure. Instead, I had to ask questions and was evaluated entirely based on my questions and the discussion that followed.”
Reflection Beats Self-Promotion
Finns are often criticized for their modesty and for not presenting their skills with enough confidence.
Renkonen offers a surprising perspective.
Renkonen is not inspired by candidates who present themselves as all-knowing experts.
“I would not hire someone who lacks reflection skills — someone who is not willing to learn new things or recognize areas for personal growth.”
Instead, she believes professionals must understand both their strengths and weaknesses.
“That requires genuine practice, courage, and the ability to analyze feedback, reflect on it, and recognize your own valuable capabilities.”
“We are all here to learn and collaborate. Hiring a leader is a significant investment. A good colleague or team member needs to demonstrate intellectual and emotional capital that signals growth potential.”
During recruitment, Renkonen looks for three key qualities in candidates:
- enterprise mindset
- strategic thinking
- adaptive leadership
And Renkonen wants to explain what she means.
Enterprise mindset
“It’s important to explain these terms more concretely — abstract concepts on their own aren’t very useful to anyone.
”An enterprise mindset, to me, means, above all, the ability to think beyond one’s own role or function — and to make decisions that optimize outcomes for the entire organization, not just for a specific team, product, or therapeutic area.
In interviews, this often comes across in examples like:
“I made a decision that wasn’t optimal for my own function or product, but it was clearly the right choice for the broader organization — or ultimately for patients or customers.”
“I proactively connected work across teams to ensure we were solving the highest-value problem for the business, rather than just executing within our own scope.”
Strategic thinking
“Strategic thinking, in turn, is the ability to connect the external environment — market dynamics, competition, and emerging trends — with organizational goals, and translate that into concrete choices and priorities,” Renkonen keeps explaining her thinking
“Candidates can demonstrate this, for example, by saying:
“I assessed evolving market dynamics and re-prioritized our portfolio to focus on the highest long-term value opportunities” or
“I translated broad strategic goals into clear, actionable priorities for the team and aligned stakeholders around them” she continues.
Adaptive Leadership
“Candidates must be able to describe concretely how they lead through change and unexpected setbacks. That’s adaptive leadership. Anyone can lead when everything goes smoothly. But what happens when the market shifts, the organization changes, and uncertainty becomes constant?” Renkonen asks and continues
“Leading through change means guiding people across difficulties, building trust, and maintaining motivation. Ultimately, leadership is about managing human capacity.”
Develop Your Leadership Skills
Renkonen encourages professionals to develop their leadership skills systematically and to practice articulating them clearly. Everything begins with feedback.
“Feedback is fundamental. Ask for it, give it, and analyze it. Through feedback you build not only the company’s success but also a clear picture of your own capabilities.”
There are many different frameworks for building leadership profiles. Renkonen, for example, uses employee engagement surveys extensively in her work.
“I analyze where my team is strong and where improvement is needed. I synthesize responses from most recent and past surveys and compare ratings across the organization and teams, and ask AI to identify the biggest differences.”
She compares team performance with product success and employee satisfaction scores.
“I always ask where my team is stronger than others and where our performance can improve.”
“When the company underwent repeated reorganizations every 12–16 months, psychological safety and engagement became critical metrics. Product development cannot innovate and move forward if these factors are weak.”
When Renkonen compared her team to others in the organization, she discovered that her team had the highest psychological safety score.
“The survey allowed me to analyze what we were doing well and I was able to help other team leaders in the company. At the same time I learned about my own leadership strengths and what type of leadership maximizes innovation.”
AI can also be used to identify personal strengths as well as areas for development. It may reveal qualities that are important but are not always visible to others.
“Many people might initially find the feedback discouraging, but what matters most is how you respond and how you move forward in order to grow. Once you identify an area for improvement, consider it an opportunity, take action and develop yourself.”
Cultural Fit Still Matters
Beyond skills and experience, cultural alignment plays an important role in hiring decisions. You want to land to a team that you can thrive in as much as you want to hire a star as a recruiter.
“When culture works well, people often take it for granted,” she says. “But strong cultures don’t happen by accident — they require deliberate effort.”
Renkonen suggests asking concrete questions about behavior patterns within the organization rather than culture. “Talking about culture often remains abstract. If a candidate is aware which leadership behavior patterns are meaningful for them, it is easier for her to ask targeted questions and get helpful answers.”
“You might ask if an external change suddenly occurs, how will this change impact the team/personal goals. Or if the culture is important to you, you might also ask “What tends to surprise new hires when they join the company”. The answer often reveals aspects of the culture that are not immediately visible during the interview process.
Leadership in an Uncertain Job Market
In many ways, the modern job search increasingly resembles a leadership exercise.
Candidates must analyze complex environments, communicate their value clearly, build networks of support, and continuously adapt their skills and grow as leaders.
The labor market may be changing faster than many professionals expected. Artificial intelligence is transforming how candidates apply and how organizations evaluate talent.
Yet the fundamentals remain strikingly human. Organizations still look for people who can learn, adapt, build trust, and lead through uncertainty. In a world increasingly shaped by algorithms, those human qualities may ultimately become the most valuable signal a candidate can offer.
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