Matthew C. West
Director
Advice Personnel, Inc.
Pharma’s Talent Connector
To put it simply: Matthew West is truly the industry’s talent connector. He has been a leader in the recruitment and HR management of advertising and marketing professionals within the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries for almost two decades.
As VP and Chief Talent Officer for McCann Regan Campbell Ward (now McCann Healthcare), Matthew was responsible for personally sourcing and hiring over 70% of the agency’s new employees, ranging from account managers to creative professionals. Additionally, he supervised and directed all human resources initiatives including recruiting, hiring, training, mentorship, diversity, and all other talent-related initiatives.
Currently, Matthew leads the Pharmaceutical Advertising division at recruiting firm Advice Personnel. Within his first year of leadership at the company, Matthew was able to secure talent recruitment client relationships with more than 25 companies including pharmaceutical advertising and PR agencies, healthcare communications firms, and Fortune 500 healthcare manufacturers.
Matthew makes sure to get to know each candidate. His ability to mentor them and guide their careers has been invaluable to people at all levels. Unlike the majority of recruiters, his overall objectives center on making long-term connections with people. Additionally, he also regularly studies the vibe, values, culture, and history of all of the companies he works with. He even has spent days at companies listening to and learning their values, lingo, and what makes the company “tick.” This extra time spent learning helps to make Matthew’s matchmaking ability magical for both the candidates and the companies.
Looking to the future, Matthew feels that the world of recruiting and placement will indefinitely change. For starters, the more successful companies will be the ones that consider more than just demographics to be competitive. Learning will occur from top down and from down up in organizations. Diversity in skill-sets, experience, and culture will trump “sameness.” The ability to partner with and trust a recruitment agency will be critical in the placement of a company’s most important resource—its people.
Along with Matthew’s successful career, his greatest accomplishment is and will always be his children, Emma and Ryan, who continue to be his greatest source of pride and joy in his life.
