Hiring Practices Little hiring is done from universities, primarily because companies are looking for individuals with field experience. One way for companies to satisfy their desire for experienced people, while hiring university graduates, is to hire graduates with some field experience or hands-on training. As mentioned earlier, compensation is good in this industry. Training is almost universal among pharmaceutical companies for both newly hired and existing staff. Providing training and development is viewed as a competitive advantage. Some of the larger companies have full-time training staff and an in-house training facility. The industry is experiencing difficulty recruiting individuals with expertise in regulatory/government affairs. Some generic companies report problems recruiting experienced chemists and product development expertise. Quebec-based companies report problems recruiting people from outside Quebec. International competition occurs for top talent. Headhunting is common. There is increasing reliance on the Internet as a tool for recruiting.